People and Places

Miami insurance agent Alex Soto was inaugurated the new president of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”), with Robert E. Fulwider and C. Brett Nilsson assuming the offices of president-elect and vice president, respectively. The new officers were sworn in at the Big “I” Leadership Conference in New Orleans.

Soto is president of Miami-Fla.-based InSource Inc. Soto has been active in the Big “I” nationally and in the Florida Association of Independent Agents during his 34-year career as an independent insurance agent. He is a past chairman of the FAIA and also a past director on IIABA’s national board. He served as chairman of the Big “I” Communications Committee, Branding Task Force and other committees. He was a founder of the Trusted Choice brand for independent agents and brokers.

Fulwider is principal and president of the Ray Wuestenberg Agency Inc. in West Liberty, Iowa, and of the Fulwider Agency Inc. in West Branch, Iowa. He also is president of Bob Fulwider and Associates, a life-and-health financial-planning agency in eastern Iowa. Fulwider started his career as an independent agent in 1973. He is a past president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa and currently sits on its Education Committee. He also is the only two-time Agent of the Year in IIAI history (1983, 1990) and was inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame in 2003. Nationally, he is a past chairman of the Big “I” Government Affairs Committee and the association’s Crop Insurance Task Force. He also has chaired several other Big “I” national committees.

Nilsson is senior vice president for The Buckner Co., based in Salt Lake City. Nilsson served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Utah from 1992-’93. He also served as a director on the Big “I” national board for nine years. Nilsson was chairman of IIABA’s Finance Committee, which he chaired from 1999-2003, and he served on IIABA’s Communications Committee. He has been intimately involved in the Big “I” Trusted Choice Junior Classic golf tournament for a number of years. Nilsson is a past recipient of Utah’s Agent of the Year and Young Agent of the Year awards, and he received an IIABA Presidential Citation in 2001. In 2003, Nilsson received his state association’s highest individual honor, the Burgener Award.

The national insurance agency network, Strategic Independent Agents Alliance, announced that Bill DeChard was promoted to SIAA’s executive vice president for marketing and consolidations. DeChard will serve as a senior marketing officer responsible for distribution of various SIAA services and products.

DeChard joined the New Hampshire-headquartered SIAA three years ago as a member of the SIAA senior management team with the task of working on the recruitment of agencies. He previously worked as a retail producer, Florida surplus lines agent and owned a retail agency.

Montgomery Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, is adding to its field claim operations in western North Carolina to expedite claims processing for its policyholders and appointed agents in this part of the state. Montgomery has added Brian Grady as resident property adjuster for western North Carolina. Grady’s additional experience handling auto, liability, and medical claims complements a field claim staff of 18 that services Montgomery Insurance’s seven state territory.

Montgomery Insurance sells through independent agents in Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, with additional offices in Georgia and Maryland. Montgomery Insurance is part of Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a business unit of Liberty Mutual Group.

Joseph Morrello was hired as Beazley Group PLC’s U.S. Eastern region underwriting manager, mid-market commercial property, covering the east coast from Maine to Florida. He will be based in New Jersey.

Beazley has been underwriting U.S. commercial property business, generally for large risks, on a surplus lines basis through the Beazley syndicates at Lloyd’s since 1992. From early next year, the company plans to also serve mid-market clients seeking coverage on an admitted basis.

Morrello joins Beazley from FM Global/Affiliated FM Insurance Co. where he held the role of operations vice president.

Swett & Crawford added staff in its Atlanta and Dallas offices. James G. Gibbs III joins the Swett & Crawford Atlanta office as a broker of fidelity and professional products. He has more than 14 years of insurance industry experience. For the past five years, he was a senior broke with Aon in Atlanta.

Chad Onstead, who most recently served as an underwriter for trucking industry risks at W.E. Love & Associates Inc., joins as a broker in Swett’s Dallas office. He has experience with Ramey & King Insurance facilitating market and client relationships as well as new business opportunities.

Robert Lucas was appointed president of St. James Insurance Group in Orlando, Fla. St. James Insurance Group is a program manager specializing in personal lines programs. St. James is also the majority owner of St. Johns Insurance Co. The firm was founded in 1984 and insures in excess of 200,000 homeowner policies.

Lucas previously held the position of executive vice president and has been with the firm since 1996.

On the heels of its fifth anniversary, Mystic Capital Advisors Group LLC out of New York announced the newest member of its investment banking team: Allen Go, a senior associate. Go is relocating from Philadelphia to become a part of Mystic Capital’s New York City office. He will focus on North American-based insurance transactions. Mystic Capital provides financial consulting services to the insurance and financial services industries.

Millicent W. Workman joined the International Risk Management Institute Inc., based in Dallas, as a research analyst. She will be acting as the editor of IRMI’s newly acquired Practical Risk Management, a source of background and advice on risk management.

Workman has more than 30 years of hands-on risk management experience in a variety of industries, and is currently the CPCU Society’s 2005-2006 president.