People News: GEICO, AXIS, BSA, SMA

GEICO recently named Shawn Burklin senior vice president to oversee its regional operations offices in Lakeland, Fla., and Macon, Ga. The regions serve nearly 5 million customers in 16 states. Burklin’s previous assignment was regional vice president of GEICO’s West Coast operations in San Diego. Burklin will relocate to Lakeland, to succeed George Rogers who retired after 48 years with the company.

In addition, Kim Ottman was promoted to assistant vice president of claims for GEICO’s Florida operations. Ottman previously served as the region’s liability director.

Burklin joined GEICO in 1995 in the claims department in the Fredericksburg, Va., regional office, and soon after entered the company’s management intern program. Two years later, Burklin was promoted to claims attorney, and by 2000 he was named managing senior attorney.

He went on to serve as assistant vice president for the company’s Lakeland regional office, before moving to the company’s headquarters in Chevy Chase, Md., in 2007 as vice president of claims. He was later named vice president of GEICO’s Southeast operations, at the company’s Macon, Ga., regional office. In 2010, Burklin was named to head the San Diego regional office as vice president, where he was responsible for customer operations in California, Hawaii and Alaska.

Before joining GEICO, Burklin was a private-practice attorney.

Ottman has been with the company for 18 years, taking on additional responsibilities in Lakeland’s claims department.

Ottman began her GEICO career in 1998 as a claims examiner in Lakeland, and soon advanced into supervision overseeing claims service representatives, personal injury protection claims and telephone claims representatives. In 2008, Ottman worked as planning manager and later served as claims manager and branch manager, responsible for Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., operations. In 2010, Ottman transitioned to GEICO’s headquarters where she worked as director of performance review prior to becoming the liability director in Lakeland in 2012.

Bermuda-based AXIS Capital Holdings Limited named Mark Paccione executive vice president of Commercial Management Solutions (CMS) at AXIS Insurance. The CMS team specializes in commercial public and private D&O, Employment Practices, Fiduciary Liability and Crime products. Based in New York, he will report directly to John Van Decker, president, North American Professional Lines for AXIS Insurance.

Paccione has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, most recently serving as senior vice president with AXIS Insurance, leading its northeast region for CMS over the past five years. Previously, Paccione worked for Everest Re, where he helped establish its commercial management liability group. Before that, he spent 18 years at Chubb & Son in various management and executive roles.

Tenn.-based Brentwood Services Administrators Inc. (BSA), recently promoted LaTronya Roberts on its Tennessee Claims Department team to the position of claim representative, according to Jeff Pettus, president and chief executive officer of BSA.

Working under Shirley Mahorney, BSA claims supervisor, Roberts has increased responsibility for managing medical-only claims, loss-time, subrogation and settlements in an expanding client base of hospitals and clinics.

Previously, Roberts joined the company as a claim assistant supporting adjusters in the BSA Occupational Accident Department in April 2013. She was promoted to claim examiner II in July 2014, handling medical-only claims loss-time, subrogation and settlements. Before coming to BSA, she worked for Amerigroup as a customer services representative.

Strategy Meets Action (SMA), an insurance strategic advisory firm, named Karen Pauli principal. Pauli will support the expansion of SMA’s advisory business and provide advice, guidance, and thought leadership to insurers and solution providers. With her vast experience in digital transformation, underwriting, claims and business intelligence, Pauli has a great sense of the impact and opportunities resulting from the emerging new requirements of the digital connected world, changing customer experience and emerging technologies.

Pauli joined SMA from CEB TowerGroup, where she led the P&C insurance advisory practice for over 10 years. Prior to her position at CEB TowerGroup, she held various roles in underwriting and claims at various insurers.