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Thomas J. Schaffler has been named president of Lockton Cos. employee benefits practice in Chicago. He joined Lockton more than 10 years ago as executive vice president and producer and serves on the Chicago executive committee. He is also a member of the Lockton Benefits Group executive committee. Schaffler has 25 years of experience in the benefits arena, getting his start in the business with The Hartford.

The Professional Insurance Marketing Association, a networking and business development forum for the insurance direct marketing arena, has elected its 2010 leaders, naming James P. Gallagher president. Gallagher is senior vice president, sales & client relations at USI Affinity, Collegiate Insurance Resources of Columbus, Ohio. Other new PIMA officers are: President-Elect Denise S. Friday of Insurance Agency Inc., Chicago; Treasurer Edwin J. Miltenberger of Gilsbar Inc., Convington, La.; Secretary Sam Fleet of AmWINS Group Benefits/NEBCO, Warwick, R.I.; and Immediate Past President (ex-officio) Frank J. Fimmano of Aon Consulting, New York.

Newly elected directors are: Allen Bress of Merchants Benefit administration, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Cathy Colburn of Corporate Call Center, Blue Bell, Pa.; and John Kelly of Prudential, Mandeville, La.

Returning directors for 2010 are: Ron Clarke of Affinion Group; Shane Eatinger of American General Life Cos.; Michael Mercer of Transamerica Affinity Services; Daniel O’Brien of New York Life; Joan O’Sullivan of Marsh Consumer; Susan Fox Ruggiero of NEA Member Benefits; Bill Tyson of AMPAC Insurance Marketing Inc.; and Michael Wise of IdeaStar Inc.

The President’s Distinguished Service Award was presented to Joan O’Sullivan, managing director at Marsh US Consumer. The PIMA Legend Award was presented to David Dunn, who recently retired from New York Life.

Travelers has promoted Bill Cunningham to executive vice president of its Business Insurance segment effective March 1.

Cunningham began his career with Travelers in 1987 in Commercial Accounts and has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility, including leadership roles in the Travelers Construction, National Accounts and Commercial Accounts businesses. He is also a member of the company’s management committee.

He succeeds John Albano, who will take on a part-time role at Travelers.

Steve Peeters has joined The Main Street America Group as vice president, commercial lines product. Peeters most recently was president and chief operating officer of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Zurich Insurance Services,

Peeters will be a member of Main Street America’s senior management team and report to Tom Van Berkel, the company’s chairman, president and CEO. He replaces Henry Pippins, the organization’s former head of commercial lines, who has moved into a new role as president of Main Street America’s Midwest Region.

Peeters will be responsible for all product development, underwriting standards, pricing processes and compliance for Main Street America’s portfolio of commercial lines products and coverages.

For the past two years, Peeters led Zurich Insurance Services, which is a privately owned program administration and insurance services company linked with Zurich North America Insurance Co. In this role, Peeters was responsible for $950 million of written premium, primarily in the Zurich Small Commercial business line.

Specialty insurer Ironshore Inc. has appointed Jordan Gantz as senior vice president and chief underwriting officer of the U.S. Specialty Casualty unit.

Gantz currently serves as senior vice president at Ironshore Risk Agency, responsible for the national wholesale casualty operations based in St. Louis, Mo. In his new role, where he will be based in New York, Gantz will be responsible for setting underwriting guidelines and strategies for existing and new product lines in the Specialty Casualty unit nationwide. Prior to joining Ironshore, Gantz was senior vice president for Landmark Insurance Co., where he was responsible for building a new casualty practice for the commercial agribusiness sector, and he also served as chief underwriting officer for Allied World Assurance Co. In addition, Gantz has held positions with Lexington Insurance Co., Munich American Risk Partners and Chubb.

Ironshore also promoted Dutch Phillips to the expanded role of vice president, U.S. Specialty Casualty, responsible for the nationwide wholesale casualty operation based in St. Louis. Phillips will manage the day-to-day activities of a staff that underwrites general liability, umbrella, and excess liability for a diverse client base of excess and surplus lines businesses. Prior to joining Ironshore, Mr. Phillips spent seven years with AIG and has also held positions with American Home where he managed Excess Casualty lines in Texas and Louisiana.

Zurich named two new regional managers for its North American Environmental team. Richard Calvert has been named manager for the South Central region, and Warren Puffer is the new manager for the Northwest region.

Calvert, who prior to joining Zurich was a director in Risk Services with Aon Environmental Services, has nearly 30 years of experience within the insurance industry. In his new role, he will be responsible for developing environmental business in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Puffer has more than 17 years of experience in the insurance industry, and was most recently a senior underwriter in Zurich’s New York office. Prior to joining Zurich in 2008, Puffer held roles in underwriting management, brokerage, casualty underwriting, and claims with various organizations. In his new role, Puffer will be responsible for developing environmental business in Northern California, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii.

XL Insurance has appointed Seraina Maag as chief executive of its North America Property & Casualty (P&C) unit. Maag most recently headed the Zurich North America Commercial, Specialties Business Unit, managing all aspects of that operation with offices across the United States.

Before joining Zurich in 2002, Maag was a partner and financial analyst for NZB Neue Zuercher Bank in Switzerland. Between 1990 and 2000 she held various senior management positions with Swiss Re in Switzerland and Australia.

She succeeds Dennis Kane, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. has named Andrew Sutcliffe senior director of professional services for its Commercial Insurance business. In this role, Sutcliffe will be responsible for product strategy and client relationships for the Professional Services group, which includes accountants and lawyers professional liability. Previously, Sutcliffe has held positions at Travelers, St. Paul Syndicate Management and Ace Global Markets.

Topics USA New York Excess Surplus Underwriting Pollution Casualty