PEOPLE & PLACES

Philadelphia Insurance Cos. promoted three people in their marketing department. Matthew Carroll has been appointed to regional vice president of marketing in the Western region; Matthew Davis is now vice president of marketing in the Southeast region; and Lance Goff has been named vice president of marketing in the Southwest region.  

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation announced Laura Hay as its new national sector leader for insurance at KPMG, a global network of professional service firms. Formerly, Hay served as the national industry director of KPMG's life insurance segment and the national leader of the actuarial services practice. 

Kevin W. Leong was hired at Magna Carta Cos. this week as its vice president and chief claims officer. Leong will be leading the national claims division of Magna Carta.  

Willis Group Holdings named Mark Paasch the global head of alternative risk transfer (ART) solutions for the company. The division helps businesses transfer traditionally uninsurable risks to a third-party balance sheet.   

ACE Group announced the appointments of Ed Gandon as casualty manager in the U.K. and Ireland along with Gary Etherington as property manager in the U.K. and Ireland. Gandon is responsible for developing and servicing the company's casualty book while Etherington will lead their property portfolio, both with an exclusive focus on global accounts customers. 

Conner Strong & Buckelew named Timothy Gosnear managing director and senior vice president of major accounts, and a co-practice leader of the Life Sciences Group. Gosnear will focus on directing account services for large business relationships with the company, focusing on the life sciences. 

NEW PROGRAMS

Main Street America announced the creation of a new Florida region that will be headed by Chris Cox as its president. The brand will operate in the state as Old Dominion Insurance Co. The company also announced this week that it will begin writing commercial surety and fidelity bonds in Mississippi through the company's NGM Insurance Co. 

Xchanging plc announced the launch of its new program, which will provide premium claims services for construction and professional liability in the U.S. The company also appointed Roy Leeds as its director of U.S. claims operations. 

NEWS

United Insurance Holdings Corp announced this week its participation in the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) Depopulation Program, which works to get TWIA policyholders to access additional coverage options through multiple carriers. 

Markel, a provider of tenant discrimination liability, has launched a loss mitigation hot line by partnering up with Wilson Elser, a full-service law-firm that also works with real estate owners and brokers in regard to discriminatory allegations. 

Farm Bureau Financial Services, a client of Valen Analytics, was awarded Celent's Model Insurer Award this week. The company uses Valen's InsureRight platform, which helps to make loss ratio improvements and enhance risk-based pricing to achieve better underwriting results. 

M&A

Cross Insurance, a subsidiary of Cross Financial Corp., announced this week their purchase of Corcoran & Havlin Insurance Group, a Massachusetts-based independent insurance agency. The owners of C&H will continue to lead the company during the merger.