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Higginbotham & Associates has promoted commercial insurance broker Mike Bateman to its managing director group for 2012. Bateman, who joined Higginbotham’s Dallas office in 2004, was promoted from account executive.

As managing director, Bateman will lead Higginbotham’s sales strategy team, a group of four top-performers who support the firm’s brokers in identifying sales opportunities, communicating insurance solutions and achieving production goals. The sales strategy team coordinates the training efforts for all of Higginbotham’s 17 offices in Texas.

Before joining Higginbotham, Bateman was a regional sales manager for a company operating in Dallas and Fort Worth. He has broad commercial insurance experience with a concentration in the healthcare and real estate industries.

Robin L. Tanguay has joined insurance broker IMA Inc. as account executive in the Dallas, Texas, office of IMA Benefits. In that capacity, she will lead client services at IMA Benefits.

Tanguay has more than 20 years of industry experience, and her significant market knowledge will help her guide clients in procuring employee benefits programs that meet their needs, the company said.

Founded in 1974, the IMA Financial Group Inc. has offices in Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colo.; and Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita, Kan.

Dallas-based privately owned insurance and risk management firm MHBT announced that Jared Alan Moss has joined the Austin, Texas, office as an employee benefits account executive. Moss will be responsible for business development and benefits consulting.

Moss has been in the insurance industry seven years, handling employee benefits and ancillary product sales. Prior to joining MHBT, he was an account executive with Sun Life.

In addition to Dallas and Austin, MHBT has an office in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Alamo Chapter Society of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) in San Antonio, Texas, installed Susan G. Shoemake as president of the chapter for 2011 – 2012.

Shoemake, who holds the CPCU and ARM designations, is a senior account manager and OCIP coordinator at McGriff, Seibels & Williams of Texas in San Antonio.

Shoemake has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. She holds a property/casualty general lines agents license and specializes in public entity accounts and owner controlled insurance programs. She is a licensed risk manager, is OSHA certified, and teaches commercial property insurance for the American Institute of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters.

The chapter’s new team of officers also includes: Ruth Peterson of USAA, president elect; Traci Thaxton of Nationwide Insurance, vice president; Hillary Law of USAA, secretary; and Shirley Colyer of Castle Insurance Agency, treasurer.

Board members are Mark Fisher of Allstate, Ken Goodman of USAA, Carolyn Jensen of Federated, Jeri Pressler of State Farm, Paul Scrivano of State Farm, and Geri-Lee Smith of Union Standard. Support will be provided by Past President Drew Apperson of Willis.

Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings announced that Graham Farebrother has joined Willis as executive vice president and sales team leader for Willis Global Energy’s Houston team. He will report to Mark Oakley, head of the Houston office.

Farebrother has 35-years of experience in the insurance industry. Trained at Lloyd’s of London, he became the youngest-ever vice president of Alexander & Alexander before founding his own retail agency, Specialist Insurance Services Inc. in 1985. Farebrother also has worked at Aon Natural Resources Ltd. and, most recently, at Gallagher Global Energy.

Topics Texas Agencies Market Property Casualty