People

The ACE Group appointed Andrew McBride executive vice president, claims, for its international businesses.

McBride succeeds Roger Day, who will retire from the company at the end of 2012.

McBride will be responsible for the company’s claims operations supporting its property and casualty and accident and health insurance businesses in 50 countries in the Asia Pacific and Japan; Latin America; and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. He will be based in New York.

McBride’s claims industry experience spans nearly 25 years. He joins ACE from QBE, where he served as claims director, European Operations, since 2005. Prior to that, he was director, head of claims management, at Aon from 2002 to 2005, and held a range of senior claims and operations positions with the AXA and Guardian Royal Exchange Groups, where he began his insurance career in 1987.

In addition, Peter Murray, who leads the claims organization for ACE’s EMEA region, will assume the additional role of casualty claims executive for the company’s international operations. Murray will work with regional claims management to create and oversee strategies to handle major casualty, professional lines and other third-party liability claims. He will continue to be based in London and will report to McBride.

With 35 years of claims experience in London, Murray has served as claims director for ACE’s EMEA operations and senior vice president, Claims, for ACE’s international operations. Prior to joining ACE in 1999, he held several technical and management claims roles over a 22-year career with Lloyd’s. Murray is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner.

Crawford & Co. promoted Mauricio Alonso to CEO of the company’s Latin American and Caribbean operations.

Alonso was appointed senior vice president and regional managing director of Latin America and the Caribbean in March 2005. He has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. Before joining Crawford, he was vice president of the Latin America Claims Division for AIG. He also served as claims manager, AIG Mexico; claims manager, AIG Brazil; regional director, AIG Mexico; and regional claims supervisor for Geico.

Ringler Associates Inc., a national structured settlement company, appointed James M. Early to the newly created position of executive vice president and national sales director.

Early, who has more than 27 years in the structured settlement business, was a regional director at Ringler Associates in Bedford, N.H. He joined Ringler Associates in 2002, serving on the board of directors beginning in 2006 before being appointed to senior vice president in 2010.

Early will be in charge of sales operations at the company’s 70 offices nationwide.

Safety National Casualty Corp., an excess workers’ compensation and writer of multi-line large casualty business across the United States named Elizabeth Quigley as large casualty underwriting manager. She will focus on servicing and underwriting national accounts involving Safety National’s large casualty product offering, which includes workers’ compensation, commercial auto and general liability lines of coverage.

With more than 30 years of industry experience at various national carriers, Quigley brings a strong large casualty background to Safety National. She previously served as underwriting director at Discover Re/Travelers, responsible for underwriting and business development in the captive large casualty marketplace.

Quigley will be based in Safety National’s corporate office in St. Louis, Mo.

Mutual Boiler Re promoted James J Callahan III to assistant vice president of claims, where he will focus on staff development and claims operations. He is also tasked with the execution of fulfilling the claims strategy regarding quality management and regulation.

Callahan joined Mutual Boiler Re, an operation of FM Global, in 2007 as a claims examiner and brings more than 12 years of claims experience to the company’s management team.

St. Petersburg, Fla.-based United Insurance Holdings Corp., a property and casualty insurance holding company that writes and services property and casualty insurance in Florida, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, appointed John Forney to CEO.

Forney, who joined the company on June 14, 2012, also serves as a director on the company’s board.

His experience includes a mix of public finance investment banking and private sector executive leadership positions with a focus on the insurance market. He most recently served as managing director in Raymond James’ Public Finance Department.

Rick Hoagland was named vice president of GEICO’s claims home office. He succeeds Nancy Pierce, who was recently named regional vice president in GEICO’s Fredericksburg, Va. office.

Hoagland began his career with the company in 1994 in telephone claims. He was later selected to join the company’s executive assistant program and was elected assistant vice president of claims of the Midwest regional operations in 2009. Hoagland was named assistant vice president of underwriting in 2010.

In a separate announcement, Teresa M. Spina was named assistant vice president and will head GEICO’s staff counsel operations west of the Mississippi. She will work out of the company’s Dallas regional office.

Spina started with GEICO as a liability attorney and went on to lead a group of three attorneys handling personal injury protection (PIP) cases. Her office has since expanded to 219 associates, including 92 attorneys.

W. R. Berkley Corp. named Michael G. Connor president of Iowa-based Continental Western Group LLC effective immediately.

He succeeds Bradley S. Kuster, who will oversee other activities within the W. R. Berkley Corp. group of companies.

Connor has more than 25 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry and served most recently as senior vice president, commercial markets, Northeast division at another property and casualty insurer.

Selective Insurance Group Inc. promoted John Guerra to assistant vice president, Northeast claims manager.

Guerra joined Selective in 1984 as a claims trainee holding claims management positions throughout the organization.

Sams & Associates Inc., an independent insurance adjusting firm serving the western United States, named Lizzy Adkins as the new regional manager and multiline adjuster in Seattle, Wash., Portland, Ore., and surrounding areas.

Adkins, who joined Sams & Associates in 2012, has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry. Adkins has worked as a claims specialist for American States Insurance, Safeco, Grange Insurance and Country Financial.

She is also past president of the Puget Sound Adjusters Association and has served on the advisory board for the past 12 years.