People

Steve Cooper was appointed president of United Heartland, a national workers’ compensation insurer based in New Berlin, Wis., and a subsidiary of Accident Fund Holdings Inc. Cooper succeeds Emil Pfenninger, who has led United Heartland since its founding in 1990.

Cooper brings 21 years of property/casualty experience to the position. Prior to joining United Heartland, Cooper served as vice president of Claim Operations and TPA at Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, another Accident Fund Holdings subsidiary.

Pfenninger will remain with United Heartland in the coming months to help in the transition of his responsibilities to Cooper and work on special projects with Accident Fund Holdings until his retirement in 2011.

Tom Klinedinst III has joined Cincinnati, Ohio-based R. G. McGraw Insurance Agency as marketing and production manager for commercial lines.

Klinedinst brings 21 years of experience in commercial lines insurance and specializes in analyzing, designing, implementing and managing insurance and risk programs providing security for individuals and businesses.

Lisa Humphrey has joined Lockton Companies as vice president in Lockton’s international practice in Chicago. Prior to joining Lockton, Humphrey spent nine years as an account executive for Aon both in the United States and London where she worked with FTSE 150 companies with multinational operations.

A native of Queensland, Australia, Humphrey holds an Associate of Australian Insurance Institute (AAII) designation and an Associate of Risk Management designation (ARM) in the U.S.

In addition, Lockton expanded its Chicago team with the addition of O’Brien McMahon, as producer with a primary focus on employee benefits for middle-market client companies and organizations, and Jason Riley as an account manager in the firm’s commercial insurance practice.

Prior to joining Lockton, McMahon specialized in commercial real estate tenant representation at Newmark Knight Frank working with large national and international companies to evaluate space requirements and negotiate leases. McMahon’s professional background also includes new business development for Schofield Media, an international business-to-business publisher headquartered in Chicago.

Riley will place and service insurance programs for Lockton’s clients in the real estate, construction and other industry segments.

Prior to joining Lockton, Riley was a client representative at Integro USA. Riley worked at Marsh USA prior to Integro, his primary focus at Marsh being Construction Wrap-Up placement and administration as well as program administration for large international REITs.

Daniel Pigg, co-owner of the Howard Clare Insurance Agency in Terre Haute, Ind., has been honored with a Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award from Indiana State University. The ISU GOLD Awards recognize graduates who are outstanding in their professions; have made significant contributions to their communities, states or nation; and have exhibited interest in the university and/or the ISU Alumni Association since leaving the campus.

Pigg is a 2001 alumnus of the Donald W. Scott College of Business at Indiana State. Pigg also earned an MBA from the University of Missouri’s Henry W. Bloch School of Business in Kansas City.

Mark Allen and Christy Davies-Downing have joined the Wichita, Kan., office of insurance broker IMA Inc. as sales executives.

Allen has extensive sales experience as an entrepreneur and in other industries including technology.

Davies-Downing brings automotive industry experience in sales and client relationship management.