People News: Munich Re, Crawford & Company, IFG

Munich Re, US Appoints Kerner CEO of New Munich Re Specialty Insurance Unit

Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. (Munich Re, US) announced today the appointment of Michael Kerner as chief executive officer for Munich Re Specialty Insurance, a new commercial insurance unit in North America. He will report to Tony Kuczinski, president and chief executive officer, Munich Re, US. In this new role, Kerner will have oversight for uniting several Munich Re Group business units under the new primary specialty commercial insurance umbrella.

He brings with him more than 30 years of experience in the global re/insurance market. For the past two years, he served as executive vice president, Risk Management and Strategy at Everest Re. Prior to that, Kerner spent 23 years at Zurich Insurance Company in a variety of senior executive roles, including chief executive officer of General Insurance, chief executive officer of Global Corporate North America, global chief underwriting officer, global head of Group Reinsurance, and chief operations officer of North America Specialties. In the past, Kerner also held actuarial leadership roles in the industry.

Kerner is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Crawford & Company Appoints Bart to Global President of Global Technical Services (GTS)

Crawford & Company, a global independent provider of claims management solution announced that Andrew Bart has been promoted to the position of global president of Technical Services (GTS) – the large and complex business of Crawford.

Bart has 30+ years of claims and loss adjusting experience and 16 years with Crawford & Company, during which he has managed many large and complex claims across multiple product lines. As the current president of Crawford Australia and Asia Pacific, he has led the business through a sustained period of growth. In his new role, he will be responsible for building on the significant success that Crawford GTS has achieved since its launch. Crawford delivers a unified claims handling capability for complex and major losses – serving reinsurers, the corporate market and major loss/catastrophe divisions of insurers as well as the London Market and Lloyd’s syndicates.

In addition, the company announced that Tim Jarman, currently head of Crawford Claims Solu Australia, will be promoted to president of Australia effective January 1, 2019. He will be responsible for local oversight of all Crawford’s global service lines in Australia to include claims solutions, large and complex claims, third party administration veteran of the industry, including 10 years with Crawford. He has worked in Australia since 2001 and is well known by clients and the market.

IFG Companies Announces New Promotions for Casualty Lines

IFG Companies announced that effective January 1, 2019, Michael G. Vought will be promoted to president of Primary Casualty and that Tiffany Y. Fann will be promoted to senior vice president and head of Excess Casualty.

Vought joined IFG Companies in 2014 to launch IFG’s Excess Casualty unit. Prior to joining IFG, Vought was managing director and product line leader for Primary and Excess Casualty at Markel. He also spent time at Travelers as the president of E&S Lines.

In addition to her success with IFG Companies, Fann brings a wealth of experience in both excess and primary casualty. Her instrumental role in building IFG’s Excess Casualty unit will provide a seamless transition and set a foundation for the continued success of the Excess Casualty unit. Fann joined IFG in late 2014 to establish and manage the Atlanta branch for IFG’s Excess Casualty unit. Prior to IFG, she was the Atlanta branch manager, Specialty Umbrella for Zurich North America overseeing the Atlanta and Orlando offices. She also spent 11 years at Markel Corporation, serving as the Dallas branch manager for Primary Brokerage Casualty, Contract Binding and Excess and Umbrella.