Speakers
Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile
  • October 9-10, 2017
  • 540 N Michigan Ave
    Chicago, IL 60611
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2015 Keynote Speakers:

Terry Savage

Terry Savage

Terry Savage is a nationally known expert on personal finance, the markets, and the economy. Terry is a regular blogger at the Huffington Post. She is a frequent guest on television and radio shows, including CNN, CBS.

Terry is in demand as a speaker at business meetings across the country. Her lively presentation style entertains as well as informs, whether talking about global economics, investing techniques, or personal finances. In 2012, Terry was named a “Top5 Speaker” in Economics/Finance as a result of popular votes at the Speaking.com web site.

Terry’s most recent book is a new edition of The Savage Truth on Money, which was named one of the ten best money books of the year by Amazon.com in its first edition. Her other current best-selling book — The Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire? — was published in Fall, 2009 and deals with issues in retirement planning and investing.

Terry’s financial expertise comes from experience. She started her career as a stockbroker, and became a founding member — and the first woman trader — on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Savage was also a member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange where she traded interest rate contracts and currency futures. She is a registered investment advisor for both stocks and futures.

She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan, where she won a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in American Studies.

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Jerry Markbreit

Jerry Markbreit

Jerry Markbreit's position as Trade and Barter Manager for 3M Company was unique in the business world. That position, combined with his experience as one of only sixteen National Football League Referees, has given him the background to develop an interesting and worthwhile message for professional groups.

Markbreit has retired from the 3M Company after 38 years. In his position, he daily negotiated and traded millions of dollars of advertising, media time, materials, etc. with businesses throughout the world.

After officiating football for nine years, Markbreit became a member of the Big Ten Football officiating staff. Markbreit wrote a weekly football column for the Chicago Sun Times for several years while working college football and in 1973 wrote The Armchair Referee. In 1988 he wrote his autobiography, Born to Referee. He currently writes an Internet column for the Chicago Tribune under ChicagoSports.com.

Markbreit is best known as one of the most popular NFL referees today. 1998 was his 23rd and final season in the league. His career reads like a history book - refereeing Superbowls 17, 21, 26, and 29 and 8 Championship Games.

He is currently an assistant supervisor in the NFL officiating office, in charge of training referees. His message on being the best you can be and taking risks is a pertinent topic to all professionals.

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SPECIAL Guest:

Dennis McKinnon

Dennis McKinnon – 1985 Chicago Bears

Dennis McKinnon was the starting wide receiver from the famous 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX Champions. Mike Ditka called him the "best blocking receiver I ever coached."

Dennis is a graduate for Florida State University and played under Bobby Bowden. After playing for the Bears; he finished his career playing at both the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins playing under Jimmy Johnson & Don Shula. Dennis coached at Illinois Benedictine University - Football Team Offensive Coordinator- responsible for the offense, offensive coaches, game plan and recruiting before moving toward executive marketing, executive speaking, and entrepreneurship. He also served as the Director of Corporate Sales for the Chicago Bandits and has been an executive spokesman, liaison to the President, marketing director, or manager for several leading Chicago-based firms over the past two decades.

Dennis has shown character throughout his life which has connected him with college leaders, professional football players past and present, corporate executives, political leaders, and a vast amount of national charities. Dennis is also a successful entrepreneur having built a world class organization in Bearly Active Productions Inc, an organization that connects corporations and charitable organizations with professionals in the sporting world.

College Football Player–Florida State University

  • Dennis was a four year letterman at Florida State and coached by the legendary Bobby Bowden. During his tenure at FSU, the Seminoles went to two Orange Bowls and the Outback Bowl. Dennis graduated in 1983 with a Bachelors’ degree in Criminology.

Professional Football Player–Chicago Bears ▪ 1983 - 1989

  • Member of the Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl XX Champions, led team in scoring that year
  • Dennis still holds the Chicago Bears post-season scoring record
  • He set the Chicago Bears record for punt returns (later surpassed by Devin Hester in 2006)
  • Mike Ditka called Dennis “the best blocking receiver I’ve ever coached

Professional Football Player–Dallas Cowboys ▪ 1990 – 1991

  • After leaving the Chicago Bears, Dennis was a wide receiver with the Dallas Cowboys, where he started 11 games in the 1990 season.

Professional Football Player–Miami Dolphins ▪ 1990 - 1991

  • After leaving the Dallas Cowboys late season in 1990, Dennis was traded to the Miami Dolphins coached by Don Shula. Dennis finished his NFL career with the Dolphins due to injury
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Program Guest Presenters:

Greg Bates

Greg Bates

Topic: Flood: How to Protect Your Business from a Natural Disaster

Greg Bates is a Managing Consultant for Global Risk Consultants. He is responsible for managing and delivering the core services of GRC to his clients and maintaining oversight of all consulting activities on his accounts. He is also responsible for marketing the services of Global Risk Consultants to build client consulting relationships. He has over 11 years of experience in property loss control and possesses an outstanding record in client relations and account coordination within numerous industry segments.

Greg is a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS). He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Masters of Business Administration (focused in Enterprise Risk Management) from Georgia State University.

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Scott Bellack

Scott Bellack

Topic: Selling Risk Management to your C-Suite

Scott Bellack is the Central Zone Workforce Strategies Practice leader and a consultant, based in Cleveland. In addition to his leadership role, Scott is responsible for providing loss prevention solutions including safety excellence, diagnostics, metrics, and gap and risk assessments in all industry segments.

