Applied Surety Underwriters hires executives from Argo, AIG

Applied Surety Underwriters Inc. on Monday announced several executive moves, including naming former Argo Surety executive James Bluzard as chief underwriting officer, contracts.

Prior to joining Applied Surety Underwriters, Mr. Bluzard was chief underwriting officer of contract surety at Argo Surety, helping launch its contract surety division in 2017, an Applied statement said.

Applied also named Christopher Raines as vice president, national underwriting officer, where he will be responsible for the oversight of underwriting and marketing. He was most recently vice president, national underwriting officer at Argo Surety, where he had underwriting oversight of the central United States territory, the statement said.

Applied also named Houston-based Kyle Fuller as vice president, regional underwriting officer. He was most recently assistant vice president, underwriting, for contact surety, at Argo Group.

In addition, Applied Underwriters Aerospace has hired Whittier, California-based Jeff Sheets as vice president, regional claims manager, for Applied Underwriters Aviation, where he will manage aviation claims for the western half of the U.S. He was most recently vice president, general aviation claims manager for American International Group Inc.