Newport Beach-based Pacific Life Insurance Co. has elevated Mary Ann Brown to executive vice president of corporate development and to chief executive of the insurer’s investment funds.
Brown, who joined Pacific Life in 2005, had been senior vice president, corporate development. She previously was president of the company’s Pacific Select Fund and the Pacific Life Funds.
The promotion largely is in recognition of Brown’s work. She’ll continue to handle many of the duties she did before.
Brown reports to Pacific Life Chief Executive Jim Morris. She serves with him, the chief financial officer and chief investment officer on the company’s general management team, which sets policy for Pacific Life, the county’s largest privately held company with $4 billion in yearly sales.
Brown is the highest ranking woman at Pacific Life and one of the county’s top female executives.
“I’ve never thought of myself as different from the guys,” Brown said. “That’s not fair to them since they work just as hard as I do.”
Brown, who has no children, said she respects other women who’ve juggled careers and families.
As head of Pacific Life’s funds, Brown oversees $50 billion in assets for policyholders. The funds invest in stocks, bonds and other assets to generate returns for holders of variable life and annuity policies.
She also oversees information technology services, corporate technology, business development and Pacific Life Reinsurance, a unit that offers insurance to other insurers that resulted from Pacific Life’s 2008 buy of Scottish Re Holdings Ltd.
Brown, who grew up in South Florida, started her career at the Atlanta branch of Toronto-based Canada Life Assurance Co. in 1980. She spent more than a decade at Towers Perrin’s Tillinghast actuarial unit before joining Swiss Re in 1996. Two years later, Brown joined Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
She said she loves living and working in Orange County.
“I never want to leave where I live,” Brown said.
She has a bachelor’s and master’s from Emory University in Georgia and a master’s in actuarial science from Georgia State University.
She taught middle school for nine years before getting into insurance.
Brown lives in Laguna Beach with husband Rick Reiff, the Business Journal’s executive editor, OC Insider columnist and host of “Inside OC” on KOCE-TV.
Brown is an avid traveler who’s been to 100 countries and seven continents. She spent New Year’s Eve 1999 in Antarctica.
—Michael Lyster
ACCOUNTING
Linda Hurley was named partner at Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP in its Newport Beach office. Hurley will lead the firm’s public services group. She previously worked in the firm’s nonprofit practice.
CONSULTING
Irvine-based Projjix Inc. named Linda Harper vice president of business development. Harper will be responsible for the growth in Southern California. She previously served as a managing director at Irvine-based Resources Connection Inc.
ENGINEERING
New York-based Par-sons Brinckerhoff Inc. has named Donald Currie senior supervising engineer of its Orange office. Currie has more than 23 years of experience in designing and managing transportation projects in local and state agencies in California. He is a former president of the Orange County branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
FINANCE
Financial adviser Fieldman Rolapp & Associates of Irvine promoted Robert Porr to senior vice president. Porr previously served as vice president and has been with the company for five years.
HEALTHCARE
Vivian Browne was named development associate of the Orange Coast Mem-orial Foundation at Fountain Valley-based Orange Coast Mem-orial Medical Center. She will be assisting in all fundraising activities and programs, annual giving, major gifts, grants and planned giving.
LAW
Mark Finkelstein has joined Jones Day at its Irvine office as a partner. Finkelstein practices intellectual property litigation and has represented medical device companies in patent and other intellectual property cases. He previously worked at Latham & Watkins LLP in Costa Mesa.
Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP promoted Matthew O’Loughlin to partner in its Costa Mesa office and added Thomas Leary as a partner. Both will be members of the firm’s corporate and finance practice group. O’Loughlin has been with Manatt for five years. Leary most recently was senior vice president and general counsel of Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.
NONPROFIT
Habitat for Humanity of Orange County in Santa Ana elected Brett Mansfield as chairman, Mark Matthews as vice chairman and Mark Hoover as secretary. Mansfield is senior vice president at Union Bank NA in Irvine. Matthews is president and chief operating officer for Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. in Irvine. Hoover is vice president of the national homebuilder services unit of First American Corp. in Santa Ana.
The Providence Speech and Hearing Center in Orange added Lewis Jaffe to
its board. Providence provides speech, hearing and language services to adults and children. Jaffe operates a consulting practice focusing on planning and fundraising.
Cynthia Wright has joined the board of the Santa Ana-based Leu-kemia & Lymphoma Society, Orange Coun-ty/Inland Empire chapter. Wright was named Woman of the Year for the organization in 2009. She currently resides in Riverside.
REAL ESTATE
Matthew Stephenson was hired at Newport Beach-based Voit Real Estate Services as an asset manager. Stephenson previously worked at Buchanan Street Partners in Newport Beach as vice president.
Grubb & Ellis Co. named Hook McCul-lough vice president and director of private capital markets in its Newport Beach office. He will be responsible for overseeing the company’s brokers in the private capital markets group as well as recruiting brokers.
Melissa Johnson was hired as an association manager at Irvine-based Keystone Pacific Property Management Inc. She will be managing several local condominium complexes.
RESTAURANTS
Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland Resort unit in Anaheim hired Philippe Tosques as general manager of Napa Rose restaurant. Tosques has more than 25 years of restaurant management experience. He previously oversaw operations for Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Prime Steak-house at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Pasadena-based Lawry’s Restaurants Inc. named Steven Kim as general manager of Five Crowns Restaurant in Corona del Mar. Kim will also be responsible for SideDoor, which is next door to Five Crowns. He previously served as the assistant general manager of Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Las Vegas and in Beverly Hills.
TECHNOLOGY
Cathy Michalski has been named a business management consultant at Mission Viejo-based TeamLogic IT Inc., a unit of Mission Viejo-based Franchise Services Inc. Kevin Pearson also joins the company as a business development consultant. Michalski previously worked at Franchise Services as a business management consultant. Pearson previously was a senior executive at Microsoft Corp.
