Moves and Views

1 Swiss Re Canada welcomed its new president and chief executive officer, Veronica Scotti [1a], effective April 1. Scotti most recently served as Swiss Re’s client executive, based in Armonk, New York, and will now work out of Toronto, the reinsurer reports. She fills the vacancy left by Sharon Ludlow [1b], who was named as president of Aviva Insurance Company of Canada last June. Scotti’s previous roles at Swiss Re include head of business development and key account manager, in Zurich. She has also worked for Banque Paribas, Union Bank of Switzerland and Banco di Napoli. Scotti will continue to be a member of Swiss Re’s Americas Management Team.

2 Jeff Burke [2a] has stepped down as Western Financial Group Inc.’s president and chief executive officer. Scott Tannas [2b], who has represented Alberta in the Senate since March 2013, will serve as interim president and CEO of the company he founded. Burke replaced Tannas as president in September 2013 and then as CEO that December. “A search for new leadership will commence shortly,” reports Western Financial Group, owned by Desjardins Financial Group.

3 CNA Financial Corporation has named John Tung [3] as vice president, technology and professional liability for CNA Canada. With more than 20 years of experience, Tung will now be responsible at CNA Financial for the strategy and underwriting of professional liability and cyber, with a focus on technology. He will also oversee the company’s miscellaneous professional liability coverage, the company reports. Tung “brings extensive technology, errors and omissions, and commercial general liability underwriting experience to our growing team,” Michael O’Connor, CNA Canada’s vice president of underwriting, says in a company statement.

4 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., which provides retail and wholesale commercial insurance brokerage and risk management services in 30 countries, announced it has acquired Ottawa-based Cohen & Lord Insurance Brokers Ltd., whose target markets include commercial realty and condominiums, construction and fleet, and personal lines for high-income individuals. Horace Cohen, Irvin Hoffman, Andrew Swant and their associates will continue to operate in Ottawa under the direction of Steve Bryant, head of Arthur J. Gallagher’s Ontario property/casualty brokerage operations. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

5 Canadian National Insurance Crime Services (CANATICS) has named Mario Silvestre [5a] as its new vice president of analytics and operations and Alexander Adeyinka [5b] as its new chief privacy officer and general counsel. Silvestre, previously director of shared services for RSA Canada who has also worked for The Co-operators, has 25 years of experience in auto insurance claims management, CANATICS reports. Adeyinka was previously associate chief privacy officer and senior regulatory counsel for Rogers Communications.

6 At CARSTAR Automotive Canada Inc., Michael Macaluso [6a] has been named the company’s new president and M.J. Marshall [6b] has been appointed its chief financial officer. Macaluso, who joined the company in 2008 as manager of insurance relations, most recently served as chief operating officer. Marshall, who joined CARSTAR in October 2005 as controller, has served as vice president of finance and vice president of finance. Lisa Mercanti-Ladd [6c] will continue in her role as executive vice president.

7 Vancouver-based Kernaghan Adjusters Ltd. has opened a new branch in St. Catharines, Ontario, appointing Marie Gallagher [7] as manager. Gallagher, who served as president of the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association for 2013-2014, previously managed the St. Catharines branch of Granite Claims Solutions. She began her insurance career in 1983 at brokerage Cosburn Griffiths and Brandham, now known as The CG&B Group Inc., and in 1986, joined Ponton Coleshill Edwards & Associates, later known as McLarens Canada and then as Granite Claims Solutions.

8 Pario Engineering and Environmental Sciences – formerly Rochon Engineering – recently announced Anthony (Tony) Petruccelli [8] is the company’s new director of business development. Pario Engineering’s services include, among others, accident reconstruction, fire and explosion investigation, mould investigation and remediation, contaminated site remediation and hazardous materials identification and management. Pario is owned by SCM Insurance Services. 

9 Dan Ogale [9] has been named Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.’s client service manager in the human risk division. Previously “a consultant overseeing the management and implementation of workers’ compensation and third-party administration programs,” Ogale has more than 30 years of experience. He has held executive and management positions in claims and risk management for private organizations in the global transportation and storage industry, as well as with insurance carriers.

10 Business insurance provider QBE Services Inc. has signed a new lease for office space in Vancouver, with the intended occupancy being August 1. The company’s general manager for Canada, David Edgar, “will assume the responsibility of general manager, Western Region, based in Vancouver, and focus his efforts on the growth and expansion of QBE Service’s geographical footprint in the West.” The search for a Toronto-based general manager will start immediately. The company’s Canadian business has focused on “its core products, including general liability, commercial property, construction all risk, auto fleet and professional indemnity.”