Executives.

Conseco's Bankers Life & Casualty Selects Berube as President-CEO

Ed Berube has been named president and chief executive officer of Bankers Life & Casualty Co., Indianapolis, a subsidiary of Conseco Inc.

Before joining Conseco in June 1999, Berube was president and chief operating officer of American Life Insurance Co., a subsidiary of American International Group Inc.

Before that, Berube was president of Cigna Financial Advisors. His 20 years with Cigna were spent in Cigna's career division.

Berube began his insurance career in 1975 as an agent with Connecticut General Life Insurance Co.

Kelter-Thorner Taps President-CEO

Kelter-Thorner, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based national insurance agency, has appointed Michael Kelter president and chief executive officer. In his new role, Kelter will oversee management of all six Kelter-Thorner offices.

Before joining Kelter-Thorner in 1992, Kelter was founder and president of an automobile dealership. He is currently a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society and a licensed insurance counselor.

Berkshire Life Promotes Two

Following Berkshire Life's announcement of its merger with Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, Berkshire Life has elected the directors of two key business areas to the position of vice president.

Donald O. Morgan has been promoted from director of underwriting to vice president of underwriting. Jeffrey A. Yeager, director of claims, has been named vice president, claims management.

Morgan will oversee the underwriting operation in the new Berkshire entity, which will include underwriters in Pittsfield, Mass.; Bethlehem, Pa.; and Spokane, Wash. Yeager will oversee claims-management operations in Pittsfield, Bethlehem and New York.

Guardian and Berkshire Life--both mutuals--agreed in September to merge their companies. Morgan, a 30-year veteran of the insurance industry, joined Berkshire Life in October 1999 as senior underwriter and was elected an officer and made director of underwriting in April 2000. Before coming to Berkshire Life, Morgan was a senior risk manager at Mass Mutual.

Yeager joined Berkshire Life in 1989 as a claims consultant. In 1998, he was elected an officer of the company and named director of claims. Before coming to Berkshire Life, Yeager worked as a disability analyst at Aetna.

Thiele Follows Haag at PartnerRe

PartnerRe Ltd., Pembroke, Bermuda, has appointed Patrick Thiele to the posts of president and chief executive officer. He succeeds Herbert Haag, who retired Dec. 1.

Haag remains an adviser to the company until Jan. 1, 2003. He served as president-CEO since the company's inception in 1993, when he orchestrated PartnerRe's initial public offering. He is retiring to pursue personal interests.

Thiele, 49, most recently was group director for development at London-based CGNU plc. Before that, he was president and CEO of St. Paul Cos.' worldwide insurance operations. He has more than 25 years of experience in insurance and finance.

At CGNU, Thiele oversaw strategic development and e-commerce initiatives, and he was responsible for the recently announced divestiture of CGNU's operations in the United States. While he was CEO at St. Paul, the company's revenues increased by 65%, and the company grew to become the fourth-largest commercial lines carrier and eighth-largest property/casualty insurer in the United States. Thiele spent seven years as chief financial officer and chief investment officer.

Under Haag's leadership, PartnerRe earned more than $1.3 billion in net income. Its assets grew nearly eightfold to $7.4 billion, shareholders' equity doubled to $1.9 billion, and net premiums rose to more than $1.34 billion from $16 million.

The company has more than 600 employees in 16 offices serving 1,800 clients in 122 markets.

InsureZone Names Krause CFO

InsureZone, a Fort Worth, Texas-based Internet insurance business, has hired James A. Krause as its new chief financial officer. Krause specializes in transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. He has 10 years of experience in developing businesses.

Krause was previously a principal and executive vice president with C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., a management firm providing executive leadership and strategic direction to a portfolio of businesses.

Earlier in his career, he was an attorney with Vinson & Elkins, a major international law firm.

Founder of Australia's HIH to Leave

Ray Williams, the founder of Australia's HIH Insurance Ltd., is stepping down amid continuing turmoil at the troubled company as soon as a successor can be found. Meanwhile, the company reduced the size of its board. The CEO will be the only member of the management team on future boards.

