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Luke Proctor has been named president of Signature Select LLC, a new retail insurance subsidiary of Wichita, Kan.-based IMA. Proctor joined The IMA Financial Group in 2003 in the management development program, eventually focusing on strategic planning and special projects.

Signature Select LLC was formed to provide personal insurance services and business insurance solutions for small- to mid-sized organizations. The new subsidiary merges the employees and assets of the IMA Private Client Services and IMA Community Business departments. Signature Select is based in Wichita, with a presence in Dallas; Denver; Kansas City and Topeka, Kan., and is seeking licensure in all 50 states.

Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. (LWCC) announced Peter Gale has joined the company as senior vice president of insurance services.

Gale brings 23 years of commercial insurance experience with such companies as AIG, Kemper Insurance, Fireman’s Fund Insurance and Brown & Brown. For 28 years, he has resided in the Seattle area, where he served as president of R.F. Mattei & Associates, and vice president and business technology executive for Eagle Insurance Companies (now Seabright), a former Kemper subsidiary.

Gale holds the designation of Associate in Risk Management.

Independent insurance brokerage firm and Assurex Global partner, Dallas-based Roach Howard Smith & Barton (RHSB), appointed Douglas R. Jones vice president and principal. Jones specializes in insurance coverage for technology companies and will lead the expansion of RHSB’s services to the technology community.

Jones has more than 20 years of experience in risk management coverage and services, assisting clients through developmental periods, including emerging growth, IPOs, global expansions, and mergers and acquisitions. He also has knowledge of technology, telecommunications, media and life sciences, as well as an expertise in highly targeted insurance products such as cyber liability, directors and officers, and errors and omissions liability.

Prior to joining RHSB, Jones served as executive vice president at a Dallas-based insurance agency, where he headed the technology and D&O liability divisions. Jones’ professional designations include Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter and Associate in Risk Management.

The Woodlands Financial Group Inc. (TWFG), a retail and managing general agency headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, added Charles Locke as its new vice president of claims. Locke brings more than 35 years of insurance experience in claims management, insurance adjusting and appraising.

Locke began his insurance career as an independent adjuster for State Farm. Most recently, Locke was a program director for Aggressive Insurance Co. Prior to that, he led the claims department for Texas Select Lloyds Insurance Co.; developed and administered the company’s catastrophe preparedness and response program; and provided back-up to the Florida Select and California Select CAT programs.

TWFG also added Katherine Nolan as its new chief operating officer. Nolan brings more than 15 years of insurance management experience with P&L, strategic planning and operational execution accomplishments.

Throughout her career, Nolan has served in numerous management and executive roles including division president and executive vice president of Affirmative Insurance Holdings Inc. She led the strategic planning and integration of five acquisitions while helping to build the organizational structure, recruiting and hiring talented employees, and spearheading the consolidation of the business operations. Also, as a prior program manager overseeing insurance programs in five states, Nolan was directly responsible for overall growth and profitability.

Texas-based Homeowners of America Insurance Co. announced that Michael S. Cox has joined the firm as vice president and director of marketing. Cox has more than 12 years of insurance industry experience, with most of his career spent in property and casualty focused on personal lines.

Prior to joining Homeowners of America, Cox worked with Safeco Insurance as a regional sales manager in the Louisiana and Oklahoma markets. Additionally, he has worked for AIG Agency Auto as a regional sales and marketing manager in the Texas, Colorado and New Mexico markets.

Kimberly J. Muesse with Lockton Companies Inc. in Houston, Texas, was named the Accredited Customer Service Representative (ACSR) of the Year by the Indepen-dent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”).

Muesse joined the Lockton team two years ago and has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. Muesse has demonstrated her commitment to continuing education by earning all three ACSR designations. She earned the personal lines designation in June 1991, the commercial line designation in October 1994 and the life/health designation June 2004.

The Big “I” said Muesse stood out among the candidates for the ACSR of the Year honor because she consistently goes beyond the call of duty. Her professionalism, time management skills and exceptional work ethic were among the many attributes that were highlighted in letters recommending her to the prestigious award.

The Accredited Customer Service Representative program is a joint effort of the Big “I”, the American Institutes for CPCU (AICPCU) and the Insurance Institute of America (IIA).

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