PEOPLE & PLACES

THW Insurance Services, based out of Lebanon, Tenn., appointed Jud Nave partner in the independent firm. Nave has been with THW since 2007 and joins the ranks with three other founding partners. 

Universal Insurance Holdings appointed Kimberly Cooper CEO last week. Cooper will oversee Universal's IT team and technology development and strategy. Cooper has been with Universal since 2007, serving as IT audit director within the Internal Audit Department. 

Property Casualty Insurers' Association of America (PCI) elected Mark Wachholz as senior vice president, CFO and assistant treasurer last week. Wachholz replaced former CFO Deborah Wensel, who is now CFO for Holland L.P. 

The American Insurance Association (AIA) announced last week the appointment of Jay F. Day as its new vice president of state affairs. Day was formerly with AIA's California Assemblymember Jim Frazier.  

NEW PROGRAMS

Palomar Specialty Insurance Company has partnered with Wellington Risk Insurance Agency to offer wind-exposed residential property insurance in Tier II counties in Texas.  This represents Palomar Specialty's first expansion product category outside of earthquake coverage.  

NEWS

EMC Insurance Group announced fourth quarter and 2014 earnings, which saw an increase of nearly $3 million in December 2014, compared to the year prior. However, total operating income for the whole year was down by $10 million from last year's total numbers. 

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released a warning to Boston residents saying to beware of insurance scammers who may be going door-to-door acting as insurance agents in order to pocket money for cleanup after a storm. 

Nationwide reported last week that they had consistent growth in 2014 with a 6% increase over last year's total numbers. The company paid more than $15.5 billion in claims and benefits and maintained an income of $1.1 billion. 

M&A

Canadian Western Bank is selling its P&C business to Intact Financial Corp. for $197 million in cash. The bank made a statement saying that the cost was worth over twice the net book value of the subsidiary.