Arbella, QBE, West Bend and Attom Announce Appointments

Arbella Insurance Group announced the promotion of Joe Salerno to senior vice president of claim.

Salerno reports to Chief Operating Officer Janet Corcoran.

Since joining Arbella in 2014, Salerno has led the implementation of numerous service and loss management improvements, built training and development programs and has assembled a strong claim management team, the carrier said in a press release.

Salerno oversees more than 350 claim professionals located in Arbella’s headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts and five branch claim offices that provide claim services for personal and commercial lines in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Salerno is a graduate of the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he earned a BA in Political Science. With more than 30 years of claim experience, Salerno has held senior management roles with national carriers, including Travelers and Zurich.

Arbella provides car insurance, home insurance and business insurance in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as business insurance in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

QBE North America, a speciality carrier based in New York City, announced the appointment of Eric Sanders as head of claims.

The new position will help deepen integration across the company’s claims operations supporting QBE’s alternative markets and specialty and commercial businesses, the carrier said in a press release.

Sanders will be responsible for directing and providing vision for efficient claims operations by driving the planning and management of claims operations across North America, the company said. He will report to Dan Franzetti, chief operating officer for QBE North America.

Sanders joined QBE in 2013 and was most recently serving as senior vice president of commercial/alternative markets claims and third-party administrator management. Before joining QBE, he worked at Fireman’s Fund for nearly 20 years in positions of increasing responsibility in both claims and risk services. Before Fireman’s Fund, he worked in claims at Aetna Casualty & Surety.

QBE North America is a subsidiary of QBE Group, headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. announced the promotion of David Ertmer to senior vice president – claims, and four other executive appointments.

Ertmer is responsible for all claims operations at West Bend, including the company’s specialty lines and mono-line workers’ compensation divisions. Ertmer joined West Bend in 2009 as director of workers’ compensation claims and was promoted to vice president – claims in 2011. He serves the community in various leadership roles on nonprofit boards, including past president of the West Bend Area Chamber of Commerce and vice president of Family Promise of Washington County.

The carrier also promoted:

• Heather Dunn to senior vice president, as well as chief financial officer, a position she’s held since 2017.
• Rob Jacques to senior vice president – commercial lines. Jacques joined West Bend in 2000 as a regional sales manager.
• Jim Schwalen to senior vice president – personal lines and marketing. He joined West Bend in 1997 as assistant vice president – personal lines.
• Kelly Tighe to senior vice president – sales. He joined West Bend in 1999 as state sales manager and was named director of sales in 2001, assistant vice president of sales in 2007, and vice president of sales in 2009.

Attom Data Solutions, which provides property data to insurance carriers, announced the appointment of Martha Notaras to its Board of Directors.

Attom, based in Irvine, California, was recently acquired by Lovell Minnick Partners, a private equity firm specializing in financial and related business services companies.

Notaras is a partner at venture capital fund, XL Innovate, that invests in insurtech and fintech, including startups focused on data and analytics,. She serves on the boards of four of XL Innovate’s portfolio companies: Cape Analytics, Pillar Technologies, GeoQuant and Notion.

Previously, Notaras ran corporate development for the business data and analytics division of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc. Notaras’ prior experience includes investment banking at Merrill Lynch and commercial banking at Credit Suisse.

Notaras earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.