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Robert Benvenuto

Robert Benvenuto

Topic: Securing a Better Deal: Facilitating M&A Transactions with Insurance and Due Diligence

Robert Benvenuto is Executive Vice President of JLT Specialty USA. JLT Specialty USA is the U.S. platform of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc, a British multinational FTSE 200 corporation headquartered in London that operates one of the world’s largest providers of insurance, reinsurance and employee benefits-related advice, brokerage, risk management advisory and associated services in over 135 Countries. He is also a member of the firm’s USA Executive Committee.

Benvenuto is responsible for leading the firms US expansion in the Midwest and building its presence in the Chicagoland business and civic community. He is focused on attracting clients, partners and talent to the distinctive JLT Group culture and array of specialty risk advisory and insurance solution offerings.

Benvenuto has over two decades of experience in the risk, insurance and financial services industries. Before joining JLT Group in July 2015 he served as an Executive Vice President and member of the Global Leadership Group at Aon. Prior to Aon, he was the Managing Director of Financial Products at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., where he began his career in New York in 1988.

Benvenuto holds a BS in Economics from the University of Rhode Island and advanced studies in International Business from Richmond University in London.

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David Carlson

David Carlson

Topic: Selling Risk Management to your C-Suite

David Carlson leads the U.S. Manufacturing and Automotive Practice for Marsh and is based in Cleveland, Ohio. David is responsible for building and growing the practice and ensuring consistent delivery of Marsh’s industry-leading products and solutions to manufacturing and automotive clients on a national basis.

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Christopher Bohn

Christopher Bohn

Topic: How to Leverage Risk Quantification

Christopher “Kip” Bohn manages actuarial pricing and reserving analyses for various self-insurance programs and captive insurance companies. As a director and actuary, he develops and maintains stochastic models for actuarial, Enterprise Risk Management, supply chain risks and operational risks.

As a director in Aon’s actuarial and analytics practice, Stephanie Vogel assists Aon’s clients in understanding their financial capacity to bear risk.  She leads consulting teams and works closely with clients to develop high-value risk solutions and financial analysis.

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Karl Bryant

Karl Bryant

Topic: Practical Application for Business Continuity Management

Karl Bryant is a senior consultant in the business continuity risk management practice of Marsh Risk Consulting based in Chicago. In this role, he is responsible for providing project delivery leadership, quality assurance, development, and implementation of business continuity programs, and supervising project teams. His expertise with complex accounts includes the design of both traditional and alternative recovery programs, blending supply chain risk analysis, property engineering programs and technology based continuity solutions.

Karl joined the firm in 2006. He has successfully developed innovative recovery solutions in manufacturing, petrochemical, telecom, financial services, education, and healthcare industries. He has led the development of programs that have reduced costs, enhanced value, and increased client control of their overall operational resiliency.

Karl has significant experience in the insurance brokerage industry having spent over 11 years with another major broker prior to joining Marsh, working in brokerage, information technology, and business continuity management. As director of business continuity for the major broker, he managed the development of a recovery capability throughout its corporation. He has held leadership positions in risk management, information technology, and business continuity management. Prior to that, he spent many years as a property and casualty broker until making the transition from broking to information technology and has worked extensively in Europe and Asia.

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Lynn Combs

Lynn Combs

Topic: Cut Your Losses: Implement a Safety Program and aggressively investigate the claims.

Director of Illinois and Wisconsin Workers Compensation Claims, Allen & Newman, PLLC in Chicago, IL.

  • Defend Illinois and Wisconsin Worker’s compensation claims
  • Educate clients and industry through seminars, conferences and round table presentations
  • Counsel clients on areas of law related to workers compensation issues
  • Proactive results oriented defense
  • Able to work with vendors to produce a more effective defense result
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Jessica Daehler

Jessica Daehler

Topic: Cyber-Liability Insurance: Understanding your exposure and transferring the risk.

Jessica Daehler, McGriff, Seibels & Williams, Financial Services Division. Jessica began her insurance career 14 years ago with Aon Financial Services Group in Chicago.  Most recently spending 10 years working in the London marketplace in both International Retail and US wholesale roles. Jessica came to MSW from RK Harrison Insurance Brokers Ltd London where she was involved in the placement of Financial Lines & Cyber-Liability Insurance programs for multinational companies.  Jessica has extensive expertise in both advisory and placement of complex Cyber-Liability programs across a wide-variety of industry classes.  The addition of Jessica further enhances McGriff's national presence and international capabilities.  Jessica earned her earned her BA in Political Science & International Studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

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Brian C. Elowe

Brian C. Elowe

Topic: Excellence in Risk Management XII

Brian Elowe is a Client Relationship Leader within Marsh’s Global Risk Management sector, and a Senior Project Leader for "OneMarsh Core Brokerage" (an industry leading transformational re-design of the U.S. brokerage business).  He is the co-author of Marsh's "Excellence in Risk Management" publication.

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J. Ryan Evans

J. Ryan Evans

Topic: Derivative Lawsuits / D&O Policy Response

Ryan Evans co-leads the Chicago team of management liability brokers in Aon’s Financial Services Group. The team represents a diverse group of clients including Fortune 500 companies. In addition to managing his team, he is also responsible for management liability program placement, client and insurer relationships and claims issues.

Ryan has 6 years of experience in the insurance brokerage industry. Previously, his experience includes practicing law for over 3 years in private practice dealing in complex insurance litigation, including coverage disputes. He has expertise in Directors’ and Officers’ Liability, Professional Liability for Financial Institutions, Employment Practices Liability and Blended Financial Products programs.

