Business Moves

EPIC

Expanding its Southern California operations, Edgewood Partners Insurance Center (EPIC), a property and casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage firm, opened an office in Los Angeles. Chris McTigue was appointed managing principal. Ray Skarzenski was appointed principal of operations and Mike Blecher was appointed principal.

McTigue is responsible for business development, managing client relationships and leading the Los Angeles office. He has served as an executive with international brokerage firms. For the past 12 years, he was an executive vice president at Aon Los Angeles, where he consulted with client senior management and their advisors.

Skarzenski is responsible for overseeing property and casualty insurance activities, including developing and maintaining relationships with clients and insurance carriers. A 28-year veteran of the insurance industry, he has handled property and casualty insurance coverage focused on the defense contracting, healthcare, automobile manufacturing, railroad, waste hauling, and oil and petrochemical industries. Having worked abroad in Europe and Asia, Skarzenski is experienced in the operations of the global insurance marketplace.

Blecher’s responsibilities include new business development, assisting clients with insurance plan choices, as well as building and maintaining client relationships. His 30 years of experience covers all aspects of work in the maritime industry. Previously, he was a managing director for Beecher Carlson.

Brown & Brown, Fullerton & Co.

Florida-based Brown & Brown Inc. acquired the stock of and Fullerton & Co. Inc. of Portland, Ore.

Fullerton & Co. has annualized revenues of approximately $9.3 million and specializes in benefit plans, and property and casualty insurance for individuals and businesses in Oregon and throughout the Northwest.

Operations will continue at the firm’s existing location in Portland as a new freestanding Brown & Brown profit center.

Lionheart Insurance

Calabasas, Calif.-based Lionheart Insurance Services opened an office in Irvine, Calif. Joining Lionheart in the Irvine location are Pat Piccinonno and Joe Weckerle Jr.

Piccinonno, appointed president, has 35 years of insurance management and production experience, most recently with R.E. Chaix, Black/White and Yates & Associates.

Weckerle Jr., named vice president, brings more than 17 years of production experience to the new Irvine location and was previously with R.E. Chaix and ARIS Insurance Services.

Southern Insurance Co., New Mexico FAIR Plan

The Republic Group announced that Southern Insurance Co. was selected by the Governing Committee of the New Mexico Property Insurance Program to act as servicing insurer for the New Mexico FAIR Plan for a three-year period beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

The New Mexico FAIR Plan is a not-for-profit underwriting association that provides property insurance to qualified applicants in New Mexico who are unable to secure such insurance in the normal insurance market. Approximately 10,000 dwelling fire and commercial property policies with premiums of approximately $3.7 million currently written for the program by Audubon Insurance Co. will be transferred to Southern.

Under the terms of the transaction, Southern will offer a renewal policy to each qualified commercial policyholder who re-applies to the program and to each qualified dwelling fire policyholder upon the expiration of the existing policy term. Existing policies will transfer to Southern during 2009. In addition, new qualified business applications will be submitted to Southern during the three-year period. All of the business is 100 percent reinsured by the program.

Republic Companies Inc. provides personal and commercial property and casualty insurance products through a group of insurance companies and related entities designated in the industry as “The Republic Group”. In its Independent Agents segments, Republic distributes these products to individuals and small- to medium-size businesses through a network of independent agents primarily in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Markel, City of Hope

Tony Markel, vice chairman of the Markel Corp., and his daughters, Diana and Melinda, established the Markel/Friedman Peritoneal Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at City of Hope in memory of his late wife, Susan. The gift, which was augmented by nearly $250,000 in personal donations made in Susan’s memory, will support multiple research programs dedicated to the early detection and improved treatments of this disease. Markel lost his wife, Susan, to peritoneal cancer in January 2008. The fund also recognizes Dr. Michael A. Friedman, City of Hope president and CEO, for the support he provided to the Markel family during Susan’s treatment.

“Each year, peritoneal and ovarian cancers affect an estimated 175,000 women and their families,” Markel said. “The Markel/ Friedman Peritoneal Ovarian Cancer Research Fund will promote research collaboration and help City of Hope uncover new treatments and screening methods that can help save lives.”

Initially, the Fund will support a two-year study led by City of Hope investigators Dr. Robert J. Morgan Jr., co-director, Gynecologic Oncology/Peritoneal Malignancy Program, and Dr. Mark Wakabayashi, director, Department of Gynecologic Oncology. The study will focus on chemotherapy to treat advanced ovarian and peritoneal carcinoma in patients who may not benefit from platinum-based therapies, a standard treatment that kills cells by damaging their DNA and can have severe side effects. A second, preclinical study led by Dr. Richard Jove, director, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, will be aimed at the discovery and development of new drugs for ovarian cancer. A third, two-year study will examine the genetic roots of ovarian cancer, identifying specific genes associated with the cancer’s growth and assessing the effectiveness of treatments to mitigate the cancer risk of those genetic defects. The third study will be led by Dr. Jeffrey N. Weitzel, director of the Department of Clinical Cancer Genetics and the Cancer Screening & Prevention Program.

Markel has been involved with City of Hope through the National Insurance Industry Council fundraising group, and was presented with its Spirit of Life Award in 2006.

City of Hope is a research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. For information, visit www.cityofhope.org.

Topics Mexico New Mexico