People – South Central

David Mattax has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve as Texas insurance commissioner to replace Julia Rathgeber, who has been tapped as deputy chief of staff for Gov.-Elect Greg Abbott.

Mattax previously was deputy attorney general for defense litigation, past director of defense litigation and past chief of the financial litigation division for the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice before the Texas Federal District Court, Fourth and Fifth Circuit U.S. Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) selected Marit Peters as its president and executive director. She will replace David VanDelinder, who is retiring from the leadership role.

Peters has spent the past 20 years working across various industries including insurance, healthcare, information technology, aviation manufacturing and association management. Her most recent role as chief strategy officer for the Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico has afforded her the opportunity to work closely with insurance agencies and companies to understand their current challenges and deliver proven results.

She has also consulted with associations across the country sharing her vision of ensuring associations remain relevant and attract the next generation of members, while respecting their history.

Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Co., a regional property carrier providing homeowners, renters, condominium and fire coverage in five states, appointed industry veteran Douglas W. Reynolds as president and chief executive officer.

Reynolds takes the helm from Kerry Ford, vice president of underwriting, who has been serving as interim president.

During his career, Reynolds has served in key executive leadership roles at Exigen Capital, ACE Group, Horace Mann Educators Corp., AIG and Allstate Insurance Co.

Gulfstream was first licensed in Florida in 2004. It is now licensed in seven states and writes in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, in addition to Florida. It is backed by its affiliate company, Seibels.

Higginbotham hired Steven Stick as senior loss control consultant in the independent insurance, risk management and financial services firm’s Dallas office.

Stick comes to Higginbotham from Travelers Insurance in Richardson, Texas, where he was a technology risk control specialist. His 18-year career in loss control started in 1996 when he became the director of risk management for the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. He also has worked for Commercial Insurance Services, Great American Insurance and Chubb Group of Insurance Cos.

Higginbotham’s control department serves customers throughout the state.

Insurance wholesaler, Delta General Agency Corp., hired Lesa Blaser as the high net worth business development leader in its North Texas office.

Blaser will expand Delta’s high net worth presence in North Texas. She has more than 25 years’ of insurance industry experience with an extensive background in private client/high net worth sales, service and risk management.

Prior to joining Delta, Blaser held executive positions with Willis Private Client Group and MarketScout.

Insurance and reinsurance broker JLT Specialty Insurance Services Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc., has appointed five additional specialists to its Houston-based energy risk team.

William Helander was most recently senior vice president at Aon.

Wynne Sharpe was most recently senior vice president at Aon.

Melissa Henderson was most recently vice president at Marsh.

Lisa Harris was most recently vice president at Lockton.

Andrew Glisson was most recently vice president at Upstream Insurance Brokers.

These energy specialists are joining JLT’s existing Houston-based energy business that includes the energy business acquired from Alliant Insurance Services in October and creates what the broker said will become an industry-leading energy team.

JLT plans to expand its U.S. specialty capabilities into key specialty areas, including energy, construction, financial lines, credit, political and security, and aerospace.

JLT said the new appointments are subject to their fulfillment of existing contractual obligations.

Insurance broker Southwest Risk LP added Ryan Taylor and Wade Wrobel in Dallas as brokers with a focus on transportation, energy and hospitality.

Taylor is a native of the DFW Metroplex. Most recently, he served as senior underwriter/broker for LevelFirst LLC, managing the transportation book of business and in-house oil and gas programs. Taylor previously worked at Towerstone Inc. in Dallas as an underwriter/broker. He began his insurance career in 2004.

Wrobel is a native of McGehee, Ark., and has made his home in Dallas since 2001. He began his insurance career with retail broker Swingle Collins. He has worked in the commercial wholesale side of the industry since 2005, both in underwriting and as a broker. Wrobel has expertise in the hospitality industry, including but not limited to nightclubs, bars, taverns, restaurants and related casualty lines.

ClearView Risk Holdings LLC is the holding company of Southwest Risk LP.

Dallas-based managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler, U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc., has named Adam Felton as assistant vice president of marketing and development for U.S. Risk Solutions, its affinity group sales and servicing division.

Felton will assume the primary strategic and operational responsibilities for the marketing and development activities of U.S. Risk Solutions.

He has been in the industry for 16 years and has spent the last 10 years of his career focused on professional liability, insurance agents errors and omissions, employment practices liability and cyber liability.

Before joining U.S. Risk, Felton worked for The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, where he was responsible for the overall results of their profit center and insurance programs.

Kitty Ambers, has been promoted to chief executive officer of the Network of Vertafore Users (NetVU), based in Irving, Texas.

Ambers’ responsibilities as CEO include directing and improving NetVU operations; communicating with the executive committee, board of directors, staff and Vertafore management; and acting as a point of continuity for NetVU within the insurance industry.

She joined NetVU in September 2013 as chief staff executive. During her tenure, Ambers’ accomplishments include a recent software upgrade to improve the organization’s automation, enhanced educational offerings, and increased opportunities for members to network.

She has also led the staff, as membership has expanded, to encompass all Vertafore product users, including carriers, MGAs and some regulators.

Ambers has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry.