Unum's New Chief Operating Officer, and More: Personnel Moves

Unum Group has made Michael Simonds the company's chief operating officer. Simonds previously was the president and chief executive officer at the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company's Unum US title. Simonds began working for Unum since 1994. He left to work as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company from 2002 through 2003, then returned to Unum. He has a bachelor's degree in economics and anthropology from Bowdoin College and a master's degree in business from Harvard. (Related: American Equity's Next CEO, and More: Personnel Moves) In other personnel moves news: The Blackstone Group Inc. has hired Gilles Dellaert to be the global head of its Blackstone Insurance Solutions unit. Dellaert previously was co-president and chief investment officer of Global Atlantic. He also has worked in Goldman Sachs' securities division credit trading and reinsurance businesses. He has a bachelor's degree from Ghent University in Belgium. Internet Pipeline Inc., which is commonly known as iPipeline, has named Daphne Thomas chief operating officer. Thomas has been the Exton, Pennsylvania-based insurtech company's executive vice president of professional services and chief transformation officer. She's worked for iPipeline for 12 years. Thomas has a degree in computer science from Rathmines College in Dublin, in Ireland. Maureen Kincade, another iPipeline veteran, will become the company's senior vice president of professional services. Anthem Inc. has named Charles Ritz to be president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado, which is based in Denver. Ritz previously was the regional vice president for Humana Inc's west region. He has also been the president of USI Insurance Services in Kentucky. Ritz has a bachelor's degree in finance from Morehead State University. New York Life Insurance Company has named Sara Badler chief compliance officer. Badler has been overseeing compliance for the company's New York Life Investments unit. She succeeds Barbara McInerney, who is retiring. Badler has a bachelor's degree from Cornell, a master's degree from Bank Street College of Education, and a law degree from Fordham University. Benefitfocus Inc. has promoted Annmarie Fini to executive vice president of customer success. She has been the Charleston, South Carolina-based company's senior vice president of customer success. Fini has been working for Benefitfocus since 2000. She has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and she holds the Certified Group Benefits Associate professional designation. She serves on the board of Junior Achievement of South Carolina. LISI Inc., a general agency based in San Mateo, California, has hired Jack Lyons to be director of sales. Lyons has been a regional vice president at Anthem and a sales executive at Chapman Insurance and at Health Net. He has a bachelor's degree in history and English from California State University-Dominguez Hills. Appalachian Underwriters Inc. has promoted Zach Blaetz to Mid Atlantic regional manager. Blaetz previously was the Burlington, North Carolina-based company's Atlantic marketing representative. Blaetz has a bachelor's degree in communications from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. — Read New Presidents: Guardian, Aflac, UnitedHealth, on ThinkAdvisor. — Connect with ThinkAdvisor Life/Health on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.