What Makes Us Distinguished?

People. Performance. Long-Standing Relationships.

About

Pioneers and Innovators.

In our early history, we formed the first real estate purchasing group in the nation. Later on, we were one of the first in the industry to introduce our Broker Portal so brokers could submit, quote and bind online, making things much more efficient.

Today, we're following those pioneering and innovative firsts by investing in product development, technology and most importantly: people.

Reputation for Integrity.

Through thoughtful innovation, we foster growth and opportunity for our brokers, carriers, and employees alike, and our commitment goes far beyond the words we use in our communications.

For decades we’ve been demonstrating our trustworthiness and professionalism to every individual and company we’ve interacted with. And throughout that time, our reputation for integrity has remained unchallenged.

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About

For You.

We’ll be there to continue to lead the industry with an innovative product offering, inspiring a culture that is rich with a tradition of improvement. We will continue to be there when you need us.

When you call, you’ll likely speak with someone you know by name, who has been with our organization for years. Clients, carrier partners, and employees agree that those are just a few of the reasons why we are Distinguished.

Join Our Team

We're looking for people to grow with us

Bill Malloy Distinguished Programs
Bill Malloy Distinguished Programs

Bill Malloy

Chief Executive Officer

About

Bill Malloy serves as the CEO of Distinguished. His insurance career began in 1980, giving him considerable US and international insurance market expertise. Most recently, Bill was President of Acrisure Ventures. Before Acrisure, Bill was a Partner at Aquiline Capital, where his responsibilities included assuming the CEO role for various portfolio companies. Before Aquiline, Bill was the Global President of Marsh. Bill is currently Chairman of the Board for Antares Re and a member of Intact's US Advisory Board.

Chief Executive Officer

Jason Rotman Distinguished Programs
Jason Rotman Distinguished Programs

Jason Rotman

President and CFO

About

Jason Rotman is the President and CFO at Distinguished. Prior to joining, Jason was an Executive Advisor to Aquiline Capital Partners, where he co-led the firm’s insurance team. During his tenure at Aquiline, he was also a member of the Investment Committees of the Aquiline Financial Services Funds and the Aquiline Technology Growth Fund. Jason holds a B.A. in economics from Duke University.

President and CFO

Steve Sitterley Distinguished Programs
Steve Sitterley Distinguished Programs

Steve Sitterly

Chief Operating Officer

About

Steve Sitterly is the Chief Operating Officer, bringing over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. Prior to joining Distinguished, Steve was Executive Vice President of Acrisure, where he focused on driving organic growth through product development, technology enablement and carrier negotiations. Steve holds a B.A. in Economics from Siena College and an M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany.

 

 

Chief Operating Officer

Elizabeth Babington Distinguished Programs
Elizabeth Babington Distinguished Programs

Elizabeth Babington

President, Umbrella and Excess Liability

About

Elizabeth Babington, CPCU, ARM is the President, Umbrella and Excess Liability, responsible for maintaining carrier relationships and overseeing new program development for our Umbrella products. Elizabeth joined Distinguished in 2017, bringing with her over 20+ years of varied insurance industry experience in underwriting, retail brokerage, wholesale brokerage and program administration. Previously, Elizabeth worked at companies including Crum & Forster, Willis, PACCAR Financial Corp., and Ultra Risk Advisors (previously National Specialty Underwriters). Elizabeth holds a CPCU designation and received her BS in Accounting and Finance/Computer Science from Oregon State University.

President
Umbrella and Excess Liability

Barbara Bartson Distinguished Programs
Barbara Bartson Distinguished Programs

Barbara Bartson

President, Community Associations

About

Barb oversees Distinguished’s Community Association program including package, D&O, crime, and umbrella products. She is responsible for the program’s strategic planning, product management, and underwriting profitability. Barb joined Distinguished in 2017, bringing over 30 years of commercial insurance experience, with a focus on excess liability. Previously, she worked for Great American Insurance and Liberty Mutual in many roles including Production Underwriter, AVP Excess Liability Underwriting Manager, Product Management Consultant, and VP Program Underwriting Manager. Barb received a BA from the University of Dayton and an MBA from Miami University, Ohio. In addition, she maintains CPCU, CPL, and ARe designations.

President
Community Associations

Ryan Becker Distinguished Programs
Ryan Becker Distinguished Programs

Ryan Becker

President

About

Ryan is the President of Executive Lines at Distinguished. With a career spanning 28 years, Ryan brings extensive leadership experience in the management, financial institution, and professional liability sectors. Prior to his role at Distinguished, he founded Ascot Insurance U.S.’s executive lines practice and served as its Executive Vice President and Head of Management Liability. Ryan has also held key positions at companies such as Sompo International, Aspen Insurance, Axis Insurance, and AIG, gaining invaluable insights and expertise along the way. He started his journey in the insurance industry in 1995 as a D&O underwriter with AIG and honed his skills as a wholesale broker with Swett & Crawford. Ryan earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Management from Eckerd College.

