Alan McClain of Little Rock was appointed chief executive officer of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission. McClain was named to the post after former CEO Julie Benafield Bowman accepted appointment as commissioner of the Arkansas Insurance Department.
McClain, 39, brings more than 17 years of workers’ compensation experience to the position, having been the director of the Self-Insurance Division at the Workers’ Compensation Commission since July 2000. Before joining the Commission, he was assistant director of the Public Employee Claims Division at the Arkansas Insurance Department from 1998-2000, Claims Determination manager at the Arkansas Insurance Department from 1993 to 1998, and worked in the Claims Management Services Division for Sedgwick James of Arkansas from 1987 to 1992.
The Citizens and Hanover Insurance Companies named Robin Nicks as regional president of Hanover Insurance Company’s Southern region, including the companies’ Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans, Richmond and Tulsa offices, effective immediately.
Operating from the Dallas office, Nicks will be responsible for all aspects of commercial and personal lines distribution, marketing and sales in the region.
Nicks joined Citizens and Hanover in June 2004, as regional vice president for the Dallas, New Orleans and Tulsa branch offices. She came to the company from St. Paul Travelers, where she served as regional executive and vice president, South Central region. In this role she was responsible for distribution management and for establishing and strengthening executive contact with the company’s agents.
Prior to that time, she held a number of senior positions with The St. Paul Companies, extending over a 19-year career. These include her role as regional underwriting director for the company’s Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas and Tampa offices; technology territorial director for Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, and several other underwriting roles.
Team Insurance Group, headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., appointed Brad Pfeiffer as vice president – senior client executive.
Prior to joining Team, Pfeiffer was with International Insurance Brokers Ltd., a professional risk-management and insurance brokerage firm in Tulsa. Before that, he served as vice president with Lockton Companies of Colorado. Previously, he was with Marsh Management Services Ltd., in Bermuda, where he served as vice president and senior insurance officer.
The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research in Austin, Texas, announced that President William T. Hold, Ph.D. was named to Insurance Newscast‘s annual list of the “100 Most Powerful People in the Insurance Industry” for the second year in a row.
The recognition is given to the 100 people who have made the most significant contributions to the insurance industry and its customers, and innovations in the development and advancement of insurance products, services, and systems for the security, protection and overall benefit of society.
Hold is co-founder and president of the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC), president of The National Alliance Research Academy, chief executive officer of the Society of Certified Insurance Service Representatives (CISR), and a co-founder of Certified Risk Managers (CRM) International–all under the umbrella of The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research.
Before assuming these positions, he had been vice president of the National Association of Independent Insurers located in Chicago, Ill. He also has served as a consultant to many organizations, including the American and Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Transportation and the Texas State Board of Insurance.
Republic Group tapped agribusiness expert Roll Wagner to lead the company’s new farm and ranch program, which was introduced Jan. 3, 2005.
Wagner began his career on the agency side of the business and then moved to the agribusiness department of Millers Insurance Group of Fort Worth, Texas. There he rose to the rank of vice president and sat on the managing committee of Mill and Elevator Rating Bureau in Chicago, Ill. Later, Wagner helped Zurich North America launch an agribusiness product in Texas.
Most recently, he comes to Republic from Gulf Insurance Group where he was a senior program underwriter. Wagner’s broad property and casualty industry experience was achieved through work in the areas of marketing, loss control, claims, underwriting and management. Wagner has earned the professional designations of CPCU and ARM.
Founded in 1903, Dallas-based Republic provides personal property and auto insurance in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico, and commercial insurance in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Fred B. Stone was named chairman and chief executive officer of Rebsamen Insurance in Little Rock, Ark. Stone succeeds Allen J. McDowell, Rebsamen chairman and chief executive officer, who retired after 13 years as chairman and CEO.
Stone is president of Rebsamen Insurance/Springdale Inc. in Fayetteville, Ark., and has responsibility for Rebsamen Insurance/Fort Smith Inc. and Rebsamen Insurance/Springfield, Mo. He specializes in risk management insurance for large companies.
Stone joined the insurance industry in 1977 in his hometown, Stuttgart, Ark. He owned agencies in Stuttgart and Heber Springs, Ark., before moving to Fayetteville and founding H&S Insurance, which he sold in 1992 to Rebsamen. At that time, Stone became a Rebsamen sales manager, was later promoted to executive vice president and later became president.
Cunningham Lindsey U.S. Inc. (CLUS) appointed David J. Repinski as president and chief executive officer. Repinski has held several key operations and sales positions at CLUS over the past 11 years. He will be based at the CLUS home office in Dallas.
CLUS also announced other staff additions and appointments.
John F. Fleming joined the company as vice president and Southeast regional manager. Fleming will be based at Atlanta with full operational responsibility for a multi-state territory. He joins the firm after 32 years in the independent adjusting business, the past 23 of which were spent with a major competitor.
Jim Rich was promoted to vice president and national sales manager. He joined the firm in late 2004 as a national account executive with 20 years of industry experience. Rich will oversee the CLUS Business Development Team and the relationships for which they are responsible.
David Rodgers assumed the role of vice president and national account executive, with a special emphasis on third party administrators. Rodgers has been with CLUS for 10 years, and has an extensive sales and operations background.
Repinski said the changes are consistent with CLUS’ strategic plan, which is to expand from three into four distinct regions that better mirror the market.
Southwest Risk, located in Dallas and in operation since March 2004, announced that Bryan Wilburn will serve as president and principal of the company. He has held senior positions with two commercial wholesale brokers in Dallas over the past 10 years.
Southwest Risk specializes in the placement of commercial insurance for high hazard property and liability risks.
The Dallas/Fort Worth office of Burns & Wilcox announced the appointment of four new underwriting assistants: Bi Nguyen; Miranda Auvenshine; Christina McDaniel and Deborah Cummings.
Prior to Burns & Wilcox, McDaniel served as secretary for an insurance company in Monroe, La. She earned a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Cummings previously served as processing and billing manager for an insurance company in Arlington, Texas.
The Dallas office of Palmer & Cay reported that Lesa Blaser, vice president of Private Accounts, was awarded the 1st Annual JoAnn Heltibridle Award for Professional Excellence.
The award recognizes an outstanding individual in the private client high net worth insurance market and was established to honor the memory of JoAnn Heltibridle, who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, in the World Trade Center attacks.
The award recipient must exhibit the following characteristics: professionalism, in depth knowledge of insurance, passion for the industry, doing the right thing for clients and character.
Ross Buchmueller, president of AIG Private Client Group, presented Blaser with the award, which was supported by the Fireman’s Fund.
Bill Jenkins has joined the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents as vice president of business development and marketing. Jenkins most recently was executive director of the Applied Systems Client Network.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Insurers Face Business Interruption Claims After Global Tech Outage 
Beryl’s Remnants Spawned 4 Indiana Tornadoes, Including an EF-3: NWS 
Viewpoint: Deepfake Fraud Is On the Rise. Here’s How Insurers Can Respond 
Progressive Q2 Net Income Skyrockets Over 320% From This Issue
