A former Allied World executive will become Zurich North America’s new chief claims officer. Arch Insurance promoted a long-term executive to handle strategy and distribution for its North American operations. CopperPoint Insurance Companies hired an executive to help oversee its marketing and communications efforts.

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Zurich North America appointed Paul Lavelle as chief claims officer.

Lavelle will take on his new position on Sept. 4, 2018 and report directly to Zurich North America CEO Kathleen Savio. He will be based at Zurich’s North American headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. Lavelle succeeds Steve Hatch, who retired earlier this month.

Lavelle most recently served as senior vice president, North America claims operations at Allied World Assurance Company. Before that, he was president and founder of LVL Claims Services LLC. He also held a number of claims and underwriting senior leadership and management roles at American International Group Inc. and Allstate Insurance.

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Arch Insurance promoted Mark Lange to the position of executive vice president, strategy and distribution for the insurer’s North American operations.

Lange will report to Michael Price, EVP and chief underwriting officer of Arch Insurance Group Inc.

In this new role, Lange succeeds industry veteran Bill Casey, who will retire Dec. 1, 2018 after 10 years with Arch Insurance. In addition to taking over Casey’s duties, Lange is charged with maximizing Arch Insurance’s existing footprint while expanding its reach by building new distribution channels. He is also responsible for strategic business development and innovation initiatives including assessing opportunities for mergers and acquisitions and InsurTech.

Lange joined Arch in 2015 as senior vice president of the P/C programs business and has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, including a position as vice president at Dowling Capital Partners and various leadership roles at The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Deloitte.

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CopperPoint Insurance Companies, a regional multiline commercial insurance company based in Phoenix, has hired Jennifer Johnston as chief marketing officer and EVP of marketing and communications.

Johnston will be charged with helping CopperPoint realize a newly launched business strategy designed to highlight its value and get closer to the needs of its customers.

Johnston is a 25-year veteran of strategic marketing and communications, with 10 years in the commercial property/casualty industry. She has extensive expertise in all facets of marketing, including brand awareness, brand reputation, demand generation, sales enablement, communications, research/insights, thought leadership and digital marketing. Previously, she served as chief strategic marketing officer for PMA Companies and Old Republic Insurance Group. In addition, Johnston managed the Old Republic brand across all the insurance entities within the corporation.

Before that, Johnston was vice president of marketing for Unisys Global Industries. She also worked for SAIC/Telcorida (previously Bellcore) in New Jersey and TELUS, a national communications provider in Vancouver, Canada.

Sources: Zurich North America, Arch Insurance, CopperPoint Insurance Companies