People

Juan Andrade and Jonathan Bennett have been named as interim co-leads of the Property and Casualty Operations of The Hartford.

Their appointment to those interim positions follows the departure of Neil Wolin, president and chief operating officer of the The Hartford’s Property and Casualty Operations, who has accepted a position in the White House as Deputy Counsel to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Assistant to the President.

Andrade is currently executive vice president of sales and distribution for Property and Casualty. He joined The Hartford in 2006 when he assumed leadership of the P/C claims organization. Prior to joining The Hartford, Andrade held several leadership positions with The Progressive Corp., and before that with American International Group.

Bennett is currently executive vice president of personal lines and small business insurance. Bennett joined The Hartford in 1999 as staff assistant to Ayer. He has since served in several leadership roles at the company, including vice president of corporate development, head of the eBusiness Ventures Team, and senior vice president of product management for the personal lines division. He was promoted to his current role in 2005.

Assurance Agency Ltd., based in Schaumburg, Illinois, has promoted Dan Klaras from executive vice president to president. Klaras takes over for Anthony Chimino, who previously held the titles of both president and CEO. Chimino will continue to serve as Assurance’s CEO and top officer of the company.

In his new role as president, Klaras will be directly responsible for all the property/ casualty insurance practices; the overall sales management of the agency; producer education and development and deciphering new property and casualty products to deliver to Assurance clients.

Klaras joined Assurance in 2005 and assumed management responsibility for one of the company’s three property/ casualty business units. Prior to Assurance, Klaras was a field vice president for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. from 2003 through 2005. He was responsible for 200 agencies across five Midwestern states. Prior to joining Fireman’s Fund, was with Kemper Insurance and Safeco Corp.

Independent insurance broker The Lockton Cos. has named Michael D. Paulsen as vice president in the firm’s Chicago office. Paulsen is responsible for new business development and client advocacy for property/casualty and employee benefits clients. He has experience counseling middle market firms in transportation, manufacturing, senior housing and professional services. He has also worked with distressed companies and mergers and acquisitions.

Paulsen previously served for more than six years as a producer in Chicago at Willis HRH and its predecessor, Thilman Filippini. He has been in the insurance industry for 15 years and has experience in workers compensation risk management, employee benefits, loss control and claims.

Richmond, Virginia-based Markel Corp. has named Mike Crowley as president of Markel Corp.’s Specialty Division. In his new position, Crowley will be responsible for specialty insurance business, which includes Markel Insurance Co. and Markel American Insurance Co. Prior to joining Markel, Crowley was president of Willis HRH North America, and was with Johnson & Higgins and Palmer Cay.

Markel also promoted Britt Glisson to chief administrative officer. In this role, he will be responsible for assuring efficient, cost effective operations in North America. Glisson joined Markel in 1990, first as chief financial officer and later as president and chief operating officer of Essex Insurance Co. In 1996, he became president and chief operating officer of Markel Insurance Co., the positions he held just prior to his promotion.

The Professional Insurance Agents Association of Ohio Inc. elected Douglas J. Fox, of Perrysburg, president of its board of directors. Fox is an independent insurance agent with Diversified Insurance Service, in Toledo. An active member of PIA, Fox has served on the board of directors since 2000 and serves as chairman of the Executive Committee. He has also been a member of PIA’s Membership Committee, Agents Resource Committee and Education Committee.

John Burtch, of Westerville has been named president-elect. Burtch is president of American Agency, Inc. in Columbus. An active member of PIA, Burtch is a member of PIA’s Executive Committee and has served on the board of directors since first being elected in 2005. He is also a member of the Agents Resource Committee serving as chairman in 2006, and MarketSource Agency Network where he served as president in 2007.

Lori Ault has joined S. H. Smith & Co., a national specialty insurance broker, as vice president of sales. She will be part of the Midwestern Ohio sales team. Ault’s responsibilities will include fostering new agency relationships as well as servicing the firm’s existing agency base. Prior to joining S.H. Smith, she was at Mercator Risk Services. She has also been with Wells Fargo Insurance Services and prior to that, Royal & SunAlliance Co.

Kansas City-based UMB Financial Corp. has named Roger Forystek as president of its insurance subsidiary, UMB Insurance. He will manage insurance sales and distribution. Forystek has more than 20 years of experience in the industry. Prior to joining UMB, he was president and CEO of Hub International Southwest, managing the insurance brokerage organization in four states. He has also held positions with KeyCorp, Aon and Minnesota Mutual Life during his career.

Topics Agencies Property Property Casualty Casualty