 

President
Executive Lines

Patrick Drummond Distinguished Fine Art
Patrick Drummond Distinguished Programs

Patrick Drummond

President

About

Patrick is the president of Distinguished Fine Art and Collectibles. He is an industry veteran with 25 years of experience, 15 of which have been focused on the specialty insurance market. Prior to joining Distinguished in 2022, Patrick was Head of Fine Art, Specie, and Bloodstock for the Americas at AXA XL. Over his career, he has held various leadership and management roles in underwriting, sales, marketing, product management, and claims. Like his teammates, he is a passionate collector and deeply cares about the industry. Patrick holds a BA in Marketing & Business Management from Franklin University.

 

President
Fine Art & Collectibles

James Frankel Distinguished Programs
James Frankel Distinguished Programs

James Frankel

Vice President, Corporate Development

About

James is the Vice President of Corporate Development at Distinguished, joining the firm in 2023. Before joining Distinguished, James was Vice President of Commercial Insurance & Programs at Vault, where he led the build of the firm’s commercial MGA business. Before Vault, James was Vice President of Large Accounts within Acrisure LLC, a top-10 global brokerage and leading M&A consolidator. James holds a B.A. in economics from Davidson College and MBA from NYU Stern.

 

VICE PRESIDENT
CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT

Karen Isaacs Distinguished Programs
Karen Isaacs Distinguished Programs

Karen Isaacs

Chief Talent Officer

About

Karen is the Chief Talent Officer, responsible for human resources and talent development across Distinguished and its subsidiaries. Karen joined in late 2019, bringing with her a great wealth of insurance industry experience to make Distinguished an employer of choice. Prior to joining Distinguished, Karen held senior human resource positions at JLT, Hamilton Insurance Group, and AIG. She received her BS in Human Resources from Indiana University – Bloomington.

 

Chief Talent Officer

Ursula Kerrigan Distinguished Programs
Ursula Kerrigan Distinguished Programs

Ursula Kerrigan

General Counsel

About

Ursula is Distinguished’s General Counsel and oversees our legal operations. Her responsibilities include ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations, overseeing licensing and filings, and providing strategic direction to underwriting division leaders. Ursula joined Distinguished in 2023, bringing over 30 years of legal experience in the insurance and reinsurance sectors. Prior to joining Distinguished, Ursula served as SVP & General Counsel of the Americas Region for AXA XL, a division of AXA. Over her legal career, she has held various other General Counsel positions, each with a diverse range of responsibilities. She has supported underwriting teams and (re)insurance clients at Valiant Insurance Group, Liberty International Underwriters, Skadden Arps, Gulf Insurance Group and Wilson Elser. Ursula obtained her undergraduate degree from Boston University and her J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.

General Counsel

Rick Ruiz Distinguished Programs
Rick Ruiz Distinguished Programs

Rick Ruiz

PRESIDENT OF AMERICAN HOLE ‘N ONE AND GRAND PRIZE PROMOTION

About

Rick is the President of American Hole ‘n One and Grand Prize Promotions. Rick joined the company in 2017 as the Chief Sales Officer and was appointed in 2019 to take over the President position at the company. In his current role, he has the responsibility for the strategic direction, P&L, and all facets of operations for this division of Distinguished Programs. Prior to working with American Hole ‘n One, Rick spent over 20 years in executive positions with York Risk Services Group and Zurich Financial Services. He is a results-driven senior sales executive with an incredible ability to build, motivate and decisively lead teams with proven results in driving B2B growth and delivering multimillion-dollar growth in revenue, earnings, and market-share ratings.

 

President
American Hole N' One and Grand Prize Promotion

Douglas Stepenosky Distinguished Programs
Douglas Stepenosky Distinguished Programs

Doug Stepenosky

President, Distinguished Environmental and Construction Professional

About

Doug has over 27 years of environmental underwriting experience and joined SiriusPoint in January 2017 from Great American Insurance Group, where he was a Senior Vice President. In 2008, Doug helped to build and launch Great American’s environmental division that produced over $300M in profitable premium over his tenure there. In addition to his time at Great American, Doug has held leadership roles with other environmental insurance carriers, including XL in Exton, PA as a Vice President - Executive Underwriter and at AIG in San Francisco, CA as a Zonal Vice President, and Product Line Manager. Doug earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Villanova University in 1993 and has his Resident Producer and Surplus Lines Licenses in all 50 states.