Ryan co-leads the Chicago team of 18 brokers, The team represents a diverse group of clients including Fortune 500 companies and other complex placements (IPO, M&A, distressed/bankrupt, foreign domiciled, financial institutions). In addition to managing his team, Ryan is also responsible for management liability program placement, client and insurer relationships and claims issues.

He obtained his Juris Doctor, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL and his BA, Political Science and Urban Planning Miami University, OH.

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John Farley

John Farley

Topic: Cybersecurity - Managing Your Risk with Vendors

John Farley is currently serving as a Vice President and Cyber Risk Consulting Practice Leader for HUB International’s Risk Services Division

John is based in New York City and brings 23 years of risk consulting experience to the firm. While working at HUB International John has performed a variety of cyber risk consulting services for clients across many industries, including but not limited to Healthcare, Retail, Financial Services, Higher Education and Information Technology companies. He serves as a resource for pre-breach planning and post-data breach response in network security & privacy liability consulting. In this role he applies extensive knowledge in data breach response best practices and to works diligently with clients to achieve optimal results in cost mitigation.

When a breach occurs John acts as a central coordinator between all parties involved - the client, insurance carriers, and any outsourced service provider hired, including, IT forensics experts, privacy attorneys, public relations firms, call center operators and other breach response service providers.

John also facilitates online access to HUB International's e-Risk Hub. This online database serves clients’ ongoing educational needs in the ever-changing network security and privacy risk environment.

John has a Bachelors of Arts degree in English and a minor in Business Management from Manhattan College. In addition, John has received his Associate in Claims (AIC) designation.

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James A. Foster

James A. Foster

Topic: Cyber Liability – Cutting Edge Risk Management, Coverage and Liability Issues

James A. Foster is a Partner in Cassiday Schade LLP’s Chicago office and he heads and coordinates immediate response teams for trucking and bus companies on catastrophic losses. He has defended product manufacturers at trial and handled commercial litigation cases. He has also published articles on punitive damages and spoliation of evidence and has spoken at industry conferences on early case analysis, mediation, and electronic discovery.

Mr. Foster is a past chair of the ABA’s Tort and Insurance Practice Section’s Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee; editor of the Trucking Industry Defense Association’s State Law Summary of Illinois; past dean of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel’s Graduate Program of Litigation Management College; and both Co-Chair of the Transportation Committee and Regional Chair for CLM (Claims & Litigation Management Alliance). He received an AV Preeminent peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Foster was also selected in 2014 as a Leading Lawyer, as compiled by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company, in the areas of products liability defense law, and transportation defense law.

Mr. Foster is a member of the Trucking Industry Defense Association and Transportation Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the Illinois Bar and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar.

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Ron S. Fowler

Ron S. Fowler

Topic: Top 10 Ways to Leverage Your Actuarial Report

Ron S. Fowler is a Partner in the Chicago, Illinois office of Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting, Inc. He provides consulting services involving most commercial property-casualty lines to a variety of insurance companies and self-insured organizations.

Ron has 23 years of actuarial experience and has provided actuarial consulting services for the last 14 years. Prior to joining Oliver Wyman Ron provided actuarial consulting services at a Big Four audit firm.

Ron is a national practice leader in Oliver Wyman’s Predictive Modeling service offering.

Ron has completed predictive models spanning workers’ compensation, auto liability, and general liability. The models have focused on claim severity, litigation propensity, nurse case management resource allocation and claim adjuster assignment

Ron also provides reserve analyses spanning workers’ compensation, auto liability, general liability, hospital professional liability, product liability, garage liability, warranty and garagekeepers liability.

The predictive modeling and reserve studies analyzed food and beverage, manufacturing, retail, construction, and energy risks. He has been approved to provide captive loss reserve opinions by regulatory authorities in Vermont, Arizona, Montana, and Bermuda.

Ron frequently speaks at industry conferences and seminars. Ron has been a member of the CAS Committee on Reserves. Ron has spoken at the CAS Casualty Loss Reserve Seminar, local RIMS chapter meetings and International Accounting & Systems Association (IASA) local chapter and national conferences.

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Frank Francone

Frank Francone

Topic: Flood: How to Protect Your Business from a Natural Disaster

Frank Francone, CRM is currently the Manager of Risk & Insurance Services for General Growth Properties. Frank recently earned his Certified Risk Manager designation earlier this year and is currently working towards earning his Certified Insurance Consultant designation. He plans to complete his CIC in late 2015. Frank also authored GGP’s Safety Act Application which

resulted in the Department of Homeland Security awarding GGP its Safety Act Designation in 2014. He is continuing his work with GGP’s Security Team toward Safety Act Certification. Frank attended Loyola University where he earned his Bachelors Degree in Business Administration in Finance and his Masters Degree in Accounting with an emphasis in International Business.

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Robert Gagliardi

Robert Gagliardi

Topic: Captive Management: The Roles and Responsibilities of a Captive Manager

Robert Gagliardi is head of AIG’s global captive management operations, Bob is responsible for captive formations, feasibility studies, and development of AIG’s sponsored captives. In addition to serving existing clients, he manages the marketing and formation of new captives and has formed captives in numerous domiciles. Bob serves on the Board of over 20 captives and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.

