Burns & Wilcox announced the launch of Champions & Charities, its signature philanthropic initiative, with brand ambassadors Webb Simpson and Jimmy Walker. The company will give a minimum of $50,000 to the PGA golfers’ charities of choice: Team Fox, the grassroots fundraising community of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and Global Lyme Alliance. Both charities will receive a minimum of $25,000 each, with additional donations made based on performance.
AmTrust announced the promotion of Felice K. Shapiro to General Counsel for AmTrust Title and First Nationwide Title, one of the first female General Counsels of a major title insurance underwriter. In her new role, Ms. Shapiro is responsible for all underwriting decisions for both companies.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) announced the acquisition of Salem, Oregon-based Surety Solutions, LLC and Agency Multiplied, Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Surety Solutions is a surety focused agency that specializes in offering surety bonds for mortgage brokers, artisan contractors and other industries across the United States. Agency Multiplied developed the bond processing software used by Surety Solutions to efficiently process these transactions. Corban Enns and his associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of Jay Eshelman, head of Small Business & Affinity practices for Gallagher’s U.S. retail property/casualty brokerage operations.
Specialist insurer Beazley has launched site lender environmental asset protection (SLEAP) cover to protect banks and other lenders from pollution risks that could seriously impair the value of property used as collateral for commercial loans. In the event of both a loan default and the discovery of environmental contamination on a property, the policy will cover either the estimated clean-up costs or the loan balance, whichever is lower.
The policy also pays clean-up costs for environmental contamination at properties owned by the lender as the result of a foreclosure. In addition, the coverage protects the lender against third-party claims for clean-up, bodily injury, property damage, and defense costs associated with the collateral property at all stages of a commercial loan and regardless of whether the loan is in default.
Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the assets and operations of International Specialty Insurance Services Inc. (ISI), an independently owned managing general underwriter with offices in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. ISI’s team will become part of RSG Underwriting Managers, LLC (RSGUM), the managing general underwriting unit of RSG.
RSG acquired the assets and operations of Westphalen Insurance Services, an independently owned wholesale insurance brokerage located in Edmond, Oklahoma. The Westphalen team will become part of R-T Specialty, the wholesale brokerage unit of RSG, and will establish the company’s presence in Oklahoma.
RSG also acquired the assets and operations of Boston Insurance Specialists Inc. (BIS), an independently owned wholesale insurance brokerage with offices in Mansfield and Westfield, Massachusetts. BIS’ team is also now a part of R-T Specialty.
Signal Mutual, in partnership with its manager Charles Taylor, has launched Sage Adjusting, a consolidation and integration of Signal Mutual’s four largest, independent third-party Longshore and Harbor Workers’ compensation firms: Charles Taylor TPA, Lamorte Burns, AS&G Claims Administration and Acclaim Risk Management. Sage Adjusting will provide longshore and harbor workers’ compensation claims administration.
Freelance specialist broker Kingsbridge has acquired on-demand insurance start-up Dinghy. Dinghy offers UK freelancer’s professional indemnity, public liability, cyber liability, and business equipment insurance for flexible working hours. Kingsbridge is a specialist broker for contractors insurance.
Claims Management & TPA Software company JW Software is celebrating 30 years in the industry. Started on January 2, 1989, by company President Jim Wieland, JW Software began in the basement of his home. 30 years later, JW Software has grown into a national brand.
The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) is now accepting nominations for its Inclusion Champion Award, which honors professionals for their contributions to increasing the advancement of women and diversity within the insurance industry. The award winners will be honored at this year’s Women in Insurance Global Conference June 12-14 at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel.
Bold Penguin, a commercial insurance technology provider, announced that their InsurTech product updates and added partnerships in 2018 have improved the speed of the quote-to-bind process by 300%. In 2018, major Bold Penguin Exchange partnerships quadrupled. Offering a solution in all 50 states across most business categories, coverage types range from most common inquiries in general liability, workers compensation, professional liability, commercial auto and business owner’s policy (BOP) to bonds.