Larry Baker
Larry Baker is the Chief Risk Officer at American Fidelity (AF). He is responsible for assisting Executive Management with risk-informed decision-making and effective management of key enterprise risks toward the achievement AF’s Strategic Goals while helping the Board fulfill its governance and risk oversight role. Larry is a high-impact senior executive with strong business acumen and over 30 years of diverse leadership experience in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), strategic planning, performance management, and internal auditing. He is recognized as an early U.S. pioneer of ERM, starting his ERM journey in the late 1990s. Larry has worked closely with Board members and Executive Management to design, implement, and evolve ERM for some of the world’s largest organizations across multiple industries. He is a NC State ERM Fellow and has served on the NC State ERM Initiative’s Advisory Board for over ten years. Prior to joining American Fidelity, Larry fulfilled national senior leadership/partner roles at Devon Energy, Marsh & McLennan, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte. Larry is the author of Practical Enterprise Risk Management – Getting to the Truth.
Bob Cataldo
Robert F. Cataldo serves as Vice President and Chief Investment and Strategy Officer. Mr. Cataldo joined UFG as a Senior Portfolio Manager in 2011. In 2015, he was promoted to Assistant Vice President. In 2018, he was named Vice President and Strategy Officer. In 2020, Robert was elected Vice President and Chief Investment and Strategy Officer. Mr. Cataldo holds a BA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Drake University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) professional designation.
Sanjeev Chaudhry
Sanjeev Chaudhry is the CEO of Gigaforce, a next-generation, blockchain-optimized platform designed to expedite complex subrogation and recovery claim processing for the insurance industry. An award-winning innovator and entrepreneur with a deep passion for connecting technologies, Chaudhry greatly respects the power of technology to revolutionize, transform, disrupt, and innovate business processes through advanced analytics. Throughout his career, he has worked closely with stakeholders to identify areas of opportunity and develop solutions to meet unique needs, and he is uniquely effective at bringing interested parties with diverse priorities together and building consensus. He has an exceptional track record of introducing new technologies such as Big Data, AI/ML, and Blockchain technology in the insurance space. Sanjeev spearheaded transformational insurance projects and led services teams at CSAA, CINFIN, Encova (Motorists), MunichRe, American Family, and Die Mobilere.
Michael F. Consedine
Michael F. Consedine has served as our Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Government and Regulatory Relations since June 2023. He is responsible for developing and advancing Athene’s external engagement and strategic vision, and managing relationships with insurance regulators and industry associations. Prior to joining Athene, Mr. Consedine was Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC.) As CEO of NAIC from 2017 until 2023, he focused on strategic planning, policy development, and implementation in the areas of state, federal, and international affairs and relations. He was named to the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors in 2019. Prior to the NAIC, Mike served as the Global Head of Government and Policy Affairs at Aegon and prior to that as the Insurance Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. Mr. Consedine received his Juris Doctor from Widener University Commonwealth Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Journalism from James Madison University.
Kevin Croft
Kevin Croft, Distinguished EMC Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Kelley Center for Insurance Innovation, teaches Finance, Risk Management and Insurance classes. Professor Croft began his career at the Principal Financial Group where he was involved in a diverse set of roles including insurance product pricing, financial statement preparation, reserve determination, developing asset liability management solutions, managing mutual funds, and investing non-affiliated insurance portfolios. Prior to joining Drake, Professor Croft served as senior vice president and head of structured products at American Equity where he co-led the investment team managing a $52 billion portfolio and oversaw growth in the structured products portfolio from $2.7 billion to $12.9 billion.
Josh Feyissa
Josh Feyissa is an Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company® as well as American National Insurance Company, both of which are operating companies of Brookfield Wealth Solutions. Josh joined Brookfield in 2016 as part of the Brookfield Credit Opportunities Fund, later transitioning into the Special Investments Group. In 2020, Josh was part of the team that formed Brookfield’s insurance platform in the U.S. Prior to joining Brookfield, Josh started his career at a mid-size alternative asset management firm where he focused on distressed debt and special situations investing. Josh holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance from the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Sauder School of Business and is a Leslie Wong Fellow as a graduate of UBC’s Portfolio Management Foundation.
