People and Places

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has named Thomas M. Marra to the newly created position of president and chief operating officer. Marra, currently a member of the company’s board of directors and president and chief operating officer of Hartford Life, will assume his new role effective immediately. In his new role, Marra will oversee both The Hartford’s life operations and The Hartford’s property/casualty operations.

Ramani Ayer will relinquish his position as president but will continue as chairman and chief executive officer of The Hartford.

Also, David K. Zwiener, currently the president and chief operating officer of its property/casualty operations, is leaving the firm. He has accepted a position as managing director of The Carlyle Group’s newly formed Financial Institutions Group.

Marra joined The Hartford in 1980 and has held a progression of senior leadership roles in The Hartford’s life operations. In 1994, he was named senior vice president and director of Individual Life and Annuities and in 2000 was promoted to chief operating officer of Hartford Life, becoming president in 2001.

The Hartford has appointed as president and COO of property-casualty operations Neal S. Wolin, until now the company’s executive vice president and general counsel. Wolin joined the company in 2001 after 11 years of public service in the U.S. government in the White House and, most recently, at the Department of the Treasury, where he served as general counsel.

Replacing Wolin as executive vice president and general counsel is Alan J. Kreczko, currently the company’s senior vice president and deputy general counsel. Also, Eileen Whelley, was named as executive vice president, human resources.

Finally, with Marra moving to The Hartford’s world headquarters to assume his enterprise-wide role, leadership at Hartford Life will be shared by John C. Walters and Lizabeth H. Zlatkus presidents, respectively, of Hartford Life’s U.S. Wealth Management businesses and its International Wealth Management and Group Benefits businesses. Walters and Zlatkus will serve as co-chief operating officers of The Hartford’s life operations.

Cary Schneider, senior vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, has been elected executive vice president by the organization’s board of directors. Schneider assumes new responsibilities for directing the internal operations while continuing to manage the III’s Internet activities, provide support to state insurance associations and supervise the organization’s subscriber services division, an in-house public relations agency which provides communications services to other industry groups.

Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Schneider was part of the team that managed the first Hurricane Insurance Information Center, which served as a model for industry communications efforts in the aftermath of major disasters, including Hurricane Katrina.

Prior to joining the Institute in 1977, Schneider was assistant news secretary to Illinois Governor Dan Walker. He also has worked as a reporter and feature writer for Chicago Today and the Peoria Journal Star. Articles by Schneider have appeared in Actuarial Review, Catastrophe Risk Management, Film Comment and ESPN The Magazine.

One of the founding fathers of Rotisserie League Baseball, often referred to as Fantasy Baseball, he and his colleagues were recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2005.

James M. McGlennon has been appointed vice president and chief information officer for Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a strategic business unit of Liberty Mutual Group. McGlennon is responsible for the overall information technology and architecture of Agency Markets. He will oversee strategy, planning, application development, maintenance, and support of the Agency Markets technology.

Prior to joining Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, McGlennon oversaw was a vice president at BellSouth Corp. McGlennon has also held senior technology positions with Fleet Financial Corp., Computer Science Corp., and Digital Equipment Corp.

Montgomery Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, has named Christopher Piela regional vice president, Atlanta region. Piela will be responsible for the growth of personal and commercial lines business and the management of agencies appointed throughout Georgia.

Piela will oversee a growth plan in Georgia, where Montgomery recently added staff. In support of this focus, George Zink was named marketing manager, Atlanta region.

Prior to his appointment with Montgomery, Piela was manager, Field Operations Analysis, Liberty Mutual Agency Markets at the Boston headquarters. Piela also previously served as chief financial officer, Specialty Risks, Liberty Mutual Commercial Markets.

Regions Financial Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., named John Owen as senior executive vice president of Operations, Technology, Corporate Real Estate and Procurement. Owen will serve as a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Committee. He replaces Dave Gordon, who will retire August 15 after 37 years of service with the company.

Most recently, Owen served as chief executive officer of Assurant Specialty Property.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has appointed Jessica Hanson as the public affairs manager for the southeast region. Hanson will be based in Tallahassee, Fla., and will manage public affairs activities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Prior to joining PCI, Hanson served in various capacities for state and federal political campaigns, including the Bush — Cheney ’04 Campaign in Florida.

Paul V. Halter has joined The Rockingham Group of Harrisonburg, Va., as assistant vice president for research and development to develop new property/casualty insurance products and markets. Halter served as sales manager for a national insurer and as a vice president for a national broker. Most recently, he served as CEO of Commerce Casualty, Tarheel Insurance Management and Guarantee Insurance Co., all in Charlotte, North Carolina.