People

Swett & Crawford has hired Carmela Noto as a broker in the insurance wholesaler’s Morristown, New Jersey office. Noto has long-term experience in marketing and managing commercial insurance portfolios and spent the bulk of her 20-year career with All America Financial, a unit of Hanover Insurance Co. She most recently served as marketing manager, developing and managing a $45 million portfolio of personal and commercial insurance in North and Central New Jersey.

Insurance wholesale broker S.H. Smith & Co. has hired Shawn Young as a vice president in its large property/casualty department and Lisa A. Cox as vice president of its in-house underwriting division. Young, who will be based in S.H. Smith & Co.’s new regional office in New Jersey, will develop the firm’s agency relationships around the country, with focused efforts in the metro-New Jersey area and Eastern Pennsylvania. He will also serve as a resource for transportation expert and casualty placement, and will manage the department’s petroleum book of business. Young most recently served as senior vice president for the NIP Group, where he built a retail transportation practice.

Cox, who will be based in Hartford, Connecticut, will manage operations of the in-house underwriting division, which specializes in small commercial property and casualty risks that are not eligible for coverage within the standard markets. Cox most recently served as vice president of strategic initiatives for The Hartford Financial Services Group, where she drove the strategy for the small commercial business unit.

The New York Insurance Association has elected Richard J. Zick, president and chief executive officer of Utica First Insurance Co. as the association’s chairman.

His year-long term begins in January. Zick has served on the NYIA board of directors for the past 10 years and was recognized as the association’s 2008 Chair’s Distinguished Service Award winner. He is also chair of the New York Insurance Scholarship Foundation, which is affiliated with NYIA and has served on numerous NYIA committees. The following join Zick as officers for NYIA: First Vice Chair Jeffrey Rice, president and CEO of Wayne Cooperative Insurance Com; Second Vice Chair Bernard Turi, associate general counsel and claims attorney, for Utica Mutual Insurance Co.; Treasurer Marlene Benton-Sherwood, president of Fulmont Mutual Insurance Co. The following directors were also elected: Robert Baxter, CEO and general manager, Dryden Mutual Insurance Co.; Travis MacMillian, president and COO, Greater New York Mutual Insurance Co.; Patrick O’Malley, product manager, Progressive Northern Insurance Co.; Rice; and Turi.

Robert H. Pittinger has been appointed director of underwriting AXA Art Insurance Corp. Pittinger brings more than 30 years of comprehensive industry expertise to the position, with experience in leadership, broker relationship management and best practice accountabilities in assessing and underwriting both commercial and personal insurance risks. He joins AXA Art from Chartis, (formerly AIG), where he served as liaison to the company’s foreign field offices, and most recently, as vice president of product development.

Bermuda-based XL Capital Ltd. appointed W. Myron Hendry to the newly created position of Chief Platform Officer, based in Stamford, Conn. He will be responsible for all operational IT support of XL’s businesses, including business process, technology, and outsourcing. Hendry has held numerous senior level operations leadership positions in the global insurance industry. Most recently, he was Business Operations Executive of Bank of America’s Insurance Group.

Topics New York New Jersey