Beth Fye
As the Director of Risk Management, Beth Fye, CSP, SPHR, leads Omaha Steaks International, LLC’s suite of risk management programs and strategic initiatives to protect people, property, and the environment. She is responsible for the company’s Property & Casualty insurance, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program, Crisis Management & Business Continuity Plans, and Employee Occupational Health & Safety Programs including Occupational Health Nursing. She is also a chartering member of the company’s sustainability committee. Beth holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and is currently pursuing a Master of Science at Bellevue University. She currently serves as President of the Great Plains Chapter of Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) and as a board member of the Great Plains Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).
Nick Gerhart
Nick is responsible for proactively seeking out and developing opportunities to optimize company growth through innovation that is consistent with Homesteaders’ core values, purpose and vision. A proven change agent, strategist and executive leader, Gerhart previously served as Commissioner of the Iowa Insurance Division, where he transformed that department and increased the State of Iowa’s international prominence through his thought leadership and the creation of the Global Insurance Symposium held annually in Des Moines. He also previously served as Chief Administrative Officer for FBL Financial.
Dennis Hillen
Dennis Hillen is the Senior Vice President, Market Leadership for Oscar Health Insurance, with accountability for Oscar’s Individual business line across the 18 markets they serve. Before joining Oscar, Dennis served in a series of successive roles over a twelve-year career at Humana. Most recently, Dennis served as Humana’s AVP of Enterprise Transformation, where he focused on value-based care and simplifying provider and consumer experiences. Dennis has a BBA in Finance from the University of Kentucky and an MBA from Indiana University – Southeast. He is based in Louisville, KY where he lives with Shelley, his wife of 20 years and his 17 year-old son, Brett.
Matt Junge
Matt Junge leads Swiss Re’s property treaty underwriting for the United States market. In this role, he is responsible for treaty underwriting strategy and portfolio steering, as well as leading a team of reinsurance underwriters, actuaries and catastrophe modelers who are responsible for Swiss Re’s property treaty reinsurance portfolio across the United States. He has served in a variety of property and casualty underwriting roles with Swiss Re for the last 16 years, including leading flood and parametric product development from 2018 – 2022. He is a strong advocate for closing the natural catastrophe protection gap. Matt is a graduate of Drake University and holds his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation.
Barnes Kelley
Barnes, Associate General Counsel, is committed to serving the legal and insurance needs of The Weitz Company, a full-service construction company, general contractor, design-builder, and construction manager. By serving these needs, he supports its core purpose, to “Build a Better Way,” which includes delivering the highest levels of safety, integrity, and market leading innovation. Barnes previously worked for EMC Insurance in various roles over an eight-year career. Before that, he was an attorney in private practice with The Bradshaw Law Firm. Barnes is a graduate of Drake Law School, holds his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (“CPCU”) designation and currently serves as Vice President of the Iowa Chapter of the CPCU Society.
Christopher Kennedy
Christopher is a tested 27-year cyber security executive with an incredibly diverse career spanning military, government, financial, commercial, and consulting verticals focused on national critical infrastructure institutions. He has led the development and security operations of some of the most globally impactful and adversary-targeted organizations in the world. His career began as a young military officer in the United States Marine Corps, establishing the first cyber security program for the largest base in the Corps (Camp Lejeune, NC), and then leading the development of the enterprise Incident Response mission (known as the Marine – CERT) IN Quantico VA. He went on to spend a decade at Northrop Grumman building out the US Department of Treasury‘s Enterprise Security Operations mission, facing off to threat actors spanning sophisticated states to relentless hacktivists. He spent 7 years at Ray Dalio’s $160B Bridgewater Associates, and 2 years at Ken Griffin’s Citadel during controversial times for those firms. He’s also developed security products and technology offerings from his leadership at a startup (AttackIQ), or via productizing capabilities from his portfolio. He continues to advise institutions and startups via his private consultancy, IntergrityEQ Partners. Today he is the head of security and Chief Information Security Officer for Group1001, the ($64B AUM) equity organization overseeing the Delaware Life & Annuity, Clearspring Life & Annuity/Property & Casualty/Health, Gainbridge, and Vesper Risk brands.
