Nick Antoniou
Nick Antoniou is a Senior Underwriter at MS Reinsurance, specializing in the underwriting of assumed treaty reinsurance for the Regional and Mutual segment, encompassing all property and casualty lines of business and reinsurance products. He possesses extensive expertise in both traditional and structured reinsurance products, enabling him to effectively address the unique needs of his clients. With a wealth of experience in both domestic and international markets, he has successfully produced, underwritten, and managed diverse portfolios catering to clients that range from managing general agents to global insurers. A graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science, Nick is also a proud holder of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, reflecting his commitment to the insurance industry.
Derek Boyd
Derek Boyd leads Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) strategy for Greenheck Group, a global manufacturer of air movement, control, and conditioning equipment headquartered in Schofield, Wisconsin. With over 5,500 employees worldwide and manufacturing facilities across the United States, Mexico, and India, Greenheck Group serves commercial, institutional, and industrial markets with a commitment to safe, energy-efficient indoor air solutions. As EHS Director, Derek oversees a geographically distributed team of safety professionals and compliance managers, driving initiatives that span occupational health, regulatory compliance, risk mitigation, property & casualty insurance program management, and operational safety. His leadership at Greenheck Group over the past 5 years has been instrumental in implementing enterprise-wide programs such as cloud-based incident & injury management platform, smart forklift monitoring systems, advanced cut resistant PPE program development, and refrigerant transition strategies aligned with EPA mandates. Derek is passionate at developing others and draws from 25 years of private industry, commercial insurance carrier and broker risk management roles, as well as an emergency medical technician and firefighting background. Derek’s collaborative approach and deep technical expertise have positioned Greenheck Group as a benchmark for safety excellence, proactive risk management, and best in class claims management in the manufacturing sector.
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.
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.
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.
Erdem Karaca
Erdem Karaca is the Head of the Cat Perils Americas team at Swiss Re, leading a team of scientists and engineers developing, validating and customizing natural catastrophe risk models for use in underwriting and portfolio management. He has 20 years of experience in natural catastrophe modeling and underwriting of property risks. Prior to joining Swiss Re, Karaca worked at AIG as Director of Property and Special Risks and served as a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow at the US Geological Survey. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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.
Braam Kruger
Braam Kruger is an accomplished executive with two decades of experience in the insurance and reinsurance sectors, currently serving as Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for US Individual Life at Reinsurance Group of America. Known for his strategic vision and dynamic leadership, Braam oversees all aspects of risk management, guiding teams in optimizing inforce value, driving new business growth, and embedding a culture of operational excellence. Prior to his current role, Braam held senior leadership positions across Canada and South Africa, including Vice President of Business Development at RGA Canada and executive roles at Securian Canada, Sanlam, and Old Mutual. His career spans product development, pricing, investment strategy, and group benefits across multiple continents. Braam holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Actuarial Science from the University of Cape Town and a BComm with Honors in Actuarial Science from Stellenbosch University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.
Deanna Leighton
Deanna Leighton is a Senior Vice President and Head of Allocation & Strategy for AB’s Insurance team. She is responsible for formulating insurance portfolio allocation strategies, overseeing daily portfolio-management activities and leading insurance-specific cross-sector, relative-value discussions. Leighton interfaces with AB Insurance’s strategic clients in building tailored liability-driven and asset-focused solutions. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and moderated the inaugural Private Credit panel at ABS East in 2023. Prior to joining AB in 2022, Leighton was a fixed-income portfolio manager at AIG Asset Management, where she oversaw around US$5 billion of high-yield bond investments and helped build AIG’s third-party asset-management business. Before this role, she was an associate portfolio manager for AIG Asset Management’s high-yield bond portfolio. Leighton holds a BA with a concentration in economics from the University of Michigan and is a CFA charterholder. Location: New York
David Martin
David Martin is Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Investments at F&G, overseeing the company’s $50+ billion investment portfolio, hedging, and investment operations. Since joining F&G in 2011 as a Senior Investment Analyst, he has advanced through key leadership roles, including Co-Chief Investment Officer and Chief Risk Officer – helping to shape the firm’s long-term investment strategy.
In 2017, David was part of a specialized team that transitioned to Blackstone to support its management of F&G’s portfolio, returning in 2019 with expanded expertise. Earlier in his career, he held actuarial and investment roles across the insurance and financial sectors. He holds the professional designations of Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Mr. Martin received his B.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of Michigan.
A.J. Mumm
A.J. Mumm is the Director of the Polk County Emergency Management Agency in Des Moines, Iowa, where he has led disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts since 2004. With over 25 years of experience in crisis leadership at local, state, national, and international levels, Mumm has played a key role in major emergency operations across the U.S. and abroad. A former firefighter and EMT, he has also served as Chief Planner for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Mumm is an adjunct instructor with Texas A&M’s Emergency Services Training Institute and a frequent speaker on emergency management, risk assessment, and public-private partnerships in disaster response.
