Prior to joining the IR Group, Don was Executive Vice President for the United States operation of what was the seventh largest broker in the world. He also served on the Board of Directors. Prior to that, under his stewardship as Chairman & CEO, he grew a small Midwestern brokerage into the 14th largest brokerage in the United States. He has served on the board of The Council of Agents & Brokers.
Gene was a principal in a large Bay Area brokerage that specialized in P&C and Surety for the Construction Industry. He started his career in the carrier ranks as a Surety Bond Specialist before moving into Sales & Marketing. He joined the IR Group in 1992 and is National Practice Leader for Wholesale E&S and Surety. He has a B.S. in Business Economics from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Science in Organizational behavior from the California School of Professional Psychology.
Dick Rohde, CIC, Executive Vice President, IRC of San Diego
Dick has been a President of a national MGA and Managing Principal of a large retail broker. Prior to joining the IR Group in May 2009, he was President of the Arrowhead Commercial Business Group. Prior to that, he was Managing Principal with Barney and Barney, LLC.
He has served on the Board of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, as well as the Board of IBA West. He holds the CIC designation and has completed the Wharton School Agency Management Program.
He has a track record of cutting edge product development, creating performance incentive structures and is an expert in evaluation technology systems for retail agencies and wholesale brokers.
Sandra Simmons, CPC, Managing Director & National Practice Leader, IR Search
A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Sandra began her insurance career with a Life carrier in Omaha. In 1983, she entered the executive search field and headed the insurance division for a Omaha firm. She joined the IR Group in 1988 and was named a Managing Director in 1995. A leader in promoting professionalism in the search field, she has been a Board Member and two-time President of a national association of insurance search firms. She heads our Life and Annuity practice.
Donald Houser, CLU, ChFC, FLMI, Director Research & Development, Insurance Resources Consultants
Prior to joining IRC in 1987, Don held management positions in both the P&C and Life industries. A Vanderbilt University graduate, he was a naval officer in Vietnam where he was awarded two Bronze Stars. In addition to Product Development, he has led our efforts in creating what we believe is the most comprehensive database of retail brokerage and wholesale brokerages in existence.
David A. Speciale, J.D., Managing Director & National Practice Leader, IR Group of Boston
Prior to merging with the IR Group in 2004, David was President of Career Champions. That company provides executive coaching and had a distinguished executive search practice that is now part of the IR Group. David was an executive with two of the world’s largest insurance companies. He was a Regional Vice President, based in Japan and responsible for Asian operations. He then returned to the U.S. with global responsibilities for personal lines P&C and Life operations. In addition to his consulting activities, he is our national practice leader for insurance carrier operations. He holds both a B.A. and J.D. degree.
Bruce Fernandez, Managing Director, IR Group of Florida
Prior to joining the IR Group, Bruce was Managing Member of G2G3, LLC, a marketing and business development consulting firm for financial services organizations. Bruce’s insurance management background is very broad and includes responsibilities with carriers, retail brokers and wholesale brokers. His expertise includes work with captives, alternative risk funding, the Illinois Insurance Exchange and was a co-founder of the Lionheart Group. He earned a B.A. in Business from Rollins College.
Suzanne Martin, Vice President – Operations Director
Prior to joining the IR Group in 1980, she had both retail brokerage and insurance carrier experience. She worked in the corporate offices of a large carrier with positions in systems analysis and also worked in their space planning division. She has designed our custom databases and manages internal activities insuring total quality management.
David Farrand, Managing Director, IR Group of Arizona
David specializes in offering his CFO to CFO program through Insurance Resources Consultants. He was a partner and CFO for a top 100-size prestigious retail broker. During that time, he developed a unique program that teaches CFOs to be significant contributors to new business production. He earned a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Minnesota.
Lucinda K. Bauer, J.D., Director, Shoemaker-Schexnayder Inc.
Lucinda possesses a unique combination of legal, insurance, and healthcare management experience. She provides consulting on governance issues and writing operations manuals. She was a developer or our ProLaw Consultants program which includes early intervention on employment practices issues. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the McGeorge School of Law and manages a litigation practice separate from the IR Group.
Raymond Benetti, Merger & Acquisition Specialist
Ray has an MBA in taxation from Golden Gate University and a B.A. in Accounting from Sacramento State University. He is the senior partner in a major accounting firm and is under contract to IRC as part of our M&A team.
IR ExecuCorps members
In addition to our core staff, we have an impressive number of insurance executives under contract. Some are retired corporate officers who like project work. Others are independent consultants who also operate under our aegis.