HIH recently agreed to sell its personal lines business--most of it acquired in the purchase of FAI Insurances in 1999-to Allianz Australia Ltd., a unit of German insurer Allianz AG Holding.

HIH said Williams would focus on the venture with Allianz. In light of that, Dominic Fodera was named chief operating officer. Fodera and Terry Cassidy, managing director for Australia, will step down from the board. Geoffrey Cohen will remain as chairman.

Kemper Environmental Taps Leader

Bill McElroy has joined Kemper Environmental, New York, as its new president. McElroy brings more than 15 years of environmental insurance experience to Kemper. He most recently served as vice president, environmental specialty group, for Zurich-American Specialties in New York.

McElroy's previous experience includes a position as an appointed member of the Task Force of Lead-Based Paint Reduction and Financing, Washington, D.C., and senior underwriter specialist for the Environmental Impairment Liability Commerce & Industry Insurance Co., New York.

MONY Taps Investor Relations VP

MONY Group, New York, has appointed Jay Davis vice president of investor relations for the financial-services organization. In this role, Davis will oversee the investor-relations function, serving as the company's main contact and liaison with the investment community. He also will retain his current position as vice president of corporate development.

Davis has held a number of positions with MONY He joined the company s career field force in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1981, and has held positions of increasing responsibility, including marketing director, sales manager and branch manager in several of MONY's West Coast offices.

Alistar Installs President-CEO

Alistar Insurance Co., Fresno, Calif., named John R. Sosak as president and chief executive officer. He succeeds Howard Lamb, who has retired.

Sosak joined Alistar in 1997 and served as vice president of claims. He brings more than 30 years of experience to his new position. He has held management and executive positions of increasing responsibility with both insurance companies and with self-insureds.

Alistar Insurance Co. is a California-based company offering multiple insurance lines, including property/casualty, workers' compensation and surety.

Southern General Hires Tech Chief

Southern General Financial Group, Marietta, Ga., has named Robert M. Leedy chief technology officer. His previous position was with Global IT Associates. Leedy has more than 21 years of experience in the information technology and consulting industry, including working with Gemini Consulting and ATKearney.

Managed Health Appoints COO

Rita Johnson-Mills has been appointed chief operating officer of Managed Health Services Indiana Inc., Indianapolis.

Before joining MHS, Johnson-Mills served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Medical Diagnostic Management Inc., a laboratory-benefits management company in Culver City, Calif.

Managed Health Services is a managed-care company serving the Medicaid population in Indiana.

Prudential Investments Names VP

Prudential Investments, Newark, NJ., has named Nelson Woodard vice president of asset allocation and quantitative analysis for the company's investment-management research division. Woodard will build and oversee a centralized asset-allocation research effort in support of Prudential Investments' strategic asset-allocation recommendations for clients.

Woodard comes from Dreman Value Management, where most recently he was managing director and the senior member of the investment committee and senior representative of the firm to institutional clients, consultants and high-net-worth investors.

Transamerica Fills Key Posts

Transamerica Insurance & Investment Group has named five insurance industry executives to key positions.

William Tate has been named senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Co.

Promoted to senior vice president and chief agency officer for TOLIC is James Bowman. Now in charge of all three of Transamerica's marketing centers, he will focus on helping the company's existing general agencies expand.

Jerry Paul, who has more than 25 years of service with Transamerica, has been named vice president, special markets. He will be responsible for the recruitment and marketing activities of the company's broker-dealer, Transamerica Financial Resources Inc.

Replacing Paul as western regional vice president in Pasadena, Calif., is James "Marty" Flewellen. Flewellen joined the company in 1982 as a producer and held several sales manager positions before becoming a general agent. He was most recently based in Las Vegas.

Joining Transamerica is James Duff III, who has been named eastern regional vice president. Duff began his insurance career in 1986 with MONY Financial Services. He joined his father's Pittsburgh firm, James Duff Brokerage Service of Pittsburgh, in 1989 and became president and owner in 1994.