People on the move in the P&C insurance industry: Jan. 11, 2019

Island Insurance Companies, Hawaii’s largest locally owned and managed property & casualty insurance carrier, has promoted Beverly Ament to president. Ament first joined the company in 1988 and previously served as executive vice president and chief underwriting officer.

Thomas F. Morante has joined Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP (KDV) as a partner and chair of the firm’s new Insurance Regulatory and Transactional Practice in its Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., office. Prior to joining KDV, Morante was a partner at Holland & Knight and co-chair of their insurance industry practice.

Motorists Insurance Group has hired Randy Perez as senior vice president of product management. He comes to Motorists from Horace Mann where he spent three years as vice president of pricing and product management.

Stonybrook Capital, a merchant and investment banking firm that focuses exclusively on the insurance industry, has announced the following appointments:

• Thomas Deane - promoted to managing director
• Sara Smith - associate

Chris Nelson has joined Holmes Murphy — an independent brokerage serving business and industry leaders in the areas of property casualty insurance, employee benefits, captive insurance, risk management and loss control — as general counsel. Over the past seven years, he has served as an attorney with Belin McCormick – Attorneys at Law.

AXA XL has appointed Andrew Dicob leader of its excess casualty insurance team. Dicob joins AXA XL from Navigators Management Company where he served as vice president of commercial insurance underwriting.

Wisconsin Gov.-elect Tony Evers has tapped Mark Afable, chief legal officer at American Family Insurance, to serve as insurance commissioner. He will replace current Commissioner of Insurance Ted Nickel who has served as the state’s top insurance regulator since 2011.

Jackson, Fla.-based Brightway Insurance has announced the following appointments:

• Max Staplin - hired as in-house counsel
• Chinikqua Maddox - promoted to vice president of strategic initiatives
• Scott Pollard - director of agency development

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited announced that Govind Balu has joined the company as chief analytics officer. Balu was most recently chief data and analytics officer for Allstate Roadside Services.

Blake Kirk has joined EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants as a senior vice president and principal. He previously spent 13 years with broker Beecher Carlson, most recently as managing director.

Danielle Wade has been elected president and CEO of Jackson Sumner & Associates, an excess and surplus lines managing general agent. Wade most recently served as chief operating officer and has been with the company since 2006.

Agero Inc., a leader in software-enabled driver assistance services for automotive manufacturers and insurance providers in North America, has appointed Bill Gerraughty chief financial officer (CFO). Before this, he was CFO at OnProcess Technology, a tech-enabled services company focused on the after-market service supply chain.

Peter A. Halprin, Raymond A. Mascia Jr., and Vianny Pichardo Pualino, attorneys in Anderson Kill‘s New York office and members of the firm’s Insurance Recovery Group, have been promoted to shareholder.

• Halprin concentrates his practice in commercial litigation and insurance recovery, with a focus on alternative dispute resolution.
• Mascia concentrates his practice in insurance recovery and commercial litigation.
• Paulino has extensive litigation and trial experience representing large corporate clients in insurance coverage disputes concerning general liability, product liability, transaction liability, profession and D&O liability, business interruption and property damage claims.