Willis North America announced several appointments to its personal lines practice as part of its succession plan for Sandra Bravo, national practice leader and CEO of Willis Personal Lines.
Tyler Banks has been appointed national practice leader and CEO, Willis Personal Lines, and Kim Connell has been appointed COO.
Banks will focus on driving growth across the platform and aligning Willis resources. He joined Willis in 2012 as western region leader and previously served as sales leader for Marsh Private Client Services in California. He is based in Irvine, CA.
Connell will be taking on a newly created role, for which she will be responsible for the day-to-day operations and workflow processes of the personal lines practice. Connell joined Willis in 2012, as VP, Willis Personal Lines, and has more than 30 years’ experience. Prior to joining Willis, she was senior director of personal insurance marketing for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. She is based in Dallas, TX.
“These appointments comprise a very strong leadership team,” said Tom Coughlin, national partner, Willis North America. “We are excited to build on the success of our Personal Lines business and sincerely thank Sandra Bravo for all of her contributions to Willis. Sandra has been a powerful force in this industry and has built a first class personal lines business at Willis.”
Rounding out the Willis Personal Lines leadership team are Max Gilman, west region leader, based in San Francisco, CA, and Mike Smerkanich, east region leader, based in Morristown, NJ. They will report to Banks.
Willis’ Personal Lines Practice includes approximately 250 private client and personal insurance professionals located across the United States and Canada.
