Update: Keith Daly moves to Zurich from Farmers, new CISO at Penn Mutual

March 29, 2022 6:26 AM

Keith Daly is joining Zurich North America as chief claims officer, the company announced. He last was president of personal lines for Farmers; before that he was that company's chief claims officer as well. He replaces Paul Lavelle, who is leaving the claims head position to become head of U.S. National Accounts for Zurich. That position is held by Paul Horgan, who is retiring.

Mark Strosahl, Penn Mutual

Hand-out/The Penn Mutual Life Insurance C

Mark Strosahl has joined Penn Mutual as chief information security officer, the company said in a statement. He last was information security officer for the retirement business at Principal Financial Group. He reports to Penn Mutual COO Greg Driscoll.

Gallagher, global insurance brokerage, has hired Mark H. Bloom as Global CIO, replacing the retiring Sean Connelly, according to a statement. Bloom had held the same role at Aegon; he also has worked at Citigroup and Chase. “We are pleased to welcome Mark to Gallagher. His deep expertise and experience will help us continue to propel our operational strategy and IT objectives and initiatives as we continue to expand our global footprint,” said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., president and CEO of Gallagher, in a statement.

Chantel Balkovitz, Symetra

Symetra has named Chantel Balkovetz COO, a newly created role. She had been an EVP for the life insurance company, adding responsibility for the company’s IT organization to her current responsibilities, the company says in a statement. Balkovetz joined Symetra in 2008 as director of Retirement Service and Operations, and was promoted to her previous role in 2020.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has named David Bresnahan global COO, overseeing IT and operations among other responsibilities. The company also named Sanjay Godhwani president, North America Region. The company made the announcement of both promotions via new release.

FutureProof Technologies, an insurtech focusing on climate and weather risk has added Fielding Norton, has joined the company as co-founder and Chief Insurance Officer.Norton last was chief enterprise risk officer at XL Catlin, and has also worked at Ironshore Insurance and Employers Reinsurance. “We are thrilled to bring an insurance executive of Fid’s caliber on board to lead the build-out of our insurance operation,” said Alisa Valderrama, co-founder and CEO at FutureProof Technologies, in a statement. “Fid’s decades of industry experience and deep knowledge of climate science will be crucial in operationalizing our pathbreaking, climate-smart insurance underwriting tools.”