In 2013 and 2014, Bob was named to Captive Review’s “Power 50”, a list of the captive industry’s most influential and innovative figures. Bob is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and he has obtained the Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) designation from the Insurance Institute of America. Additionally, Bob currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee for the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA).

Bob joined AIG in 2002 and was previously a senior manager in the insurance practice of KPMG where he provided audit and consulting services to clients throughout the Northeast. Bob has had broad exposure to the insurance industry, working in the Philadelphia, Bermuda, and Vermont offices of KPMG.

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Gregory W. Giel

Gregory W. Giel

Topic: Additional Insured = Subtraction of Coverage

Gregory W. Giel is an Executive General Adjuster for Cunningham Lindsey in Lombard, Illinois. He serves as casualty program coordinator for national and international accounts. Mr. Giel is responsible for products liability claims administration for global manufacturers.

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Rafael Gonzalez

Rafael Gonzalez, Esq.

Topic: Possible Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Medicare Secondary Payer, Workers Compensation, and Liability Systems

Rafael Gonzales is vice president of strategic solutions, Rafael Gonzalez serves as a thought leader on all aspects of Medicare and Medicaid compliance issues, including mandatory insurer reporting, conditional payment resolution, Medicare set aside allocations, CMS approval, and MSA and SNT professional administration.

Prior to joining Helios, Rafael served as vice president of Medicare & Medicaid compliance and post settlement administration for Gould & Lamb in Bradenton, Florida. He also served as chief executive officer for the Center for Lien Resolution, the Center for Medicare Set Aside Administration and the Center for Special Trusts Administration in Clearwater, Florida. Prior to that, he served as corporate counsel for FCCI Insurance, a workers’ compensation/property casualty insurance company in Sarasota, Florida. He also practiced social security disability, workers’ compensation, and personal injury law in Tampa, Florida. During law school, he interned for Rep. Lincoln Diaz Balart at the Florida House of Representatives, and clerked for Judge Charles McClure at the Florida 2nd Circuit Court, Judge James Joanas at the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal, and Justice Gerald Kogan at the Florida Supreme Court.

Over the last 30 years, Rafael has published numerous articles, book chapters, and books, including his series on Workers’ Compensation, Permanent Total Disability, and Medicare Set Asides. Over the last 25 years, Rafael has also taught workers’ compensation social security disability, Medicare, and Medicaid at the FSU College of Law, Stetson University College of Law, USF Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, USF Department of Occupational Medicine, USF College of Public Health, and the University of Tampa.

Due to his expertise in these areas, he has been actively engaged in the workers’ compensation, social security, and Medicare/Medicaid legislative process at both the state and federal levels. Since 1993, Rafael has attended hearings, testified before legislative committees, testified before executive commissions, drafted, reviewed, amended, and provided opinions on proposed legislation, and served as a consultant to legislative and congressional staff on these substantive areas.

As a result of these experiences, Rafael is a much sought after speaker. He lectures frequently on a national basis on the history, substance, and legislative composition of the U.S. workers’ compensation system, the federal social security disability system, and the interplay between both of these systems’ medical benefit structures and requirements affecting them, including the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. He is considered one of the country’s preeminent experts in the areas of Mandatory Insurer Reporting, Conditional Payments Resolution, Medicare Set Asides, and Special Needs Trusts Administration.

Rafael Gonzalez received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and his Jurisprudence Doctorate degree from the Florida State University.

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Mary Guzman

Mary Guzman

Topic: Cyber-Liability Insurance: Understanding your exposure and transferring the risk.

Mary Guzman joined McGriff in September of 2009 as a Senior Vice President and Errors & Omissions/Information Security practice leader concentrating on the design, placement and oversight of customized executive risk solutions for the Fortune 1000 and other complex accounts. Mary has a background in both property/casualty and executive risks issues and has concentrated the past several years in the errors and omissions/professional liability, cyber/privacy, and media risks across industry groups. 

Her current responsibilities include the strategic leadership role for both clients and the insurance markets relative to product and service development, education and consulting, and the development of market capacity in difficult to insure industries such as energy and financial institutions.  Mary and her colleagues have developed several leading edge proprietary solutions in the E&O and Information Security arena, which are regarded as some of the broadest on the market today.  These include a combined E&O/media/cyber form used by several very complex clients, and an industry line slip of $100M for utility clients, which offers the largest capacity and broadest terms in the market today.   Ms. Guzman is also a senior broker for the Law Firm team at McGriff.  Ms. Guzman is involved with the DHS and other government agencies in various working groups where the insurance industry is leading some initiatives around helping public/private partnerships secure US Critical Infrastructure.

Mary came to McGriff having served in Senior Vice President and Account Director roles at both competing multinational brokers.  Mary served as the Regional Practice Leader in cyber/E&O risks for Marsh in the Southeast over 15 years ago, when these products were in their infancy.  There, she served as liaison to several federal government agencies around the protection of the critical infrastructure.

Mary is a frequent speaker and has written publications related to information technology and security risk. She also consults with clients on risk management and contracting strategies for vendor/business partner relationships and is the lead insurance placement specialist for McGriff in cyber, E&O, and related insurance products. 

