Moves and Views

1 Aviva Insurance Company of Canada has announced that Sharon Ludlow [1] is the company’s new president, effective June 17. Ludlow’s last position was as president and chief executive officer of Swiss Re in Canada. In the newly created role at Aviva Canada, Ludlow will be responsible for its broker distribution operations and customer, marketing and digital strategy, reporting directly to president and CEO, Greg Somerville. Prior to Swiss Re, Ludlow served as chief financial officer (CFO) of Liberty International Underwriters’ commercial property and casualty operations. As CFO, she played a role in launching the quote comparison service, Kanetix. Ludlow is a director for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association and the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. She is also chair of the Reinsurance Research Council. 

2 Economical Insurance has named Hans Reidl [2] as the company’s new vice president of finance. Reidl previously served as vice president of finance at ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. and is a former senior manager with Ernst & Young’s assurance and advisory services practice. In his new role, Reidl will lead the corporate financial accounting and reporting teams, the financial planning and analysis team and the finance operations function. He will also provide oversight and support to the reinsurance and procurement functions.

3 Toronto-based property services firm FirstService Brands, a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, announced in June that it has acquired restoration firm Paul Davis Systems Canada for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition adds 63 franchises to the North American business services platform of Paul Davis Restoration, based in the United States, bringing total franchises to 370. Ken Robinson [3a] and Steve Robinson [3b] will continue to lead the day-to-day operations of the Canadian business, as CEO and chief operating officer, respectively. Tim Robinson [3c] is the current president and CEO of Paul Davis Restoration. 

4 Beyond Insurance Brokers Inc.’s business development director, Debbie Thompson [4], is now a partner with the Whitby, Ontario firm. Thompson, chair of the board of Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), will continue to be responsible for business development at Beyond Brokers. She began her insurance career at Citadel Assurance and has also worked at Gellatley Insurance and Sinclair Cockburn.

5 EGI Financial Holdings reports that shareholders have elected Ani Hotoyan-Joly, Serge Lavoie and Carol Poulsen to the firm’s Board of Directors. Hotoyan-Joly, chief financial officer (CFO) and corporate secretary of Coventree Inc., is a former CFO of Swiss Re Canada and a former vice president of finance at Zurich Canada; Lavoie, former president and CEO of Jevco Insurance Company (now part of Intact), is Quebec president at GDI Integrated Facility Services; and Poulsen is executive vice president and chief information officer of The Co-operators Group Limited. The three are replacing Mark Curry, Patrick Hodgson and Paul Little on the board.

6 In May, Rochon Engineering of Concord, Ontario announced that Mark Samis [6a] is now a senior environmental consultant for the company and J.M. Michel (Mike) Laberge [6b] is now its director of business development. Samis is “experienced with environmental regulations and guidelines for drinking water, surface water, groundwater, site remediation, peer review and subrogation support, brownfield site redevelopment and waste management,” notes a statement from Rochon Engineering. Laberge, for his part, has more than 29 years of leadership experience in claims, management, quality assurance, operations and business development.

7 FirstOnSite Restoration has a new mobile app that allows customers to connect with its 24-hour response centre without having to dial. The app is available for Android, iPhone and BlackBerry. Two lines have been set up – one for existing customers; one for the general public. “We understand that stress is very high during a disaster situation, so we developed an application that will allow people to get a live person on the line as quickly as possible,” says Nathan Belcher, the company’s director of information technology.

8 The Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) has hired Amanda Ketelaars as program manager for its Toronto office. Ketelaars has held various roles at Keal Technology, whose products include the sigXP broker management system. She began her career as a customer service broker for McFarlan Rowlands Insurance Brokers Inc. She “will lead CSIO working group activities that enable the identification and implementation of leading-edge technology standards and solutions for the broker distribution channel,” notes a statement from CSIO. 

9 Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company recently announced that Jeff Goy [9] has been appointed president and chief executive officer. Goy joined Winnipeg-based Wawanesa in 1990. His previous roles at Wawanesa include vice president of automobile underwriting, vice president of insurance product and vice president of corporate development. Goy has also been elected as a director of The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, The Wawanesa Life Insurance Company and Wawanesa General Insurance Company.

10 Managing general agent Burns & Wilcox Canada has promoted Brett Graham [10] to associate managing director responsible for the Atlantic region. Graham had previously served as Nova Scotia representative for Burns & Wilcox Canada, and before that, had been RSA Insurance’s regional director for Montreal and Quebec City. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Management from Dalhousie University.

11 Property and casualty insurance brokerage BrokerLink has announced it has acquired the ownership position in Anthony Clark Insurance Brokers Ltd. (ACI), previously held by Anthony Clark International Insurance Brokers Ltd. Based in Calgary, Anthony Clark Insurance Brokers operates six locations in Alberta through Anthony Clark Insurance, Dyck Insurance and Heritage Hills Insurance. “Not only does this transaction support our strategy for growth, but ACI’s sales focus combined with BrokerLink’s scale and efficiencies will benefit both operations,” Chris Miller, head of the Alberta region at BrokerLink, says in a statement. Tony Consalvo, president and CEO of ACI, will join BrokerLink as a regional branch manager.