HCC Insurance Holdings Adds New Division

HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. announced that Todd Ruyak and Eric Mihailovich have been appointed as senior vice presidents of the company's newly formed Professional Indemnity Agency Inc. (PIA) Property Division, reporting to PIA Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Cory Moulton. Headquartered in Mount Kisco, New York, PIA is a subsidiary of HCC.

The new division will focus on Difference in Conditions (DIC) business, also known as "earthquake'' business, in the Western United States and will write on behalf of both affiliated and non-affiliated carriers, according to HCC President and Chief Operating Officer John Molbeck, Jr.

Ruyak and Mihailovich bring more than 20 years of experience in the DIC market, most recently with Arrowhead General Agency. While at Arrowhead they underwrote on behalf of several insurance carriers and maintained direct underwriting responsibility for large blocks of DIC business.

"The creation of the PIA Property Division is another good example of HCC's strategy to enter new classes of business by hiring and developing leading underwriting talent. Todd Ruyak and Eric Mihailovich come to PIA with the experience, underwriting expertise and distribution relationships needed to build a profitable business. While we anticipate a measured and controlled market entry, we believe the DIC segment will contribute significantly to HCC's future earnings,'' Molbeck said.

In addition, two senior executives in Fidelity Bonds, also referred to as "crime coverage,'' have joined HCC to establish the company's Fidelity business unit, which will focus on both financial institution and commercial coverages. They are: George Blume, who has been named senior vice president of PIA, and Stephen Buhl, who has been appointed vice president.

"We are also very pleased to announce that George Blume and Stephen Buhl have agreed to bring their combined 50 years of experience in the Fidelity bonding business to the HCC team,'' Molbeck said. "This is one more demonstration of how the financial strength and entrepreneurial culture of HCC continue to enable us to attract the top professional talent in a wide variety of fields.''