Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has appointed Gabriel Poppie as head of customer and broker engagement for its US central region. Based in Chicago, Poppie joins BHSI with more than 20 years of industry experience. Throughout his career he has held sales leadership, distribution and customer relationship roles at brokers and carriers, such as Sompo International and Swiss Re. Poppie most recently served as central region executive at Chicago-based Vantage Risk Companies. Lori Spoon, head of customer and broker engagement at BHSI, comments: “[Poppie’s] relationships with risk management professionals and brokers will be an asset in support of our regional growth strategy.”