Scott M. Kosnoff
Trusted by industry and regulators alike, Scott helps insurance clients capitalize on opportunities and address regulatory and legal issues related to artificial intelligence, big data and algorithms. Scott helps clients stay on top of the emerging standards and regulations that will govern AI. There’s a lot going on, at every level. Scott helps clients implement a risk management framework and minimize their risk of regulatory, litigation and reputational exposure. Effective risk management calls for a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach throughout the AI life cycle. Working with the firm’s data consulting subsidiary, Scott uses his first-hand knowledge of evolving regulatory standards to help insurers assess their algorithms for unintended discrimination. It’s important, cutting-edge work. At the request of the NAIC, Scott has briefed the nation’s top insurance regulators regarding AI on multiple occasions, including in closed-door sessions. Most recently, he has briefed insurance regulators on how insurers can employ AI risk management and governance to mitigate their regulatory, litigation and reputation risk.
Vanessa Macro
As the Chief Administration Officer, Venessa provides supervision and leadership to Facility Services, the department of Public Safety, Environmental Health and Safety, Human Resources, and the Office of Events & Conference Planning. Additionally, Venessa oversees the University’s insurance portfolio, institutional contract management, litigation oversight, and Title IX compliance. Venessa serves as a member of the President’s Council and is directly involved in strategic decisions affecting the future of the University. After graduating from Drake Law School in 1992, Venessa clerked for a federal district court judge and then moved to Washington, D.C., to work as a labor, benefits, and employment attorney in a private law firm. Venessa returned to Des Moines in 1994 to join the legal staff of Meredith Corporation, where she, among other responsibilities, served as the primary attorney for the book publishing division. Venessa joined Drake in 2001 to become director of human resources, and she was named assistant vice president for business and finance in 2009. In June 2014, Venessa became associate vice president for administration.
Marie Norcia
Marie Norcia is the Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of F&G where she leverages her broad range of experience to guide and lead the risk management framework and team, including all aspects of investment, financial and operational risk. Marie has over 25 years of experience in risk management and operations, leading teams, driving organizational interventions and evaluating mergers and acquisitions to manage and mitigate risk at publicly traded and Fortune 500 enterprises. She has a proven track record in building, empowering and motivating cross-departmental teams to evaluate and take action to reduce the impact of company risk whether financial, operational and/or reputational. Marie’s experience includes more than 10 years at The Hartford where she worked with middle and large commercial clients as a risk management expert and consultant covering all Property and Casualty lines. Marie was the risk expert for over 100 companies, helping some of the nation’s largest enterprises assess their financial and operational risks, helping to reduce claims and payouts and manage reserves. She was also responsible for leading The Hartford’s Risk Management Information System (RMIS) with responsibility for strategy and execution while transforming digital for multiple business units in connection with traditional (claims, risk engineering) and non-traditional (IoT) services. Marie joined F&G in 2022, serving as Chief of Staff to the CEO, a role she continues to play, facilitating strategy and execution frameworks, capability and outcomes across the enterprise. Prior to her current role, she served as Chief People Officer heading multiple shared services such as Human Resources, Vendor Management and Marketing. Marie is also an adjunct professor at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and earned her Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College.
Susan Osweiler
Susan is Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for Sammons Financial Group (SFG) and a member of the SFG Bermuda Ltd. board. She is a multi-disciplinary leader who has built successful careers in the insurance industry, academia, and the not-for-profit sector with positions ranging from Program Director, Chief Financial Officer, and Corporate Actuary to founder of a multi-agency non-profit service organization. Prior to joining SFG, she served as associate professor of practice in actuarial science at Drake University, and was the director of the university’s School of Actuarial Science & Risk Management. Susan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Actuarial Science from Drake University and a Master of Science in Statistics degree from Texas A&M. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the Academy of Actuaries.
