Michael E. LaRocco has been officially named president and chief executive officer of State Auto Financial Corp., taking over those duties from Robert P. Restrepo Jr., who is retiring.
LaRocco also has been elected as a director of the company. Restrepo was re-elected as a director and will remain as chairman until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2015.
State Auto Financial Corp., headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is a superregional property and casualty insurance company
Grange Insurance, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, named John North president of personal lines.
North will be responsible for the overall growth and profitability of the company’s personal lines book of business, including product development and pricing, underwriting management and operations.
North has 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of Harleysville Insurance’s 26-state personal lines business.
Prior to Harleysville, North served Fireman’s Fund as a personal lines regional underwriting executive and field vice president for their largest region in the country. He began his career at Chubb where he served in a variety of roles.
Grange Insurance and its affiliates serve policyholders in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
J.M. Wilson, based in Portage, Mich., promoted Mary Ricks to the position of senior fleet transportation underwriter.
Ricks is responsible for evaluating transportation fleet submissions for acceptability to company underwriting criteria, quoting new and renewal transportation fleet business, binding and servicing new and existing policies, and building relationships with independent insurance agents and company underwriters.
Ricks joined J.M. Wilson in 2003 as a scanner, before being promoted to receptionist, underwriting technician, transportation underwriter and transportation fleet underwriter.
J.M. Wilson is a managing general agency and surplus lines broker.
St. Louis, Mo.-based Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), comprising nearly 100 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Southern Illinois, hired Grady Gamble as a recruiter for Missouri.
Gamble will implement a regional plan to pursue and enlist new partnerships with independent insurance agencies.
Prior to joining VIAA, Gamble had a successful career as an insurance and risk management advisor for Missouri families and businesses.
Founded in 2006, VIAA generates more than $125 million in written premium and is the regional founding member in Missouri and Southern Illinois for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA).
VIAA is the sister company of family owned and operated POWERS Insurance and Benefits.
Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Cos. added Michael McGuire as a senior field representative to promote targeted growth in the Midwest. Specifically, McGuire serves producers in Iowa and Nebraska.
He is responsible for identifying prospects for appointments while providing information about available resources and new developments to existing members of the distribution network. McGuire also functions as agents’ field liaison with Berkshire Hathaway GUARD’s underwriting, loss control, and claims staff.
McGuire has been part of the insurance industry in the region for over 15 years and has extensive experience with all lines of coverage while working with a variety of agency groups.
Karen Reutter has been appointed director, Construction Insurance for the Willis North America National Construction team. She is based in Minneapolis.
In this newly created role, Reutter will focus on business development of national and multinational clients. She will also work with insurance carriers.
Reutter has 30 years of experience in risk management for the construction industry. She joins Willis from Marsh where she served as a senior vice president.
Itasca, Ill.-based international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has hired Sean P. Connelly as global chief information officer. In this role, he is responsible for leading the company’s global technology strategy and initiatives.
Connelly replaces Eric C. Dean, who is retiring in June.
Connelly has held CIO roles within the financial services industry for nearly two decades. He spent the last 14 years with Guggenheim Partners LLC, a global investment and advisory firm in Chicago, where he also served as senior managing director. Prior to that, he served as CIO for Related Payroll Services in Oakbrook, Ill., and for Amerin Guaranty Corp. in Chicago.
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