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The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut Inc. (PIACT) elected new officers. They are: President James Goodman, who is president of Goodman Insurance Inc. in Shelton; President-elect Howard Olderman, who is president of The Olderman and Hallihan Agency Inc. in Ansonia; Vice president James Berliner, who is managing member of Berliner-Fitelson Insurance in Bridgeport, and also president of Berliner-Gelfand & Co. Inc. in Bridgeport; Vice president Timothy Russell, who is senior member of The Russell Agency in Southport; Treasurer Brian Schmitt Sr., who is president of Curtiss, Crandon & Moffette Inc. in Trumbull; Secretary Augusto Russell, who is a producer and partner at May, Bonee & Walsh Inc. in East Berlin; and Immediate Past President Michael F. Keating, who is president of Michael J. Keating Agency Inc. in West Hartford

The PIACT also elected a new board of directors. They are: Distel; Berliner; Schmitt Sr.; J. Kyle Dougherty, of Dougherty Insurance Agency Inc. in Stratford; Gary O’Brien, manager of O’Brien Russo Quint Insurance in Watertown; Teri Walsh, vice president of Sachs Walsh Insurance in Westport; Nathan Shippee, executive director of Connecticut Healthcare Insurance Services in Wallingford.

In addition, the affiliated Connecticut Young Insurance Professionals also elected new officers. They are: President Angela Brunetti of The Distel Group in Farmington; Vice President Shannon Rabbett Hollman of The Rabbett Insurance Agency in Windsor; Treasurer Raymond Snow of General Casualty in Weatogue; and Secretary Lucy Andrade of Goodman Insurance in Shelton. CTYIP also re-elected to its board of directors: Allyson Kataja of Service Master of Norwich; Rabbett Hollman; Snow; Andrade; Marsha Hillman of Crystal Restoration Services in Southington; Brunetti; Kim Breen of Patrons Mutual Insurance Co. in Glastonbury; Francis (Bud) O’Neil, of C.V. Mason & Co. in Bristol; Julius Whitehead of Housing Insurance Services in Cheshire; and David Woodmansee of Woodmansee Insurance Inc. in Wyoming R.I.

Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based insurer Narragansett Bay Insurance Co. has named Bob Khosropur as chief claims officer. Khosropur, who most recently served as vice president of claims for Privilege Underwriters, is a 22-year veteran of the insurance industry. At Privilege, he helped build the claims organizations from the ground up and oversaw the installation of the claims processing system, hiring and training of claims staff and the establishment of vendor agreements. He previously held a number of senior management positions with Allstate.

Canton, Massachusetts-based insurer OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd. has appointed Mike McSally as senior vice president of personal lines. McSally joined OneBeacon in 1997 and has served in a variety of senior leadership positions, most recently as senior vice president of agency relations. He succeeds Alex Archimedes, who has retired from the company. Archimedes, who joined OneBeacon in 2002 as personal lines business executive for New Jersey, will remain associated with the company on a part-time consulting basis.

Risk Management Solutions has named Philippe Stephan as chief technology officer (CTO). Stephan has more than 20 years’ experience in software development and will apply his technology and leadership skills to the field of advanced analytic applications, driving the architectural design and development of RMS’ next generation of software. Before joining RMS, he was the CTO and head of product development at Moody’s KMV. Prior to that, he held senior positions with Credit Agricole Lazard Financial Products Bank and Societe Generale Bank. Stephan will be based in RMS’ headquarters in Newark, Calif.

Swett & Crawford appointed Robert Peterson as program manager for a new product, the Swett & Crawford Program for Contractors Auto, to be marketed with its carrier partner, Travelers Companies Inc. Before joining Swett & Crawford, Peterson worked with Crum & Forster in San Francisco as special accounts underwriting manager, where he managed a $17 million book of large account workers’ compensation business. His focus was exclusively on accounts with loss pick of $750,000 or more. Peterson began his insurance career in 1977 with General Reinsurance Corp.

Bermuda-based Ironshore Inc. has appointed Susan Kostro as vice president in charge of running its newly created Program underwriting facility. Kostro, who will be based in Boston, will develop and manage Program business, working in conjunction with program administrators across all of Ironshore’s underwriting platforms. She will also work with the Ironshore casualty teams to continue to build out the specialty casualty business, including Public Entity. Prior to joining Ironshore, Kostro spent over 19 years in the commercial insurance industry where she held various casualty underwriting and management positions. Most recently, Susan was vice president of casualty at Lexington Insurance Co.

International insurer Torus Insurance Ltd. has appointed Linc Trimble as New Jersey-based head of the company’s excess casualty division. Trimble will oversee a country-wide growth strategy for Torus, and build a regional infrastructure across the United States. He has held several senior management positions in the insurance industry, overseeing an array of products both domestically and internationally. Before joining Torus, Trimble was president of Statehouse Casualty Managers, a managing general underwriting firm specializing in umbrella & excess liability products. Prior to that, Trimble was president of St. Paul (Bermuda) Ltd. and also served as head of U.S. field operations for the specialty excess division of St. Paul Travelers. He has also held previous positions with Chubb Corp.

Topics Claims Excess Surplus Underwriting Connecticut Market Casualty