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John D. Hackett

John D. Hackett

Topic: Cyber Liability – Cutting Edge Risk Management, Coverage and Liability Issues

John D. Hackett is a partner and member of the Executive Committee of Cassiday Schade LLP, concentrating his practice in insurance coverage litigation. Mr. Hackett has extensive experience in complex insurance coverage disputes. He has a wide variety of clients and is responsible for all aspects of the insurance practice, including the preparation of complex opinion

letters, all phases of declaratory judgment litigation and regulatory/underwriting matters. Mr. Hackett is the Chair of the IDC Insurance Law Committee. Mr. Hackett has been recognized by Law Bulletin Publishing Company as a Leading Lawyer since 2012 in the areas of insurance, insurance coverage and reinsurance law. Mr. Hackett received his Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) designation in 1999 and Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation in 2000.

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Gayle Jacobs

Gayle Jacobs

Topic: Navigating Political Risk & Trade Credit Insurance in a Chaotic World

Gayle Jacobs joined International Risk Consultants in 2007 following the founding of her own Political Risk Consulting firm. She an anchoring partner within IRC’s Special Risk Group, a team of experts that focuses on political risk insurance, structured trade transactions, single buyer and medium term trade credit insurance. Gayle works closely with political risk and trade credit insurers in the U.S., London, Bermuda and the Middle East, often on syndicated insurance solutions.

Before relocating back to her native Michigan, she managed the Globalization threat portfolio at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C. Prior to her graduate studies, she spent several years working with Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in the Detroit area. Gayle earned her BA in French and International Relations from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and her MBA in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.

Gayle speaks French fluently, having previously lived and worked in Paris and Geneva. She is the West Michigan Thunderbird Alumni Chapter leader and resides with her family in Southwest Michigan.

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Jim Jones

Jim Jones

Topic: Insuring the Future: Next Exit! The Insurance Industry Skills Group

Jim Jones is Executive Director of the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services at Illinois State University. The Katie School supports 250 students majoring in insurance and 150 in actuarial science. Jim works with the Dean of the College of Business (COB), industry executives, department chairs, Katie School staff, faculty from the College of Business especially risk management and insurance faculty, and faculty from the College of Arts and Science especially actuarial science, statistics, and economics.

Jim undertakes and facilitates research on numerous insurance topics including: How State Laws Affect Loss Ratio Variability, Top Factors Affecting Customer Retention, Using Remote Sensing to Underwrite Crop Losses, Effective Subrogation Strategies, and the Effectiveness of Technology in Claims Management. Jim has written and edited textbooks on workers compensation, liability claims practices, and the management of bodily injury claims. Jim has been an executive coach and presenter on leadership and ethics since 2004. He has had over 3000 people participate in the workshops he developed. He also serves as an expert witness and has testified in federal court in New Mexico and New York City.

Jim serves in a leadership role as board member of the Griffith Insurance Education Foundation, the Loman Foundation, and the CPCU Society.

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William Kucera

William Kucera

Topic: Securing a Better Deal: Facilitating M&A Transactions with Insurance andDue Diligence

William Kucera is Co-Chair of Mayer Brown's M&A practice in the Americas. He concentrates his practice on mergers and acquisitions. He represents buyers and sellers in connection with stock and asset acquisitions and divestitures, public and private mergers, tender and exchange offers, joint ventures, and venture capital and other private equity investments. He also represents companies in connection with corporate governance and defensive measures, including shareholder rights plans and related matters.

Bill was recognized by Chambers USA (2010-2015) as one of the top Corporate M&A lawyers in Illinois and by Legal 500 US (2010 and 2012-2015) as one of the leading lawyers for large M&A deals. Clients in Chambers USA 2015 state that “he is a phenomenally practical and effective attorney.” Chambers USA 2013 further notes his "ability to provide top-quality legal work, often under tight deadlines, all the while maintaining a practical approach and understanding the business objectives." Bill has also been selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America every year since 2009, has been chosen as an “Illinois Super Lawyer” every year since 2009, was included in the International Who’s Who of Mergers & Acquisition Lawyers 2013, was named a leading lawyer in Who’s Who Legal: Corporate - M&A and Governance 2015, and has been named a "Leading Lawyer" by the Leading Lawyers Network in four categories (Corporate Finance Law, Mergers & Acquisition Law, Publicly Held Corporations Law and Securities & Venture Finance Law). In 2015, Bill was named to The Deal’s inaugural Advisory Committee, which advises on The Deal’s editorial and product-development efforts and is composed of a highly selective cross-section of the deal-making community.

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Dan Kugler

Dan Kugler

Topic: Insuring the Future: Next Exit! The Insurance Industry Skills Group

Dan Kugler is the Director of the Center for Insurance & Risk Management at the University Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Business. Dan joined the college in June of 2014 his Alma Mater.

Prior to joining the University Dan retired from Snap-on Incorporated after 35 years in 2014 where he served as the Assistant Treasurer Risk Management and President of Snap-on SecureCorp Companies.

Snap-on SecureCorp Global Companies consists of: 2 insurance agencies (US and UK) and 2 captive insurance companies in Bermuda and Malta.

Mr. Kugler remains an Adjunct Professor at: Lakeland College, Concordia College of Wisconsin, an instructor for: National Alliance, ICCIE in Captive Insurance studies, and RIMS Professional Development courses.

He currently serves on the boards of: Spencer Educational Foundation Board, National Alliance Research Academy, and the International Center for Captive Insurance Education ICCIE. He is a member of the Butler University-Davey Risk Management Program Advisory Board. Dan has served as a Director for: RIMS Board of Directors, Wisconsin Workers Compensation Self-Insurers Council, Captive Insurance Companies Association CICA and of the CPCU Society Board of Governors.

