People
Doug Slape has been promoted to second-in-command at the Texas Department of Insurance.
Slape has been at the agency since 1988 and has served as deputy commissioner for the Financial Regulation Division the past three years.
As head of the Financial Regulation Division, Slape has overseen company licensing, solvency and market conduct examinations, and regulatory interventions to ensure the strength and stability of the Texas insurance market, which is the second largest in the nation and the ninth largest in the world.
Slape leads several National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) committees and is a governor of the Society of Financial Examiners. He is a certified financial examiner and a certified information systems auditor.
Jamie Walker will become deputy commissioner for the Financial Regulation Division. She has been with the agency since 2000, has extensive examinations experience, and has served as the division’s assistant deputy for almost three years.
Walker is a certified financial examiner and is active on many NAIC financial committees.
Terry Frakes has retired from Austin-based workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., after more than 25 years of service to the company.
Frakes was Texas Mutual’s third employee after it was created by the Texas Legislature in 1991 (then called the Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund). He was also the company’s first executive council member.
For the past 26 years, Frakes has served as Texas Mutual’s senior vice president of public affairs, where he represented the company during legislative sessions, served as the primary media contact and oversaw communication initiatives.
Prior to joining Texas Mutual, Frakes worked as regional director of governmental affairs of a major national trade association, director of government affairs of at the Texas Department of Insurance and as special assistant to the House Insurance Committee
The company commemorated Frakes’s retirement with a small celebration to recognize his many contributions to Texas Mutual and the workers’ compensation industry.
Western Security Surplus Insurance Brokers LLC, headquartered in Plano, Texas, named Mark Kaufman its chief operating officer.
Kaufman will be charged with growing WSS’ West coast production staff as well as adding product lines. Kaufman will be part of the Los Angeles team in a new Sherman Oaks office.
Kaufman has more than 34 years of experience in excess and surplus lines and most recently held the COO position for Monarch E&S Insurance Services, where he worked for the past 24 years. Specialty Program Group LLC last year acquired the assets of Burbank, Calif.-based wholesaler Monarch.
Kaufman is currently president of the California Insurance Wholesalers Association.
WSS serves retail agencies through placement of general liability, package liability, DIC, property and other policies. WSS is headquartered in Plano, Texas with producers located in California and Texas.
The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) has added Cari Senefsky as E&O sales executive.
Senefsky has more than a decade of insurance sales experience and success, with five of those years dedicated to Independent Insurance Agents E&O coverage development and placements.
Senefsky has extensive experience working with agencies of all shapes and sizes and is committed to finding, developing and customizing insurance solutions to protect specific agency needs. In her tenure, she’s worked on behalf of a national E&O program administrator, as a broker and a retail agent.
JLT Specialty USA, a U.S. subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc., appointed Rob Hausler as executive vice president. He is based in Houston.
Joining JLT’s rapidly growing team, Hausler will wear many hats and play a pivotal role in managing accounts and transactions, mentoring colleagues and business development.
Hausler comes to JLT from Marsh, where he served as US Energy & Power practice leader. Hausler is a recognized industry expert and brings a wealth of knowledge in the midstream and downstream energy sectors.
EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants has added insurance industry veteran KJ Wagner as principal and director of Property & Casualty Insurance Operations for the firm’s Southwest Region. He is based in Dallas.
Wagner has more than 20 years of risk management, insurance brokerage strategic operations, mergers and acquisitions, producer recruiting, business development and executive leadership experience.
Wagner will partner with Jim Watt, EPIC’s Houston-based Southwest Region president, and other members of EPIC’s national executive leadership team led by CEO Pete Garvey to accelerate the growth and success of EPIC’s risk management consulting and Property & Casualty Operations across the Southwest.
Wagner joins from Willis, where he held a variety of leadership positions, most recently as West Region Corporate Risk & Broking leader. He previously served as national partner for Willis North America’s West Region and president of Willis of Arizona.
Newport, Beach, California-based Alliant Insurance Services Inc. added Stan Rorison to its growing New Orleans team.
The longtime property/casualty expert will serve as vice president, where he will provide his proven brand of regional expertise to a diverse roster of clients throughout the Gulf Coast region.
Rorison joins Alliant with extensive experience designing and deploying property, casualty and professional liability insurance products and services to clients in a broad array of industries and disciplines
Prior to joining Alliant, Rorison was vice president with a Louisiana-based insurance and employee benefits firm, servicing a large client base with both regional and national operations.
Lake Jackson, Texas-based TDECU Insurance Agency LLC named Janet Tuttle as its new director of Insurance Operations. Tuttle previously served as operations manager for the agency.
As insurance operations director, Tuttle will oversee the daily operations and growth initiatives within the agency. She will manage internal and external workflow audits to ensure efficiencies, and will have a key role in agency acquisitions.
Tuttle has been with TDECU Insurance Agency since 2013 and has more than 35 years of experience in the insurance industry. In 2017, she was honored by NetVU with the James Gibson Service Award, which recognizes those who go above and beyond in their industry and serve as a positive role model in the community.
XL Catlin added Jason Gardenhire as underwriter to its regional US War, Terrorism & Political Violence insurance team. He is based in Dallas.
Gardenhire will lead the team’s underwriting activities and manage broker relationships in the Texas and Central zone, which includes Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota.
With more than 15 years of insurance experience, he joins XL Catlin from the Progressive where he managed a team of NATCAT claims specialists.