Chris Murphy
As the Vice President of Risk & Safety at Holmes Murphy, Chris is responsible for leading the Holmes Murphy Commercial Risk & Safety team, serving clients directly with their risk management needs, and mentoring insurtech founders through BrokerTech Ventures. Chris has more than 23 years of insurance carrier and broker risk management experience and has earned his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Risk Manager (CRM), and Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) professional designations. Chris is actively involved in the Iowa CPCU Society Chapter, Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame, Iowa-Illinois Safety Council, and American Society of Safety Professionals.
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.
Chris Olson
Chris Olson is Head of Operational Risk Management at MassMutual, leading a global team that oversees Third Party Risk Management, Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting, and multiple risk committees reporting to executive leadership and the Board of Directors. With over 22 years of insurance industry experience, he is a published author and sought-after keynote speaker on business resilience, holding certifications in continuity planning, ITIL, and Agile program leadership. Before joining MassMutual’s Enterprise Risk organization in 2019, Chris held senior roles in IT operations, corporate records, and enterprise resilience. He earned his MBA from the University of Massachusetts and his B.S. from Stonehill College. Recognized as a Business West 40 Under 40 honoree, he also serves as Chair of the Red Cross Board of Directors in Western and Central Massachusetts.
Dr. Tom Root
Dr. Tom Root, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Finance has been teaching in the primary area of finance in the Zimpleman College of Business at Drake University since the fall of 1999. Dr. Root holds four degrees from the University of Kansas including a Ph.D. in Economics. While at Drake he has demonstrated success as both an instructor and researcher by earning the Graduate Teaching Award, and the Harry Wolk Research Award. Professor Root has been published in numerous academic journals such as Energy Economics, Quarterly Journal of Finance and Accounting, Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, the Journal of Fixed Income, and the International Review of Financial Analysis. Additionally, he maintains a close connection to the private sector through the development of certificate programs taught to area business leaders through Drake’s Center for Professional Studies. Dr. Root also previously held a visiting professorship at Makerere University Business School (MUBS) in Uganda and has been active in developing a deep partnership between MUBS and Drake.
Eva Sandoval
Eva Sandoval is the Director of Risk Management at Hy-Vee, where she is transforming enterprise risk strategy to proactively protect people and operations while enabling smarter business outcomes. With more than a decade of experience spanning claims, underwriting, project management, and risk management, Eva brings a comprehensive perspective to navigating today’s complex risk landscape. Previously, she held key roles at Nationwide Agribusiness and American Family Insurance, where she partnered with clients across diverse industries—from rural farming operations and food processing to high-rise commercial properties—delivering risk assessments, safety consultations, and continuity planning. Eva holds an MS in Organizational Leadership from Grand View University and dual bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Business Management. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in Risk and Insurance, holds AFIS certification, and serves on the board of the Jacobson Institute at Grand View University.
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.
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.
Mary Theilen
Mary Theilen is the VP of Enterprise Risk – P&C Financial Risk and Analytics at USAA. She joined USAA in 2023 after spending over twenty-four years at American Family Insurance Group. She held multiple executive and officer positions at American Family including Chief Risk Officer, Personal Lines President, and Enterprise Finance Vice President. Mary is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a Certified Enterprise Risk Analyst, and a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter. Mary has a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics with an emphasis in Actuarial Science and Statistics from the University of Northern Iowa.
Matt Trost
As the Vice President of Ceded Reinsurance and Capital Modeling at EMC Insurance Companies, Matt supports EMC’s Catastrophe Analytics team, leads the capital modeling function, and manages EMC’s ceded reinsurance program. An actuary by trade, Matt is a graduate of Northwestern (IA) College and a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS). He has held various P&C actuarial roles over his 25-year career at EMC, including the last ten years actively supporting enterprise risk management and capital strategy. His current responsibilities provide a comprehensive view of EMC’s risks and enable a consistent application of strategies designed to protect and grow EMC’s nearly $2 billion of surplus for the benefit of its policyholders, agency partners, team members, and the communities it serves.
Steven Walsh
Steve Walsh, CPA, is the VP – Enterprise Risk Officer at EMC Insurance. In this role, he takes a proactive and strategic approach to navigating uncertainty and strengthening organizational resilience. His oversight spans enterprise risk management, third party risk management, business continuity, and procurement, with a focus on aligning analysis of risk with EMC’s strategy and business objectives to drive informed decision making and long-term value. Steve has over 20 years of experience, spending the last 12 years at EMC Insurance 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 four 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.