Alessa Quane
Alessandrea (Alessa) Quane is the Executive Vice President, Chief Insurance Officer of Oscar. Alessa has extensive experience in both the domestic and international insurance markets through her nearly 25 year career at AIG through global roles in Enterprise Risk Management and Actuarial. She served as Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Officer for AIG as well as Chief Corporate Actuary, Head of Global Actuarial and Value Management, and Chief Risk Officer of AIG Property Casualty during her tenure. Prior to her tenure with AIG, Alessa specialized in pricing and research for non-standard auto at Allstate. Alessa is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and an affiliate member of the Institute of Actuaries. Alessa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Actuarial Science from Drake University. She was honored in 2019 with the Stuart A. Klugman Distinguished Alumni Award from Drake University for her achievements as an actuary and chief risk officer, her professional engagement and community involvement.
Samuel Ramos
Sam is the Chief Legal Officer for Global Atlantic Financial Group, with responsibilities for legal, compliance, regulatory and government affairs, internal audit, SOX and corporate governance. In addition, he serves on the Company’s Management Committee. Sam received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and his Master of Science degree in systems engineering from NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He was a practicing engineer prior to attending Hofstra Law School. He served as law clerk to Judge C. Arlen Beam of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals before joining the New York law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell. He left S&C to join Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he served as a Managing Director & Associate General Counsel. He was a founding member of the Goldman Sachs Reinsurance Group, which later became the Global Atlantic Financial Group. As of January 2024, Global Atlantic became a wholly-owned subsidiary of global investment firm KKR & Co. Inc. In addition to his work at Global Atlantic, Sam is a member of Cornell’s Engineering College Council, Co-Chair of the Hofstra Law School Dean’s Advisory Board, serves on the Board of Trustees of Hofstra University, where he is a member of the Academic & Student Affairs and Finance Committees and serves as Vice Chair of its Audit Committee, and serves on the Board of Directors of Accion Opportunity Fund, where he is a member of the Finance and Risk Committees.
Sara Rosner
Sara Rosner is a Senior Vice President and AllianceBernstein’s Director of Environmental Research and Engagement on the Responsibility team. She leads AB’s collaboration with the Columbia Climate School, which focuses on enhancing investors’ ability to integrate climate change considerations into their decision-making and investment processes. Rosner is also developing and implementing AB’s Climate Transition Framework. She co-chairs the firm’s working groups on net zero and biodiversity and has managed firmwide initiatives on climate scenario analysis, carbon offsets, and ESG education and training. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Rosner performed research for the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, where she worked on projects related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and renewable energy alternatives in the extractive industry. She spent most of her early career as a journalist covering energy and infrastructure finance in the Americas for Euromoney Institutional Investor. Rosner holds a BS in international studies, magna cum laude, from Pepperdine University and an MS in sustainability management from Columbia University. She is a global member of 100 Women in Finance and a financial literacy volunteer with the High Water Women Foundation. Rosner was named one of Crain’s New York Business Notable Leaders in Sustainability 2023.
Eric Rybczynski
Eric Rybczynski is currently the Executive Director of Strategy & Innovation for the Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) with responsibility for driving strategic objectives and overseeing innovation activity for the Americas region. He joined RGA in 2017 as Execution Manager, RGAX, focusing on business initiative development and go to market strategy for the digital distribution of middle market life and health products. Prior to RGA, Eric spent over 10 years in the aerospace and defense industry in progressive roles in program management, partner management, operations management, and engineering. Eric holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Associate, Life Management Institute (ALMI).
