Nationwide Names New Heads of P&C Direct, Retirement Plans

Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide made several high-level appointments today.

Anne Arvia has been named president and COO of Nationwide Direct, Affinity and Growth Solutions (NDAGS). The former leader Nationwide Retirement Plans will oversee the company's direct property & casualty sales channel, specialty insurance, affinity partnerships, and Veterinary Pet Insurance. She joined Nationwide in 2006 as president of Nationwide Bank.

Larry Hilsheimer, who currently runs Nationwide Bank, replaces Arvia at the helm of Nationwide Retirement Plans as president and COO. He will retain oversight of Nationwide Bank. Hilsheimer joined Nationwide as executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2007.

In addition, Mark Berven has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Product Management Officer. In a newly created role, Berven will oversee strategy for the Nationwide enterprise and the product organization for property & casualty business lines. He last was SVP of product and pricing for all P&C operations.

“Nationwide is a strong company with many talented people. We remain fully committed to our public and private sector retirement plan business partners, to our direct, affinity and growth lines and to our members,” said company CEO Steve Rasmussen. “My philosophy is that fresh leadership perspective and successful ideas from one area of the company will lead to benefits in another. We made similar leadership changes back in 2009 that were beneficial for our leaders and the company as a whole. I’m confident the end result of the changes we are announcing today will make us even stronger and better able to deliver our On Your Side promise.”

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio