INSURANCE

Transamerica Life Names New President: Thomas J. Cusack was named president and chief executive of the Los Angeles-based company, succeeding David R. Carpenter, who is taking early retirement. Cusack, 39, a five-year veteran of Transamerica Corp., the San Francisco-based parent company, has been in charge of Transamerica Real Estate Tax Service and corporate development activities since 1993, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. In his new post, he will continue as a corporate senior vice president. Previously, he was a business development manager at General Electric Co. and a consultant at McKinsey & Co. John A. Fibiger, former president of Transamerica Life Cos., was named chairman of the unit, the parent said.