People & Places

National

DUAL North America, headquartered in San Diego, California appointed Peter Gosselink as executive vice president of its fine art program. Dual also has named Tricia Loney as head of specialty casualty.

Gosselink trained as a marine underwriter specializing in fine arts and collections before becoming versed in insuring various artwork and collectibles for commercial and private collections and stock in trade.

Before joining DUAL, Gosselink served as senior underwriter II, inland marine — fine art specialist and national product lead for Tokio Marine America Insurance Co.

As head of Specialty Casualty, Loney will be responsible for the long-term, sustainable profitability of DUAL’s commercial automobile, construction, environmental liability, excess liability, and workers’ compensation programs.

Loney’s background includes a 15-year career at a number of carriers, most recently as assistant vice president of professional liability program development for CNA Specialty and a senior director at Nationwide E&S/Specialty.

McGill and Partners said Karl Hennessy, will be appointed CEO of McGill Global Risk Solutions LLC, the U.S. insurance and reinsurance business.

Hennessy previously was leader of global specialty insurance teams in London. He will be moving to New York.

Hennessy will be supported by John Judice, who is appointed president of the U.S. business and will be responsible for driving sales and business development activity across McGill and Partners’ specialty insurance platform.

Warren Mula will remain chairman of the U.S business.

Nirali Shah has been appointed head of U.S. D&O, and to further support business development activity in the U.S., and Daisy Jackson was appointed partner, business development.

East

Fred C. Church, headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, promoted Kate Hart to vice president, personal lines manager.

Hart began her insurance career in 2007 as a sales representative with Liberty Mutual, later becoming a field development specialist. She joined Fred C. Church in March 2016 as the personal lines operations manager.

Ames & Gough, headquartered in Washington, D.C., appointed Elizabeth (Liz) Hilliard as assistant vice president.

Hilliard works directly with clients as an account executive and provides technical and administrative services to support client executives. Based in the Washington, D.C., office, she joined Ames & Gough in 2015 and has over two decades of commercial insurance industry experience.

Before joining Ames & Gough, she served at BB&T Insurance Services as an insurance account manager. Earlier, she was with Lambert, Riddle, Schimmel and Company for 14 years.

Midwest

H.W. Kaufman Group, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hired David R. Janis as general counsel and a member of the company’s leadership team.

For nearly 20 years, Janis has worked as a practicing attorney and corporate advisor. Previously, he served as associate general counsel at Rocket Mortgage in Detroit, Michigan, and was an active member of the company’s risk advisory group and risk counsel.

Dean Hildebrandt, president and CEO of Assurex Global, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, was elected to join the board of directors of Western National Mutual Insurance Co.

Hildebrandt has 25 years of experience in the industry. His term on the board will last for three years.

Ian Shada has joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within its employee benefits group in Omaha, Nebraska.

In his role with Alliant, Shada will design and implement comprehensive employee benefits programs for a diverse client base throughout the Midwest, Southwest, and Southern regions.

During his career, Shada has worked with clients across a broad range of industries.He also has experience with home, auto, commercial, life, and disability policies, working across 26 states.

Prior to joining Alliant, Shada was an agency principal with a Nebraska-based employee benefits firm.

Alliant Insurance Services is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

South Central

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) appointed Debra Knight as the new State Fire Marshal for Texas.

Knight brings more than 30 years of experience in administrative and criminal law, as well as insurance and compliance analysis. She joined TDI in 2013 after 20 years in private practice and the insurance industry.

Knight previously served as the deputy commissioner of Compliance and Investigations for the Division of Workers’ Compensation, where she oversaw investigating administrative and criminal violations.

Before retiring in 2014 as a colonel in the United States Army, Knight served as the FEMA Region VI Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer for the U.S. Army in Texas.

Knight holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from South Texas College of Law.

Southeast

CRC Group, a large wholesale and specialty insurance distributor with offices across the U.S. and Canada, has named Farrah Schubmehl president of the group’s Nashville office.

Schubmehl has been serving as senior vice president and property broker at CRC.

She succeeds Jake Blackshear, who will join CRC’s Starwind specialty programs division to develop a new transportation line.

Schubmehl has 24 years in the insurance business, including the last four years at CRC’s Swett & Crawford division, based in Birmingham, Alabama. She was recently named CRC Group’s 2022 Woman of the Year and a top wholesale specialist broker.

Schubmehl will now report to Brent Treadway, co-president of the brokerage.

West

Insurance Office of America (IOA), headquartered in Longwood, Florida, has added Zack Leland to its western division team.

Based in Aliso Viejo, California, Leland joins IOA as a commercial lines producer, focusing primarily on staffing, contractors, warehousing and logistics.

Before joining IOA, Leland was a commercial lines producer at PIASC Insurance Services, Inc. and as sales manager at PEO Brokers Network.

Woodruff Sawyer, headquartered in San Francisco, California, named two new vice presidents.

Owen Igbinosun joined the firm as vice president, management liability, focused on private equity and real estate in the upper middle markets.

Before joining Woodruff Sawyer, Igbinosun spent over 12 years in risk management for HUB International, Assured Partners, Lockton and Stericycle.

Aparna Niroola joined the firm as vice president, employee benefits, focused on clients in middle and large markets.

Before joining Woodruff Sawyer, Niroola spent more than 20 years in employee benefits and health care consulting.

In addition to working at brokerage firms Aon and Willis Towers Watson, she advised on both the provider and payer side for Kaiser Permanente and Optum.

CIBA Insurance Services, headquartered in Glendale, California, named Andrew Aldorisio head of product development and a member of the executive management team.

Aldorisio has more than 15 years of insurance experience, most recently as chief underwriting officer at Obsidian Insurance Holdings Inc. He also has served as vice president at SCOR and vice president and program underwriter at Munich Reinsurance America Inc.

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