Members in the News

Members in the N ws e

Columbus, OH (6/12/20) — Encova Insurance has announced the appointment of Mike Keller to their board of directors, effective Aug. 18, 2020. Mike brings decades of executive leadership, technology and insurance expertise to their board based on his experience at Nationwide, Bank One and IBM.

“Mike’s experience is unparalleled. He brings expertise and insight gleaned from leading high performing IT departments at three premier companies that will add to the strength of our board,” Board of Directors Executive Chairman Greg Burton said. “We are incredibly fortunate to welcome him to the company’s board of directors.”

“Having led the IT department of a well-respected national insurance carrier before his recent retirement, Mike’s vision, strategic guidance and wisdom of integrating multiple systems will be invaluable as Encova continues its focus on technology and the resulting customer experience being created for our independent agency partners and policyholders,” Encova President and CEO TJ Obrokta Jr. said.

“I am very excited to be joining the board of directors,” Mike Keller said. “Encova is a highly successful mutual insurance company with a talented board and leadership team, a deep commitment to their agents and policyholders, a focus on leveraging leading edge technologies, and strong midwestern values.”

A super-regional carrier ranked in the top 20 mutual insurance companies in the United States, Encova includes more than 1,200 associates writing in the 28 states and the District of Columbia, premiums in excess of $1 billion, a surplus in excess of $1.6 billion and assets in excess of $4.1 billion. The group markets insurance solutions through more than 2,000 independent agencies in the Midwest, Northeast and South.

Middleton, WI (7/7/20) — American Risk Management Resources Network, LLC (ARMR.Network) Brokerage division is pleased to announce Kari Dybdahl Kohal as the organization’s next president. Kari Dybdahl Kohal brings to the position a wealth of knowledge and an array of experience in business and environmental insurance industry, on a provincial, national, and global level. She has worked at ARMR.Network Brokerage for 13 years. She has taken on many responsibilities from clerical, to being their top broker, and more recently has been their Executive Vice President and Director of Operations for the past 4 years.

Kari Dybdahl Kohal sees a tremendous amount of opportunity and a bright future in the environmental insurance brokerage space. ARMR Network Brokerage division will continue to be the thought innovator in the research and development of specialty environmental insurance solutions. Her vision has been to empower their client partners to challenge the way specialty insurance is purchased.

She states, “as president our work to provide intimate customer service, high-quality advice, high-level negotiations, and engineered environmental insurance solutions never ends. We will continue to push the status quo, to create new programs, and incorporate more services to increase efficiency for our partners and for ARMR Brokerage.”

Kari Dybdahl Kohal is succeeding David Dybdahl who has served as founder and president of ARMR Brokerage Division since 2000. Kari joined the ARMR.Network Brokerage division in 2007. She has been instrumental in its growth and adaption to the market place. David Dybdahl, will become CEO of ARMR Specialty Holdings and continue to serve as President of ARMR Expert Services and their Managing General Agency (SREU) as well as continue work closely with Kari Kohal and the senior management team.

David Dybdahl, says he is pleased to have Kari Dybdahl Kohal as the next President of the ARMR.Network Brokerage Division. “Kari’s background, industry knowledge, accolades, coupled with her outstanding interpersonal, visionary, and communications skills, will ensure American Risk Management Resources Brokerage Division remains the globally recognized leader and trusted environmental insurance brokerage firm positioned to take on new opportunities”.

ARMR Specialty Holdings is a specialty wholesale environmental insurance brokerage firm and Managing General Agency. ARMR Specialty Holdings is uniquely designed as an Environmental Risk Resource Group on a wholesale insurance brokerage platform and are specialists in environmental risk management including insurance. We enable our broker/agent production partners to compete effectively with the largest and most expensive in-house environmental resource groups in the insurance brokerage community.

