People

Thomas F. Motamed has stepped down as vice chairman and chief operating officer for The Chubb Corp. to become chairman and chief executive officer of CNA Financial Corp., a position he will assume as of June 8, 2009.

Motamed worked at Chubb for 31 years, beginning in 1977 as a claims trainee, and has held numerous positions in the field and home office. He was elected to his present position in December 2002.

Richmond, Virginia-based insurance broker Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. promoted F. Michael Crowley to the new position of president and chief operating officer.

As president, Crowley has been responsible for HRH’s retail operations. In this expanded role, he will have direct responsibility for sales and operational leadership, including the company’s international and wholesale operations.

Crowley has been president of HRH since September 2005. He joined the company in 2004 as executive vice president, national director of property and casualty. Prior to joining HRH, he was president and chief operating officer of Palmer & Cay Inc. from 1998 to 2002 and vice chairman from 2002 to 2004.

Managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc. has named Peter Stanislaw as program manager of StaffPak, an insurance package for the staffing industry.

StaffPak is offered through Annandale, Va.-based Lighthouse Underwriters, a program underwriting subsidiary of Dallas-based U.S. Risk.

In addition to managing StaffPak, Stanislaw also serves as vice president and branch manager of Lighthouse.

Stanislaw joined Lighthouse in 2004 and served as program director and production underwriter of PLPros, the company’s professional liability program. Prior to joining Lighthouse in 2004, he spent 25 years at Hillers & Wagner Agency, Inc., and served as an insurance specialist and member of Dermody, Burke & Brown Financial Services.

Amy Smith joined Raleigh, N.C.-based TriSure as an account manager in the firm’s property and casualty insurance division.

In her new capacity at TriSure, Smith will serve as the first point of contact with clients. She will prepare quote and renewal information, pricing options and proposals for presentation.

Miami-based Howden, specialist liability broker and part of the global insurance group Hyperion, launched a new wholesale brokerage division. To lead the new division, Howden recruited Kenia Delgado as a director of the U.S. broking operations.

Delgado previously held various positions within the management liability and professional liability underwriting sector for financial institutions and middle market commercial businesses at AIG and The Hartford Insurance Co. She recently served as assistant vice president of FirstCity’s wholesale broking division in New York.

West Point, Ga.-based J. Smith Lanier & Co. added Mark Benson as managing director in its Knoxville, Tenn. office.

Benson will oversee all sales, financial expenses and personnel in Knoxville. He joined J. Smith Lanier & Co. after 23 years of risk and insurance client management with Marsh. He holds a designation as an accredited advisor in insurance.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc. named Nicole Brown vice president and account executive to its Southeast region professional risk group.

She will be based in the firm’s Atlanta office. Brown will provide executive and professional liability product and technical support, risk analysis and assessment consulting, marketing advocacy and claims management oversight.

Brown will also have an active new business development role responding to requests for proposals and assisting producers and their teams in all phases of the sales process.

General Star Management Co. appointed Gregory J. Diorio as chief operating officer and Joseph L. Majsak chief marketing officer.

Diorio will oversee all underwriting divisions while Majsak will oversee the new marketing services division, which was created to provide focused marketing and product development services.

The company’s claim and administration units will report to Victoria J. Seeger, General Star’s chief underwriting officer.

P. Cole Palmer will replace Majsak as manager of the company’s casualty division and will also manage the professional brokerage division. Within the casualty division, James M. Richardson will serve as Western regional manager, while Michael Keane will serve as Eastern regional manager.

Paramus, N.J.-based The NIA Group has hired insurance industry veteran Kevin W. Conboy as chief executive officer.

Conboy is the former president and chief executive officer of Acordia (Wells Fargo Insurance Services.) He took over the reins at NIA Group June 1, and has been tasked with expanding NIA Group’s footprint through acquisitions and adding new brokers.

It’s a job he’s well-experienced doing. In his 16 years with Acordia, Conboy led 54 acquisitions, increased operating margins, incorporated cross selling as an integral corporate strategy and spearheaded the successful integration of Acordia into Wells Fargo.

The privately held NIA Group has offices in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Florida.