Tim Soderholm
Tim Soderholm has over 24 years of experience in the financial services industry, and currently serves as a Chief Risk Officer at Principal Financial Group®. He joined Principal in 2017 as the Chief Risk Officer of its Retirement and Income Solutions businesses where he spent 7 years leading a team responsible for identifying, assessing and mitigating risk, including those associated with the negotiation, due diligence and integration of one of Principals largest strategic acquisitions, Institutional Retirement & Trust from Wells Fargo. Tim recently moved to an enterprise role, where he is overseeing the development and evolution of the company’s enterprise risk management framework, key governance processes, and leading efforts to prioritize and execute strategic enterprise risk initiatives. Tim also leads the global technology risk management team and corporate insurance team. Prior to joining Principal, he served in multiple leadership roles at Wells Fargo including Vice President of Operational Risk and Compliance for Home Mortgage Retail Fulfillment and Vice President of Operational Risk and Compliance for Capital Markets Loan Operations. He also spent time in sales, project management and leading operations while at Wells Fargo. Tim received his bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Matthew Stewart
Matthew Stewart, PhD, MBCS, AMIMechE is the Chief Technology Officer at Harbor.ai and an accomplished scholar with a PhD in Engineering and Data Science from Harvard University. His research has made significant contributions to the fields of edge computing and machine learning, with over a dozen peer-reviewed publications in leading journals and conferences. Matthew’s research work has focused on efficient deep learning and AI benchmarking, addressing key ethical and practical challenges in AI implementation. As a respected member of the Forbes Technical Council and a frequent speaker at global conferences, Matthew continues to shape best practices in AI, bridging the gap between academic research and real-world applications.
Dusan Stojanovic
Dusan Stojanovic has 25 years of banking industry experience, most recently with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines where he served for 12 years, mainly in the roles of Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer. FHLB Des Moines is among the largest of 11 federally chartered, wholesale banking cooperatives, serving 1300+ financial institution members – commercial banks, savings institutions, insurance companies, and credit unions headquartered in 13 states and three U.S. territories.
Prior to joining the FHLB, Mr. Stojanovic was a bank supervisor in various capacities with the Federal Reserve System, as well as the Vice Governor for Bank Supervision with the National Bank of Serbia.
Andrew C. Traeger
Andrew C. Traeger serves as the Chief Risk Officer and Senior Vice President, International Business at John Deere Financial. In this role, he oversees the company’s global risk management strategies, ensuring financial stability and regulatory compliance across diverse international markets. Andrew is responsible for identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks that could impact the company’s operations and financial performance. Additionally, he leads the international business division, driving strategic growth initiatives and managing business operations outside the United States and Canada. With a B.A. in Accounting from Buena Vista University, Andrew is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). He has over 25 years of experience with John Deere Financial and previously served as Senior Vice President and Finance Director. Before joining John Deere, he was an Auditor at Deloitte & Touche.
Dale R. Uthoff
Mr. Uthoff currently serves as Chief Product Officer for the Group 1001 Life and Annuity business. He is responsible for pricing and product development of the Company’s fixed, indexed and variable annuity products. He also oversees the hedging programs established to manage the risk associated with the indexed annuities and variable annuity guarantees. He began his career in the insurance industry working on financial risk management and actuarial modeling at Mutual of Omaha. Mr. Uthoff later joined Aviva where he held various roles including modeling and asset/liability management for the company’s US products including fixed indexed annuities and indexed universal life. In 2013 he joined Guggenheim Insurance Services and later became Chief Risk Officer. While at Guggenheim, he led the development of asset/liability management and enterprise risk management programs for its Companies. In 2018 he joined Delaware Life to lead the variable annuity line of business to accelerate the Company’s re-entrance into the variable annuity market and to ensure strong results from the existing business. Mr. Uthoff is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Steven Walsh
Steve Walsh, CPA, VP – Enterprise Risk Officer, provides strategic oversight of all enterprise risks at EMC Insurance. Steve has over 20 years of experience, spending the last 12 years at EMC serving in roles including head of investor relations prior to its publicly-traded holding company’s going private transaction, AVP Strategic Research and Analysis Manager, and has spent the last three years in his current role. Prior to his time at EMC, he served in various SEC financial reporting and audit roles. Steve received his B.S.B.A in accounting from Creighton University.
Micah Woolstenhulme
Micah Woolstenhulme serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Risk and Reinsurance Officer for UFG Insurance. He is responsible for enterprise risk management, ceded reinsurance, and the Alternative Distribution business unit. Prior to joining UFG, he served as Head of Risk and Economic Advisory at JLT Re and led ERM advisory as a Managing Director at Guy Carpenter. He also served Swiss Re, Samsung, and Safeco in various roles including corporate strategy, product development, and economic capital modeling. Micah is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS). He holds a BS in Statistics and Actuarial Science from Brigham Young University.