Farmers Insurance made two promotions within its organization. W.R. Berkley Corp. appointed a former executive from The Navigators Group as a claims executive. Kemper Corp. appointed a new member to its board of directors.

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Farmers Insurance made two promotions within its organization.

Eric Kappler is now Chief Product Officer for Farmers, reporting to Keith Daly, President of Personal Lines.

Bronwyn Koopman, who previously served as Head of Central Zone for Personal Lines will now step into Kappler’s former role as President of Bristol West, a member of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies.

Kappler has held a number of senior product roles at both Bristol West and Farmers Personal Lines since joining the organization in 2003. As President of Bristol West, he was responsible for leading a team of hundreds of employees, increasing profitability of nonstandard auto business, delivering a better customer experience, implementing easy-to-use consumer features like text alerts and the expansion of Bristol West into the commercial auto space.

Koopman joined Farmers in 2017 as the Head of the Office of the President of Personal Lines, where she was responsible for a number of strategic initiatives before moving to the Personal Lines product team. She worked in the insurance industry for more than 20 years, including a variety of executive leadership roles and various product management positions, prior to joining Farmers in 2017.

Kappler and Koopman will both be based in Independence, Ohio, which is a critical hub for product and research and development initiatives for Farmers and Bristol West.

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W.R. Berkley Corp. recently appointed Marina Barg as senior vice president – claims.

Barg joins Berkley from The Navigators Group, a specialty insurer where she most recently served as chief claims officer for U.S. insurance, according to her LinkedIn page.

Barg has over 15 years of experience in the property/casualty insurance industry, complemented by nearly 10 years in the legal field.

Robert Berkley, Jr., president and chief executive officer of W. R. Berkley Corporation, said Barg brings to the company an “extensive management, claims and legal background.

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Specialty insurer Kemper Corp. elected a United Airlines executive to its board of directors.

Gerald Laderman, United Airlines’ chief financial officer and executive vice president, takes on the director position as of Feb. 20, 2020.

At United, he has responsibility for developing the company’s overall financial strategy including cost management, capital allocation and balance sheet optimization. With more than 30 years of experience in the airline industry, he has served in senior leadership roles at United, Continental Airlines and Texas Air.

Kemper board chairman Robert Joyce said in prepared remarks that Kemper will benefit from Laderman’s “deep financial expertise and strategic leadership.”

Laderman will be a member of the board’s Audit Committee, and his appointment expands the board to 10 directors, eight of whom are independent.

Sources: Farmers Insurance, W.R. Berkley Corp., Kemper Corp.