HDI Global, Newport Specialty Partners and Standard Insurance Company have announced leadership changes across liability, specialty insurance operations and employee benefits, with appointments covering a global liability head, a dual COO/CIO role and two national accounts promotions.
The Standard promotes two national accounts leaders
Standard Insurance Company has promoted Tracy Linney (pictured left) and Jason Kurz (pictured right) to leadership roles within its Employee Benefits business.
Linney has been named assistant vice president of national accounts client management. In the role, she will oversee the continued development of the organization, focusing on operational alignment, performance and collaboration within employee benefits.
Linney has been with The Standard for 20 years, primarily in client management leadership. She has also worked in sales operations, sales event planning and field sales training. She earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Sacramento.
Kurz has been named assistant vice president of national accounts sales. He will lead sales efforts tied to The Standard’s national growth strategy and relationships with brokers and clients.
Having joined The Standard in 2005, he has held roles across employee benefits and specialty market sales. Most recently, he served as regional vice president for the Western Region. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University.
Newport Specialty Partners has appointed Mary Sbaschnig as chief operating officer and chief information officer, placing her in charge of the specialty insurance platform’s operating and technology strategy.
Sbaschnig will oversee technology enablement, data and reporting, workflow improvement, compliance support and the development of scalable infrastructure for Newport’s partner companies. The company said the role is intended to support its partner managing general agents and program administrators as they grow while maintaining their underwriting focus.
She joins Newport with more than three decades of experience in building operating platforms, improving underwriting workflows, integrating systems and supporting specialty insurance growth.
Most recently, Sbaschnig served as vice president of solutions architecture at Vertafore, where she led work involving implementation, configuration, operational consulting and technology solutions for large-scale MGA and insurance distribution partners. She previously held senior leadership roles at I-Centric Solutions, Delos Insurance Group, and Clarendon National Insurance Company.
HDI Global has appointed Kai Schulte-Schrepping as head of liability global risk, effective July 1.
Schulte-Schrepping will oversee HDI Global’s worldwide liability global risk portfolio and report to Dr. Mukadder Erdönmez, member of the executive board of HDI Global, responsible for liability, cyber, motor and the US Market.
He has been with HDI Global for more than a decade and has experience in technical underwriting and complex global liability risks.
Schulte-Schrepping succeeds Daniel Maurer, who is gradually stepping out of the role as part of his transition toward retirement. Maurer will remain with the company but take on a new role within US Market Management, continuing to report to Erdönmez.
