Avalon announces the promotion of Kevin Sarsfield to Senior Vice President, Southern Division & International Development and the appointment of Grant Goldsmith as Vice President of Business Development for our Southern Division.

In Kevin’s new role, he will continue to be based in our Miami office and be responsible for our Southern Division while also taking on responsibility for our international expansion in Latin America, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Kevin has been instrumental in growing and developing our FIATA Group Bond Programme and is actively involved in ALACAT in Latin America. He will continue to travel internationally to successfully build strategic partnerships and business on a global basis.

As Vice President of Business Development, Grant’s experience is a perfect fit to oversee and further develop Avalon’s broad base of product lines within our Southern Division. Effective May 21, 2012, Grant will be based in our Houston office to manage responsibility for business development in Texas, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Grant has more than 20 years of insurance and transportation experience, acting as an insurance agent for Marine and P&C lines, as well as serving as Global Risk Manager for a multi-national logistics company. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy and a master’s degree from Seton Hall University, as well as a Marine Diploma from Lloyd’s of London. In addition to being a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Risk Manager (CRM), Grant is pursuing his Certified Property & Casualty Underwriter designation.

With the addition of Grant to the management team, Avalon has also acquired Overwatch, Inc., which specializes in high-risk insurance for U.S. Government, United Nations, NATO and International Commercial Contractors working globally, particularly in areas such as the Middle East and Africa. Grant will continue to manage Overwatch’s programs to offer these specialized insurance services to our global logistics clients through Avalon’s network of offices throughout the United States and Canada.

“These two executive appointments add to an already strong leadership team,” said Lisa Gelsomino, Avalon’s President/CEO. “Our Southern Division and international expansion efforts will continue to flourish under Kevin’s leadership and expertise in the logistics industry. Grant will also bring extraordinary insight into our global insurance products as we continually strive to build value-added services around our customers’ specialized insurance needs. The acquisition of Overwatch also allows us to provide our clients with risk management solutions to insure military shipments and high-risk cargo.”

Please join us in congratulating Kevin and welcoming Grant to the Avalon team. Please feel free to contact Kevin at ksarsfield@avalonrisk.com or Grant at ggoldsmith@avalonrisk.com. For your convenience, all of our Houston office contacts are listed below. As always, we appreciate your business and look forward to serving you.

Kevin Sarsfield Senior Vice President, Southern Division & International Development Phone: (305) 513-0889 Fax: (305) 513-4897 ksarsfield@avalonrisk.com	Grant Goldsmith Vice President, Business Development Southern Division Phone: (713) 343-0889 Fax: (713) 343-0890 ggoldsmith@avalonrisk.com
Christie Brush Senior Account Executive Phone: (713) 343-0893 Fax: (713) 343-0890 cbrush@avalonrisk.com	Benita McCauley Senior Account Manager Phone: (713) 343-0892 Fax: (713) 343-0890 bmccauley@avalonrisk.com