On December 15, 2011, Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce Mike Rothman announced several high-level appointments at the Department following the departure of key, long-time Department leaders Deputy Commissioner Kevin Murphy and Assistant Commissioner Jaki Gardner. The new appointments are:

Jaki Gardner’s replacement is Blaine Shepherd. Blaine will serve as acting Assistant Commissioner for the Insurance Division. Since joining the Department in 2002, Blaine has worked as a valuation actuary. In that role, he has been primarily responsible for monitoring the solvency of insurance companies, especially review of related actuarial filings. Shepherd is very active with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) representing Minnesota as a member of the Life Actuarial Task Force, and the Capital Adequacy and Valuation of Securities task forces.

Commissioner Rothman has also asked Rick Theisen to serve as Chief Financial Examiner for the Insurance Division. Theisen will organize and direct the financial examination of domestic insurance companies doing business in Minnesota. He will manage the Department’s insurance examination staff in accordance with the Risk Focused Examination process, and coordinate financial solvency oversight to ensure full compliance with NAIC accreditation standards and statutory requirements.