In 2014 under Dan’s leadership Snap-on SecureCorp was awarded the 2014 Captive Insurance Company of the Year from CICA. In 2012 Dan received the Midwestern Insurance Innovation and Leadership Award (Individual). In 2010, Dan and his risk management team received the Risk and Insurance Magazine Theodore Roosevelt Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management Award. In 2009 the team received the National Underwriters Excellence in Workers Compensation (Honorable Mention). Dan was selected for the 2002 Risk Manager of the Year Award from Business Insurance and RIMS.

Mr. Kugler received his bachelor degree of business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, MBA from Loyola University Chicago and Advanced Management certificate in Enterprise Risk Management from Georgia State University. He holds the following designations: ACI, CPCU, ARM, AIC, and CEBS. He is a licensed insurance agent and claim adjuster in over 45 states. .

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Andrea Lieberman

Andrea Lieberman

Topic: The Risk Manager's Role in Mitigating Employment Practices Liability Losses

Andrea Lieberman is Marsh’s Financial and Professional (FINPRO) claims advocate for the Central Zone, specializing in directors and officers, fiduciary, fidelity, employment practices, and other professional liability claims. Andrea joined Marsh in 1997. Prior to Marsh, Andrea was associated with the Chicago law firm of Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman.

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John McNally

John McNally

Topic: Securing a Better Deal: Facilitating M&A Transactions with Insurance and Due Diligence

John McNally leads JLT Specialty USA's Transaction Advisory Practice (TAP). TAP advises private equity and strategic buyers and sellers on the structuring and placement of representations and warranties, contingent tax, litigation/ known risk, fraudulent transfer and successor liability insurance solutions in M&A transactions.

Prior to joining JLT, John spent five years with Beazley Group in London, starting the firm’s mergers and acquisitions group and building it into a $25 million gross premium book of business. While there, he pioneered the use of quantitative rating models incorporating market frequency and loss data, risk weighting by sector and jurisdiction, and pricing optimization for deal size, limit, and attachment points.

John spent 15 years with American International Underwriters (AIG) in various roles in New York and London, before moving to Beazley. He has a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

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Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller

Topic: Insuring the Future: Next Exit! The Insurance Industry Skills Group

Andrew Miller has served as the Development Director for the Spencer Educational Foundation since 2012. He is responsible for all aspects of development including fundraising, marketing, communications and alumni relations for the Foundation, which funds the education of tomorrow’s risk management and insurance industry leaders. Andrew has 25-plus years of marketing communications experience and prior to joining Spencer served as Senior Manager of Corporate Communications for Medco Health Solutions. He also served as Director of Corporate Communications for GAB Robins. Andrew holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Rochester and a master's degree in public relations from Syracuse University.

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Chad Niec

Chad Niec

Topic: Cut Your Losses: Implement a Safety Program and aggressively investigate the claims.

Chad Niec has over 25 years’ experience in risk and safety management. During this time, he became proficient in the management and development of risk control programs on an international and national level. His background in different type of organizations (manufacturing, warehouse/distribution and service) provided him the opportunity to serve in a number of management positions.

These include being the VP, Safety & Education responsible for the development of programs to reduce vehicle accidents and employee injuries, Director of Safety & Health responsible for workplace safety and regulatory control and Director, Risk Management in leading the selection of insurance for multiple lines of coverages and vendor relationships. He has extensive experience in working with clients internally and externally which provides a foundation of providing solutions in the area of risk management. His experience includes an extensive knowledge of managing workers compensation programs that combined with risk control provides a well-rounded opportunity to minimize incidents from occurring, but successfully managing those that may occur.

Chad holds a M.B.A in Industrial Management from Northern Illinois University, a B.S. in Safety Management from Indiana State University and holds the designation of CSP (Certified Safety Professional) that is widely recognize professionally in the business and environmental, safety and health field.

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Andrew Nottestad

Andrew Nottestad

Topic: Cyber Liability – Cutting Edge Risk Management, Coverage and Liability Issues

  • 20+ years experience as Risk Manager and Insurance Professional
  • Currently Managing Director of Risk Management at United Airlines
  • Held both divisional risk management and corporate roles at AXP and PepsiCo
  • Integrated and spun off numerous multi-billion dollar companies risk and insurance programs
  • Started career at Wausau Insurance Companies as a Commercial Underwriter
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Mark Parksy

Mark Parksy

Topic: Responding to a Reservation of Rights as an Additional Insured

Mark Parsky, a founding partner of McVey & Parsky, LLC in Chicago, concentrates on insurance coverage, product liability, general tort and commercial litigation matters.  He has represented retailers and product manufacturers on a national basis in litigation and insurance matters for over 30 years.  He is a frequent speaker at DRI on insurance and premises liability issues.

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Jeff Puetz

Jeff Puetz

Topic: Hi-Tech is finally coming to a Risk Management department near you!

Jeff Puetz has performed multiple roles in the Property and Casualty insurance industry since 1987. In his current role as Director of Enterprise Risk Management he created the business continuity program for West Bend Mutual Insurance Company in 2006 and has been leading that program ever since. He created and has been leading the enterprise risk management program for West Bend since 2008. Jeff also handles the insurance placement process for West Bend. He holds certifications in project management, underwriting and risk management and has years of practical experience in each area.

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Mark Regenhardt

Mark Regenhardt

Mark Regenhardt is a Partner in the firm of International Risk Consultants, Inc. (IRC), a leading brokerage that specializes in domestic, export credit and political risk insurance products. He manages Chicago Midwestern regional office, serving customers globally with IRC for 16 years.

