"We are excited about the Wachau name and that the group will be led by Luther Lockwood," said Jon Curley, managing director of Wachovia Insurance Services' Life and Personal Insurance Marketing Group.
Wachau Insurance Services is a unit of Wachovia Insurance Services and an affiliate of M Financial Group. The group is named for the Wachau, a segment of the Danube Valley in Austria from which the name Wachovia originates. Wachovia Insurance Services recently sold the BEJS name to a former principal of that company.
"The cross-selling opportunities created by leveraging the strength of the Wachovia brand are tremendous," said Lockwood. "Clients will see no change in our day-to-day operations and can expect the same world-class customer service they have received with Wachovia."
Lockwood joined Wachovia in 1999 as a part of the acquisition of BEJS, where he was a principal with the firm. In his new role, he will be responsible for the design, implementation and administration of unique, large scale wealth transfer plans for high net worth individuals and executive benefit plans for Wachovia's corporate customers on a national basis. Lockwood will also join the operating committee of the life insurance marketing group.
A graduate of the University of Georgia's Risk Management and Insurance program, Lockwood is an industry leader and has three professional designations. He is chairman of the Business Insurance and Estate Planning Committee of the Association of Advanced Life Underwriters, the nation's premier advocacy organization for sophisticated life insurance professionals.
Lockwood is also the immediate past president of the Charlotte Estate Planning Council and past president of the Charlotte Chapter of the Society of CLUs and ChFCs. In the community he has been actively involved in the McColl-Lockwood Lab for Muscular Dystrophy Research at Carolinas Medical Center and as past chairman of the Charlotte Ethics in Business Award.
About Wachovia Insurance Services
Wachovia Insurance Services Inc., a part of Wachovia Corporation, is a top 15 insurance broker in the United States with annual revenues in excess of $400 million and annual premium placements exceeding $4 billion. Recognized as one of the insurance industry's leading firms, Wachovia Insurance Services and its affiliates employ more than 1,300 insurance professionals in 35 offices in 16 states and the District of Columbia. Wachovia Insurance Services Inc., the third largest bank-owned insurance brokerage operation in the nation, provides property-casualty insurance brokerage services, risk management consulting, employee benefits consulting, life insurance, and executive benefits to clients on a nationwide basis.
