People – West

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based CSE Insurance Group President and CEO Pierre Bize announced he will be transitioning out of his current role at the company at the end of 2013.

The move comes after 19 years at the helm of CSE. Bize cited family reasons, including aging parents, as reason for his departure.

Richard Rey will succeed him as the next president and CEO. Rey is currently president and CEO of Covea Reinsurance Co. in Paris.

CSE provides property and casualty insurance for teachers and other educators, firefighters, law enforcement personnel, and other government and civil service employees. CSE products are sold through independent insurance agents in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Holland & Knight named David W. Deal to the firm’s San Francisco, Calif., office as senior counsel.

Deal will be a member of the firm’s insurance industry team. Deal’s practice will focus on the representation of insurance and reinsurance companies in complex transactions, regulatory compliance, corporate matters and disputes.

Deal was the general counsel of Fairfield-based GeoVera Insurance Group. In addition to serving as in-house counsel to GeoVera, a national catastrophe carrier, he previously worked as a lawyer in the general counsel’s office of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and as a private practice attorney.

His clients have included the boards of directors, executive management, and shareholders of admitted and surplus lines insurance and reinsurance companies, agents and brokers, and other intermediaries.

The insurance industry team, which consists of more than 65 members throughout the firm, represents clients in a range of insurance areas, including D&O and management liability, life, health, property and casualty, reinsurance and captives. Holland & Knight is a global law firm with 1,000 lawyers in 17 U.S. offices as well as Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Bogota and Mexico City.

The IMA Financial Group Inc. added Communications Manager Tara Tongco Rojas and Communications Specialist Jenny Topolosky to its Denver, Colo. office.

Rojas and Topolosky join the team in executing strategic communications plans, brand management, public relations, community relations, social media and marketing for all company offices in four markets across the nation. IMA and its subsidiaries are located in Denver, Dallas and in Kansas in the cities of Kansas City and Wichita.

Rojas has more than 12 years of public relations, corporate communications and community involvement experience. She previously held positions as the associate vice president, communications specialist at CoBiz Financial and public relations manager at Six Flags Elitch Gardens.

Topolosky specialized in public relations and special events at Carol Fox & Associates. She previously led public relations efforts for Broadway In Chicago at Margie Korshak Inc., and spent two years on the administrative team at Redmoon Theater.

IMA is a financial services company specializing in insurance, asset and risk management with 450 employees and offices in seven markets across the nation.

Insurance Commissioner Scott J. Kipper named Joseph R. Decker deputy commissioner of insurance at the Nevada Division of Insurance.

Decker will be based in the division’s Las Vegas office, where he will manage the consumer services section.

Decker has two decades of loss prevention, risk control and fraud investigation experience. Most recently, he was senior vice president and regional manager of global corporate security for Bank of America, where he managed the bank’s protective services division in a multi-state area. Prior to that he was a risk control and loss prevention manager at Citibank N.A.. He also managed State Farm General Insurance Co.’s special investigation unit for nearly a decade and served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.

The consumer services section of the division handles requests for insurance assistance from the public. Consumers can also file formal complaints against insurance companies and agents, and consumer services will act as a liaison to resolve the problem.

The insurance division falls under the Nevada Department of Business and Industry. It has offices in Carson City and Las Vegas.

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. named Marc Strickland to the firm’s Portland, Ore., office as vice president and account executive of employee benefits.

Strickland will be responsible for overseeing and delivering client service, while also helping to grow the Oregon benefits practice through new business development.

Strickland has more than 20 years of experience in employee benefits. Prior to Woodruff-Sawyer, he was the manager of large group sales at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon.

San Francisco, Calif.-based Woodruff-Sawyer is an active partner of Assurex Global and International Benefits Network. Woodruff-Sawyer has offices throughout California and in Portland.

Monterey, Calif.-based-Capital Insurance Group named Arne Chatterton vice president of field operations and business relations.

He was most recently senior vice president of the western region for QBE Insurance. Chatterton started his insurance career as an agent/producer prior to becoming an underwriter at Unigard Insurance Co., a Western regional insurer. He was vice president of marketing and field operations when Unigard was acquired by QBE. He continued his career with QBE, eventually serving as senior vice president of the Western region.

CIG insures personal auto, homeowners, farmowners, condo owners, vacation property, renters, apartment building owners, and commercial and agricultural auto and property. CIG manages personal, business and agriculture risks underwritten by its affiliate companies: California Capital Insurance Company, Eagle West Insurance Co., Nevada Capital Insurance Co. and Monterey Insurance Co.

Kim Gately has joined Lockton Denver as a member of its expanding energy practice.

Gately, who serves as vice president and account executive, specializes in structuring complex insurance programs and creating risk management solutions for fast-growing firms in the energy sector.

Gately has experience working in risk management and insurance for energy firms. Her experience includes risk management consulting and loss prevention for energy firms.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton has 60 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia and more than 4,550 associates.

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