New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has nominated Maria Vullo, an attorney and former staffer, as superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
Vullo’s nomination comes eight months after the May 2015 departure of former superintendent Benjamin Lawsky. The nomination is subject to confirmation by the state Senate.
Vullo is an experienced senior litigator and manager, with more than 25 years of practice in business litigation and investigations. She is of counsel at New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she was a partner for 20 years.
Vullo previously served as executive deputy attorney general for Economic Justice in 2010 under then New York State Attorney General Cuomo. In that role, she oversaw the Bureaus of Investor Protection, Antitrust, Real Estate Finance, Consumer Frauds and Internet, with a staff of approximately 200.
NYDFS was created in 2011 by the merger of the state’s Banking and Insurance Departments.
Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade announced that Janet Grace, a veteran risk specialist with more than 20 years of experience, has been hired as program manager to lead the Connecticut Insurance Department’s Captive Insurance Unit.
A former consultant for Towers Watson, Grace has done extensive work in risk identification and coverage analysis, business process redesign, risk financing, strategic business planning, underwriting and reinsurance.
Grace also spent 20 years with The Hartford where she was a senior account executive and underwrote business in a number of core units, including risk management.
Data firm Verisk Analytics has appointed Bill Churney as president of its AIR Worldwide risk modeling business. Churney had been serving as AIR’s chief operating officer.
Churney succeeds Ming Lee, who retired as AIR president Jan. 1, concluding a 20-year career at AIR Worldwide. Lee will continue at AIR until June in a non-executive role.
Churney joined AIR in 2002 as senior vice president and has been chief operating officer since July 2013. Before joining AIR, Churney worked in product management and operations management, including at McMaster-Carr and Charles River Associates.
Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc., the largest independent agency in Rhode Island, has announced a leadership succession plan.
The agency said Nat Calamis, president and chief executive officer, and William McGillivray, chairman and chief financial officer, will retire at the end of 2016.
Effective Jan. 1, 2017, Larry Keefe will take over as chairman and CEO, and David Soforenko will be named president and chief operating officer.
Keefe has had over 30 years of experience working at Starkweather & Shepley and has held leadership positions within the agency. Soforenko has been with the agency for the past 21 years and has led the sales team for the past six years.
Founded in 1879, Starkweather & Shepley is based in East Providence, Rhode Island, with 11 additional offices across New England, and a location in Fort Myers, Florida.
Liberty International Underwriters (LIU) has named Diana Cossetti as senior vice president of LIU’s U.S. Casualty operation, a newly-created underwriting leadership role overseeing Primary Casualty, Excess Casualty, Environmental, Railroad and Crisis Management.
Cossetti will be based in New York and report directly to Michael Finnegan, LIU’s chief underwriting officer for U.S. operations.
Cossetti brings 28 years of insurance industry experience to LIU, including the last 14 years in senior executive positions with Crum & Forster. Her background is in both retail and wholesale markets.
Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., an independent agency based in Syracuse, New York, announced the addition of three new managers for its newly launched Private Client Division.
The agency hired Craig Van Epps as operations and sales development manager, and Jodi Blaczinski and Shelly Fox-Kline as account managers.
Both Van Epps and Fox-Kline came over from State Farm where they worked in the Personal Insurance sales and servicing area.
Van Epps has over 13 years of insurance management experience. He started his career with Liberty Mutual Insurance and has worked with captive and independent agencies. Fox-Kline has 24 years of insurance industry experience.
Blaczinski is a former employee who is returning to Haylor, Freyer & Coon. She has over 20 years of experience in the Personal Insurance area.
Haylor, Freyer & Coon’s Private Client Division will provide customized insurance services for affluent individuals and families. Founded in 1928, Haylor, Freyer & Coon is an employee-owned independent agency with 200 employees and six central New York locations.
Topics New York
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