Prior to joining IRC Mark worked for Motorola Inc., where he held various positions. He was Worldwide Controller for the Consumer Solutions Accessory Group located in Chicago. Mark also lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and was Operations Controller for the Cellular Division in Brazil and the Southern Cone. Prior to that role, he was Motorola’s Credit and Trade Finance Manager for Latin America. In this position, Mark was responsible for the formation of two international credit departments and for the implementation of several credit insurance supported trade finance programs.

Before joining Motorola, Mark worked the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. following an earlier post with the FCIA Management Company, a leading private sector credit insurer.  Mark is a graduate of Kansas State University with a Bachelors degree in Management. He also holds a Masters degree in Finance from the University of Missouri. Mark speaks Spanish and Portuguese.

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Jay Rittberg

Jay Rittberg

Topic: Securing a Better Deal: Facilitating M&A Transactions with Insurance and Due Diligence

Jay Rittberg leads AIG’s Merger & Acquisition Insurance Group for the Americas and is responsible for managing the development, underwriting and marketing of transactional insurance products in the US, Canada and Latin America, including representations and warranties insurance. Jay regularly speaks on panels and advises law firms, private equity firms, corporations and insurance brokers on the use of transactional insurance.

Prior to his current role, Jay served as Division Counsel for the Mergers and Acquisitions Insurance Group. Jay joined AIG in 2007, after spending five years with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, where he advised clients on a wide range of corporate matters, including corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions.

Jay holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. In 2013, Jay was named as one of the winners of M&A Advisor’s 40 Under 40 Awards.

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Laurance Shapiro

Laurance Shapiro

Topic: Acquisition and Divesture Challenges Facing Risk Managers and Insurance Solutions Available

Larry Shapiro has over 15 years of experience working within the insurance and financial services industry, including both in-house positions as well as extensive corporate and transactional work as outside legal counsel. Larry’s broad financial, legal and insurance background has provided him with the in-depth negotiation, drafting and structuring experience that is crucial to crafting transactional risk solutions.

Prior to joining the Mergers & Acquisitions team at Willis, Larry’s insurance and legal experience included positions as a regulatory analyst at a leading U.S. life insurance company, a practicing attorney focused on the creation and structuring of complex financial solutions at a top U.S. law firm, and as general counsel of a commercial finance company.  Prior to law school, Larry worked for several years as a financial analyst at a Big Four Accounting firm.  Larry earned his B.A. from Hobart College, and his J.D., cum laude, from New York Law School.

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William Shea

William Shea

Topic: Derivative Lawsuits / D&O Policy Response

Bill serves as a claims and coverage counsel to the Financial Services Group. He advises Aon clients and brokers on policy wording, claims management and insurance coverage issues. Bill provides legal support and claims advocacy for Directors and Officers Liability, Errors and Omissions, Employment Practices and other FSG matters.

Bill has been in the industry for 14 years. Prior to joining Aon, Bill worked for Zurich North America, managing claims litigation and related insurance coverage issues. Bill was also in private practice for 5 years, specializing in insurance coverage analysis and litigation involving professional liability, excess/umbrella liability, employment practices and other lines of coverage. He is an experienced litigator with mediation experience.

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Richard F. Smith

Richard F. Smith

Topic: Cut Your Losses: Implement a Safety Program and aggressively investigate the claims.

Richard Smith, Vice President of Major Accounts and Program Management for Frasco, is a well-known authority on complex investigations. His areas of expertise include the identification and prosecution of fraudulent Workers’ Compensation claims, Workplace Investigations, surveillance, interrogation, arson investigation, and security policy and procedure consulting.

He is frequently called upon to speak on many of these issues before claims professionals, law firms and corporate associations. He has provided training to over 3,000 claims professionals and attorneys on a variety of investigative topics, and is an instructor and frequent guest speaker for the Insurance Education Association.

Mr. Smith started as a field investigator for Frasco in 1988 and has worked his way up through the ranks to his current position. Richard began his career in investigations at the Erie County (NY) District Attorney’s office.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. In addition, he holds a Certificate of Fire Investigation from the New York State Academy of Fire Sciences and a P.O.S.T. (Police Officer Standard Training) Background Investigation Certificate.

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Kieran Stack

Kieran Stack

Topic: Enterprise Risk Management: Accentuating the upside and smoothing the downside

Kieran Stack is Managing Director of Operations & Strategy for Aon’s Global Risk Consulting Americas Practice, providing risk advisory services to multinationals and large corporates with a focus on optimization of cost of risk.

Kieran has +20 years of experience as a risk professional from an in-house corporate risk management, broking, captive servicing and alternative risk finance perspective. Kieran has lived and worked in various countries including Ireland, Luxembourg, United Kingdom and the US.

Working with our US leadership team, Kieran has responsibility for Operations & Strategy across Aon's Risk Consulting actives within our Actuarial, Enterprise Risk Management, Business Continuity Risk Management, Risk Finance and Outsourced Risk Management practice groups.

Kieran’s area of specialty is Traditional captive P+C lines, captive employee benefit risk financing, affinity lines of business, specifically warranty lines. From an industry perspective Kieran’s focus has concentrated on the automotive, food+beverage, pharmaceutical and telecommunications sectors.

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Jack Tatum

Jack Tatum

Topic: Hi-Tech is finally coming to a Risk Management department near you!

