People

New York-based USI Holdings Corp. has named Sandra Usleman, former president of USI’s Austin, Texas, operating company in the Southwest region, as senior vice president and chief sales officer.

Other changes in USI’s Southwest region include the addition of Harold L. (Hal) Shults Jr. as USI SW Regional executive vice president and president of USI Austin. Shults previously was president and CEO of Guaranty Insurance Services in Austin, followed by his most recent position as president of Compass Insurance Agency in Houston. He has 32 years of experience as an insurance executive.

Bruce Burdett, an insurance executive with 38 years of industry experience, has been named president of Statewide Operations for Texas-based Frost Insurance, the insurance subsidiary of Frost Bank. Burdett joined Frost Insurance in July 2005. Most recently, he held the position of region president, overseeing the Austin and Victoria offices.

Previously, he served as regional manager for Frost Insurance’s North Texas operations and director of statewide sales. He will continue to office in the Austin Frost Insurance location. During his career Burdett has served in various senior level capacities for both an insurance company, as well as several major brokerage firms. A graduate of The Citadel, with a bachelor’s degree in business, Burdett is a retired Brigadier General.

Parker Holt has joined the Austin, Texas, office of independent insurance and financial services brokerage firm Higginbotham & Associates as vice president. He is a property/casualty insurance broker and risk consultant for middle to large commercial business with concentrated experience in the construction market.

Holt began his career in insurance sales in 1997 at Upshaw Insurance Agency, Amarillo, Texas, and later worked at Whorton Insurance Services in Austin. In addition to high-hazard construction risk, he is proficient in general and independent contracting, oil and gas, alternative energy, manufacturing, social services, commercial property and workers’ compensation exposures.

Holt holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation. He is a board member of the Central Texas Sub-contractors Association and Air Conditioning Contractors of America Central Texas Chapter, and he is a member of the Texas Construction Association and Texas Construction Experts.

Impact Risk Solutions, the brokerage arm of CHS insurance subsidiary, Ag States Group, has added Edward Carey and Matthew Buss to its risk management team. Carey and Buss will work out of the company’s Houston office.

Carey assumes the position of director, Energy & Risk Management, where he will lead the sales and service of the company’s large energy and related accounts. He brings more than 35 years of risk program expertise serving the energy manufacturing, drilling and international exploration industries. His experience includes being the risk manager for leading oil manufacturer, Penzoil Company. Carey has his Associate in Risk Management (ARM) certificate, and serves on the board of directors for Offshore Energy Center, an organization that builds awareness for the offshore energy industry.

Buss joins Impact Risk Solutions as an account executive tailoring alternate risk financing programs for highly specialized clients in the energy and construction sectors. He also brings a background in working with oil and gas accounts, as well as transportation and contracting. He comes to Impact Risk Solutions after a successful track record of sales and client service at Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc. Buss is a certified insurance counselor (CIC).

Crump Insurance Services has added Ann Chapman in its Houston office as vice president and broker in its Marine/Cargo unit. In her new position, Chapman will develop and broker marine/cargo business.

Chad Kerr has joined Fort Worth, Texas-based InsureZone/AgentSecure as vice president of Business Development. Kerr will manage multiple facets of business development including the agencies affiliated with the recent CMS acquisition, the top tier of existing AgentSecure agents and book rollover opportunities. Kerr, a former agency owner, most recently worked with nationally known insurance carriers as branch manager, regional manager and national operations manager. InsureZone provides insurance technology solutions for the insurance marketplace. InsureZone also has offices in Nevada, Illinois, Iowa and Georgia.

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) has honored three students participating in the insurance curriculum at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin with scholarships. The 2010 ICT scholarship recipients at Huston-Tillotson are Ashley Simpson, Brittany McMillan and Christopher Yuen.

Each student was recommended by Huston-Tillotson insurance professor and Texas Department of Insurance Human Resources instructor Jesus Pedre. Pedre says the scholarship recipients were chosen because of their outstanding grades, attendance, contributions and classroom participation.

ICT spokesman Mark Hanna said the association was committed to seeing that Huston-Tillotson students have the opportunity to learn how insurance safeguards lives and property. ICT’s Education Foundation has expanded its program, offering scholarships and academic funding to nine Texas universities and donating more than $300,000 to these schools’ insurance and risk management programs.

Specialty lines insurer Argo Group US has appointed Louis Levinson to be president of the group’s E&S segment, overseeing the underwriting and business operations of Colony, Argonaut Specialty and Argo Pro.

Levinson joins Argo Group US from ACE Westchester where he was president of the nationwide casualty operations. Levinson has been with ACE Westchester for the last nine years, joining in 2001 as senior vice president of casualty. He was appointed to the position of president of ACE Westchester in 2005.

Prior to ACE, Levinson served in senior sales and marketing roles with Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and Chubb Group.

Mike Moran has been named as managing director of national specialty brokerage business and eastern region executive for Bliss & Glennon Inc. (B&G), the wholesale property and casualty division of Fortegra Financial.

Moran has more than 30 years’ experience in wholesale brokerage and reinsurance in the New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston markets.

Topics Texas Agencies Construction Chubb Risk Management