 

President
Environmental and Construction Professional

Erica Stoller, Chief Information Officer
Erica Stoller, Chief Information Officer

Erica Stoller

Chief Information Officer

About

Erica Stoller is the Chief Information Officer, responsible for supporting and driving business value through the use of data and technology. Since joining Distinguished in 2004, Erica has worked across the organization, assuming her current role as CIO in 2019. Her tenure and experience at Distinguished have allowed Erica to bring the business and technology together to drive transformational change. Erica received her BS in Applied Mathematics from Dartmouth College and an MS in Technology Management from Columbia University, where she wrote her master’s thesis on the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Insurance Industry.

Chief Information Officer

Heidi Strommen Distinguished Programs
Heidi Strommen Distinguished Programs

Heidi Strommen

President, Primary Hospitality

About

Heidi oversees the overall strategy and management of Distinguished’s primary programs for restaurants and hotels. Heidi joined Distinguished in April 2019 with the acquisition of ProHost USA, a program administrator specializing in restaurants, where she served as President. She has an extensive background building programs for restaurants and related risks at ProHost. Her career experience also includes a variety of positions at Twin City Group, a retail brokerage. She is a past president of Target Markets Program Administrators Association and currently serves on the Advisory Board. Heidi earned a BA in Government from Cornell University and an MBA from Metropolitan State University.

 

President
Primary Hospitality

Neal Sullivan Distinguished Programs
Neal Sullivan Distinguished Programs

Neal Sullivan

Shared Services Leader

About

Neal Sullivan is Senior Vice President and Shared Services Leader for Distinguished Programs. In this role he oversees IT, Compliance, Project Management, Analytics, as well as numerous back-office operations. Since joining Distinguished in 2000, Neal has worked in multiple leadership roles across the organization, assuming his current position in 2022. Prior to joining, Neal was an underwriter for Chubb Insurance. He received his BA in Economics from Connecticut College and an MBA from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.

 

Shared Services Leader

Ritchie Vener Distinguished Programs
Ritchie Vener Distinguished Programs

Ritchie Vener

Chief Growth Officer

About

Ritchie Vener is the Chief Growth Officer of Distinguished Programs LLC, responsible for companywide organic growth, marketing and communications, sales enablement and training, and strategic growth initiatives. Ritchie joined Distinguished in 2019, bringing 20 years’ experience as a CMO for rapidly growing companies, all in financial services and insurance. Prior to joining Distinguished, Ritchie was CMO of York Risk Services Group for 11 years, preceded by marketing leadership positions at GE Capital and its subsidiaries. Ritchie received a BS in Finance, Summa Cum Laude and an MBA with High Honors, both from Boston University.

Chief Growth Officer

Katie Vespia Distinguished Programs
Katie Vespia Distinguished Programs

Katie Vespia

President, Real Estate and Builder's Risk

About

Katie Vespia is the President, Real Estate and Builder's Risk for Distinguished’s Real Estate Programs including City Insurance, New York Brick & Brownstone, Vacant Building and Builder’s Risk programs. She is responsible for the program’s strategic planning, product management and underwriting profitability. Katie began her insurance career in 2007 at Distinguished and has worked through the ranks to her current position. She has concentrated in Property and Casualty Underwriting and Program Management.  Katie received her BS in Finance from Rhode Island College.

 

President
Real Estate & Builder's Risk

Andy Potash, Distinguished Programs
Andy Potash, Distinguished Programs

Andy Potash

Founder

About

Prior to founding Distinguished in 1995 and The Distinguished Social Ventures Foundation in 2012, Andy spent 28 years in the retail insurance brokerage industry in a variety of gopher, account management, production, new product design, and executive roles. As the company's Founder, he tries to stay out of trouble by mentoring younger colleagues and working on new programs.

A graduate of Cornell University and the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School, he has earned both the CPCU and CLU designations, was a member of Lloyds of London, and a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He is currently a member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO) and the Chief Executives Organization (CEO).

Founder

Sports And Competition

Vision

An ever-evolving MGA, delivering outstanding underwriting results and a superior experience for brokers and agents, built on a culture of partnership, exceptional talent and expertise, world-class support services, and distinguished products

About

Mission

  • Create highly competitive specialty insurance products delivered in an easy and accessible manner
  • Recruit exceptionally talented individuals and teams, giving them support with autonomy, enabling them to achieve superior outcomes
  • Provide our carrier partners with outstanding underwriting results
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OUR CORE VALUES

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ACHIEVEMENT.

We work with passion, persistence, and focus.

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INTEGRITY.

We do the right thing, even when no one is looking.

About

INNOVATION.

We develop creative solutions for real problems.

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RELATIONSHIPS.

We care deeply about the success of our colleagues, customers, partners, and communities.