A round-up of recent leadership moves across the US insurance industry, spanning personal lines, life and health, brokerage and specialty underwriting.
Joan Cleveland (pictured, left), president and CEO of SWBC Life Insurance Company and executive vice president of SWBC Property and Casualty Insurance Company, has been reappointed to the Texas Association of Life & Health Insurers (TALHI) board of directors.
TALHI represents life and health insurers across Texas and advocates for policies supporting access to insurance and financial products for Texas consumers. According to TALHI, life insurers support more than 295,000 jobs across Texas and have invested more than $710 billion in the state's businesses, infrastructure, housing, agriculture and communities.
"It is an honor to continue serving on the TALHI Board of Directors and supporting the important work the association does on behalf of Texas policyholders," said Cleveland. "I look forward to collaborating with my fellow board members to address the issues facing our industry and to support Texas families and communities."
Cleveland has more than 35 years of experience in the life and health insurance industry and over 10 years of prior service on the TALHI board. At SWBC, she oversees the company's payment protection insurance operations and strategic direction. She also sits on TALHI's Finance Committee and was recently appointed to the Texas Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association board, where she will serve through September 30, 2031.
World Insurance Associates LLC, an insurance brokerage and advisory partner to small and medium-sized businesses across the US, has named Betsey Milord (pictured, center) as its new chief broking officer.
In the role, Milord will lead World's broking organization, strengthening market relationships, enhancing broking capabilities and delivering client outcomes nationwide.
"World has built something truly special, and the opportunity ahead is tremendous. I look forward to partnering with our teams across the country to deepen carrier relationships, enhance our market capabilities and deliver exceptional outcomes for clients," Milord said.
Milord brings more than 30 years of industry experience and joins World after a decade at Marsh, where she led middle market placement operations at regional and national levels. She began her career as an agency owner in the Chicago suburbs before moving into leadership roles overseeing small business, commercial lines and national placement strategies.
Tokio Marine Highland, a property and casualty underwriting company, has appointed Casey Santangelo (pictured, right) as president of fine art and collectibles, effective immediately.
Santangelo joins from AXA XL, where she served as head of fine art & specie, managing a portfolio of complex risks for museums, galleries, and corporate and private collections across the Americas. She has more than 18 years of fine art insurance experience.
Joining Santangelo is Natasha Fekula, who will serve as senior vice president, specialty claims. Fekula was most recently vice president claims manager for AXA XL's Fine Art & Specie business, with experience leading complex claims involving high-value collections alongside reinsurance, compliance and financial reporting functions.
"I'm excited to join Tokio Marine Highland to lead the Fine Art underwriting team at such an exciting time for the business," said Santangelo. "After an incredibly rewarding chapter at AXA XL, I'm looking forward to working alongside the talented team at TMH to further strengthen our capabilities and continue providing exceptional service and expertise to our clients and partners."
Plymouth Rock Assurance has appointed three insurance and financial services leaders to key executive roles.
Gavin McPhail joins as vice president and chief data officer, Cornelius Young as vice president and chief claims officer for the Independent Agency Group, and Lindsay Mustard as vice president of customer service for the Independent Agency Group.
"These appointments reflect Plymouth Rock's ongoing investment in the leadership needed to drive our business forward," said Andrew McElwee, president and COO at The Plymouth Rock Company. "Gavin, Cornelius, and Lindsay each bring deep industry experience and proven track records of leading transformation, improving customer outcomes, and delivering business results."
McPhail will lead Plymouth Rock's enterprise data strategy, advancing the company's use of data, analytics, automation and AI across underwriting, claims, risk management and customer operations. He joins from Fusable, where he served as executive vice president and general manager of Risk Intelligence.
Young will lead claims for the Independent Agency Group, focused on operational excellence and accelerating the use of data, analytics and AI across the claims lifecycle. He joins from Cambridge Mobile Telematics, where he served as chief insurance officer, and spent more than 13 years at Liberty Mutual Insurance in claims, strategy and analytics leadership roles.
Mustard will lead the Independent Agency Group's customer service organization, spanning service center operations, underwriting, agency and sales operations, compliance, project management and customer experience. She joins from Jenius Bank, where she held senior leadership roles including head of strategy, and previously served in senior vice president roles at Citizens Bank and as a project leader at The Boston Consulting Group.