ARMR Brokerage offers exceptional expertise and experience in environmental insurance and risk management. Our well-qualified insurance brokers in their long careers have placed insurance on some of the most complex risks in the world, including developing the first Contractors Pollution Liability insurance policy in the world, insuring the containment operations from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, and developing the first insurance wrap-ups for Superfund remediation contractors.

have been engaged by the US EPA, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the US Justice Department. We are the major contributors to the chapters in the CPCU, ARM and IRMI texts on environmental insurance and we were also major contributors to the professional liability loss prevention chapter on environmental and mold risk professional liability loss prevention manual for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America.

No matter how routine or complex the risk, from a single underground storage tank to a merger and acquisition involving significant environmental legacy costs, ARMR Specialty Holdings has the experience and knowledge to help solve any environmental risk management challenge on a global basis. We welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can best serve your agency and your clients. Contact Information:

www.armr.net | 877-735-0800 | Marketing@armr.net

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies recently announced it added Missouri, Washington, and Wisconsin to the list of states where the insurer offers its Homeowners product.

“Our goal is to become a ‘One Stop Shop’ for our agents and their insureds,” said Sy Foguel, Berkshire Hathaway GUARD CEO, “We continue to expand our portfolio to supply our network of independent agents with quality products that enable them to grow. With these three states, we now offer our Personal Lines products in 15 states with plans for further expansion in the months ahead.”

Senior VP of Personal Lines Dovid Tkatch explains that “We are very pleased with the results we’ve already experienced in our previous states, and we fully expect to see that trend continue. Our success can be attributed to Berkshire Hathaway GUARD providing a quality, easily understood product along with a high level of service to both agents and policyholders.”

GUARD’s product targets dwellings valued over $75,000 and includes one- to four-family residences, renters, and condo units (both owner-occupied and those held for rental). Tkatch explains, “By mixing and matching policy forms, endorsements, and optional coverages aimed at broader protection, policyholders can obtain property insurance suited to their circumstances. A Personal Umbrella with limits up to $5,000,000 is also available.”

According to GUARD’s spokesperson and Assistant Vice President of Marketing Elizabeth Hartman, “We believe we can provide a great service to agents that write both commercial and personal accounts. We feature a competitively priced product with a variety of available discounts, including one for insureds who have commercial policies with GUARD. We also believe certain aspects of our underwriting appetite are unique and will appeal to producers anxious to cross-sell and achieve a greater client share.” property and casualty insurance specialist writing $2 billion in premium nationwide. GUARD offers a variety of products for both commercial and personal lines of insurance. Headed by CEO and President Sy Foguel, the Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies maintain a total of eight offices throughout the country. To learn more about Berkshire Hathaway GUARD visit http:/www.guard.com.

Agents interested in applying should visit https://www. guard.com/apply/.

Acuity has been named to the 2020 Ward’s 50 list of topperforming property-casualty companies, putting the company in the top 2 percent of insurers nationwide. Acuity has earned a spot on the Ward’s 50 every year since 2000, making the company one of only four insurers, and the only regional carrier, to be named to the list for 21 consecutive years. Ward Group is the leading provider of benchmarking and best practices studies for insurance companies.

“We recognize Acuity for outstanding financial results in the areas of safety, consistency, and performance over a five-year period,” said Jeff Rieder, partner and head of Ward Group. “In selecting the Ward’s 50, we analyze the financial performance of nearly 2,900 property-casualty insurance companies, identifying the 50 companies that pass financial stability requirements and demonstrate the ability to grow while maintaining strong capital positions and underwriting results.”

“Strength, stability, and consistency in an insurance company have never been more important than today,” said Ben Salzmann, Acuity President and CEO. “We are honored to be recognized by Ward Group for 21 consecutive years as a top performer, which demonstrates our ability to fulfill our promises to customers and grow our business.”

Acuity continues to outperform the industry. Over the past 21 years, the insurer’s rate of sales and surplus growth have been more than double the industry average. Acuity’s combined ratio, nearly 4 points better than the industry average in 2019, has been under 100 for nine consecutive years.

Acuity Insurance, headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, insures over 100,000 businesses, including 300,000 commercial vehicles, and nearly a half million homes and private passenger autos across 28 states. Rated A+ by A.M. Best and S&P, Acuity employs over 1,400 people.