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XL Insurance has made six key appointments to its North America Construction team. The latest additions to XL Insurance’s North America construction team include:

Lawrence Lejfer — Vice president and senior underwriter for construction professional liability in New York. Lejfer joins XL from Zurich North America where as an underwriting manager he directed the company’s construction professional liability and builders risk books of business for the Northeast.

Raymond Allen — Assistant vice president and senior underwriter for construction professional liability in New York. Allen joins XL’s construction team from its environmental unit where he served as a professional and pollution liability underwriter for XL construction and environmental clients. Prior to his underwriting positions with XL, Allen also served as an environmental claims consultant for claims involving remediation projects and national spill response management program.

Michael Baxter — Vice president of property in XL’s Toronto office. Baxter is responsible for managing XL Insurance’s Canadian property business, including energy and construction-related property coverages. He joins XL Insurance from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, where he was vice president of engineering and construction. Previously he served as CEO and chief agent of Arch Insurance Group’s Canadian operations, and was worldwide chief underwriting officer for Arch Insurance Group’s Onshore Energy and CAR/EAR businesses. Prior to joining Arch, he was vice president in the marine and energy practice of Marsh Canada Limited in Calgary. Baxter also spent more than 10 years with Starr Technical Risks Agency.

Jim Richert — Risk engineer for subcontractor default insurance in New York. Richert joins XL Insurance’s North America construction team from Zurich Services Corp. where he spent the last five years as a senior risk engineering consultant serving professional liability, subcontractor default and casualty insurance clients. He also brings hands-on construction industry experience to XL having spent nine years working for a major U.S. heavy/highway/transit contractor.

Mark Kulas — Senior underwriter for construction property in XL’s Chicago office. He joins XL from Zurich North America where he was a senior account executive underwriting inland marine/builders risk. Prior to his tenure in underwriting, he worked for Zurich’s property claims department for nearly a decade handling large losses and catastrophe claims.

Nancy Rummel — Vice president and executive underwriter in construction primary casualty and based in Indianapolis, Ind. Rummel brings 30 years of multi-line underwriting experience to XL. Most recently, she was managing account executive for Zurich North America, helping establish their construction underwriting operation in Indianapolis and managing activities in Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan. Her career also includes underwriting management and staff positions with CNA Insurance Co. and Aetna Casualty.

XL Insurance also promoted Frank Soldano to western regional executive.

In that role, he will lead the business development team and have overall regional management responsibilities. Soldano reports to Uwe Schoberth, head of XL’s Insurance’s sales and regional management team.

Prior to joining Dublin, Ireland-based XL in 1998, Soldano was a regional manager in property/casualty with Zurich Insurance. He was also with INA/Cigna in various management roles. Soldano started his career in insurance with Allstate in various management roles.

California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund appointed Dr. Bernyce M. Peplowski as its medical director. Peplowski served as State Fund’s interim medical director for six months prior to her confirmation.

Peplowski played a key role in initiating a policy for physicians in the State Fund Medical Provider Network that aligns the dispensing of opioids and compound medication in California workers’ compensation claims with established medical treatment guidelines.

Before joining State Fund, Peplowski was the chief medical officer for Zenith Insurance Co., and the chief of occupational medicine at Lockheed Aeronautical Systems from 1982 to 1990. She also practiced at Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group.

Allstate Insurance Co. has named Thomas V. Ealy as president of its independent agency unit, Encompass Insurance.

Ealy will replace Cynthia Young, president since 2006, who has left the company.

Encompass, which sells home and auto policies through about 3,000 independent agents, writes about $1 billion in business, or less than 5 percent of Allstate’s total premiums sold by its 12,000 contract agents. The Encompass book of business has been shrinking in recent years.

Ealy joins Allstate from Willis Group Holdings, where he most recently served as national partner of the Midwest region for its North American retail operations. Earlier in his career at Willis he served as chief operating officer of its $750 million revenue North American division. Prior to Willis, he was with national broker USI.

Ealy will report to Donald J. Bailey, executive vice president for emerging businesses.

Young’s departure comes after the July exit of Joseph Lacher, president of Allstate Proetction, its property/casualty subsidiary, who left the company after being in his job for only two years.

Allstate also announced in May it is spending $1 billion to boost its online sales by acquiring two popular online insurance sellers — Esurance and the associated site, Answer Financial.

Rosa Moran has been appointed administrative director of the California Division of Workers’ Compensation by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Moran has served as a workers’ compensation judge since 2005. Previously, she was an attorney in private practice from 1988 to 2005.

This position requires Senate confirmation. The compensation is $132,179. Moran is a Democrat.

Carrie Nevans, who served as its acting administrative director since October of 2005, passed away in February, due to complications from kidney failure.

MJ Insurance has hired Byron Shultz as a producer in its Phoenix, Ariz., office. Shultz, who is MJ’s third new addition in Phoenix within the last 60 days, will work with potential new property/casualty clients.

Prior to joining MJ Insurance, Shultz was a professional golfer and served as a club instructor, tournament director and merchandise sales and event coordinator throughout Massachusetts, New York and Arizona. Most recently, he was director of Instruction and of Tournament Operations at the Phoenix Country Club.

MJ Insurance, with offices in Arizona and Indiana, is a property/casualty and employee benefit agency founded in 1964 that has grown from a two person start-up to an agency with more than 125 employees.

One of Idaho’s top insurance industry regulators is jumping to private industry, where he’ll be the top lobbyist for Regence BlueShield of Idaho.

The deputy director of the Idaho Department of Insurance, Shad Priest, joined the big insurer Aug. 15 as director of legislative and regulatory affairs.

Priest has been with the Idaho Department of Insurance for 15 years and will be replacing Tim Olson, Regence’s current lobbyist.

Unlike some other states, Idaho doesn’t have so-called “revolving-door laws” that in some instances require public officials to take a breather before accepting jobs in industries that they or their agencies were previously responsible for regulating.

Regence has 170,000 members.

Topics California New York Agencies Legislation Workers' Compensation Underwriting Property Property Casualty Canada Construction Pollution Casualty Human Resources Professional Liability