Jack Tatum is a proven leader in the industry, with over 29 years of experience. In his role as VP of Global Business Development, Tatum is charged with advancing the adoption of Riskonnect technology across the global market and with accelerating Riskonnect customer success. His passion for Riskonnect's innovation and his dedication to empowering clients have been instrumental in building the world's most powerful risk management work platform.

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Fred Travis

Fred Travis

Topic: Creating a Contract Requirement and Review Program

Fred Travis joined the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business as Director of the Risk Management & Insurance Program April 1, 2014; and as Assistant Teaching Professor of Finance August 25. With the help and support of the Dean, Finance Department Chair and other faculty and staff, we launched a new 15-credit-hour Risk Management & Insurance (RMI) Concentration for undergraduates.

From only 14 students in the initial RMI course this past spring, enrollment in two fall semester courses is more than 50.

Before joining the University of Missouri, Fred spent more than 35 years as a risk management and finance executive and consultant. Most recently he was owner and principal of Risk Management Consulting, LLC, providing risk management, loss control, ERM and analytical consulting services to public, private, non-profit and government clients.

As Director, Corporate Safety & Risk Management at Anheuser-Busch Companies from 1992-2005, Fred had world-wide responsibility for insurance, safety, loss control and risk management for all operations of the world’s largest brewer. Before joining Corporate Safety & Risk Management, Fred held several positions in planning and finance at Anheuser-Busch and Ford Motor Company.

Fred has an MBA in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Allegheny College. He has written and presented on numerous loss control, risk management and Enterprise Risk Management topics in industry publications and at industry conferences.

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Stephan L. Upshaw

Stephan L. Upshaw

Topic: Top 10 Ways to Leverage Your Actuarial Report

Steve Upshaw has over 30 years of insurance industry experience in various areas of risk management, brokerage, underwriting, marketing and claims. For the past 20 years, Steve has worked as a risk manager primarily focusing on large real estate driven accounts. These accounts, which include Equity Residential, Equity Office and JMB Realty Corp., each featured large CAT exposed Property Insurance Schedules requiring complex layered placements.

Typical duties and experience include:

  • Selection and development of brokerage team.
  • Preparation of insurance submissions.
  • Direct meetings with all key underwriters.
  • Identification and evaluation of risk and loss exposures and development and monitoring of appropriate risk management programs.
  • Communication of risk management strategy with internal work groups such as property management, operations, development, engineering and legal departments.
  • Coordination of budgets, audits and retro adjustments on loss sensitive programs, pre-acquisition liabilities and discontinued operations from several carriers.
  • Development of workplace safety, business continuity and crisis preparedness programs, including monthly safety meeting topics and agendas.
  • Contract review and negotiation with contractors, vendors and lenders.
  • Implementation of Certificate of Insurance Management Program.

Steve is a former Board Member of the Chicago RIMS Chapter has been a frequent speaker on insurance and risk management topics at the national RIMS conference as well as at various industry association meetings and real estate conferences. Steve has a B.A. in Government from Beloit College.

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Jacqueline Urban

Jacqueline Urban

Topic: Derivative Lawsuits / D&O Policy Response

Jackie Urban is a Senior Managing Director and the co-practice leader for Aon’s Financial Services Group Legal & Claims Practice. She is based in Chicago and has been with Aon for 10 years.

She specializes in management liability, which includes D&O, EPL, Fiduciary, Cyber and certain E&O coverages. She works with the Aon brokers to advise Aon clients on issues including policy wording and interpretation, claims and coverage and serves as a claims advocate for clients. That includes assisting clients in interpreting a carriers’ coverage position, attending mediations and negotiating resolutions to coverage disputes.

Prior to joining Aon, Ms. Urban practiced for 9 years with the law firms of Wilson Elser and Hanson, Peters, Nye focusing on insurance coverage, primarily in the management liability area.

  • B.S. in Music Education (she is a saxophone player), University of Minnesota
  • Graduate of Northwestern University School of Law
  • Member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society
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David Valzania

David Valzania

Topic: Building a Multinational Insurance Program: When, Why and How

David Valzania is Head of AIG Multinational for the Americas. In this role, he is responsible for the regional leadership and growth of AIG Multinational which includes Global Fronting and Captive Management. David joined this division in 2013.

Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of AIG Bermuda. Additionally, he has served as a Director for Chartis Excess Limited (Ireland), American International Company Limited, American International Reinsurance Company, Chartis Overseas Limited and AIG Life of Bermuda.

Previously, David was Division Executive for Cat Excess Liability, a division of AIG, Inc. From July, 2010 to August, 2011, David held the dual roles of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Cat Excess and Managing Director of the AIG US office in Bermuda. Previously, he was Vice President and Department Executive for Lexington’s Personal Lines Group. David joined Lexington and the Risk Specialist Companies in 2005 as Zonal Executive for the Eastern Zone.

Before joining AIG, David was a Senior Vice President and Client Executive at Marsh where he held various positions in the Risk Management Casualty Brokerage Department for both Marsh and Johnson & Higgins.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Connecticut, as well as the CPCU and ARM designations. He served on the Connecticut Chapter of CPCU Society’s Board of Directors from 1997 to 2004 and was Chapter President from 2002 to 2003.

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Paul R. Walker-Bright

Paul R. Walker-Bright

Topic: Harmonizing Risk Transfer in Commercial Agreements and Insurance Policies

Paul concentrates his practice on complex litigation and insurance recovery, primarily for large corporate policyholders. He has successfully obtained recoveries on behalf of clients under a variety of insurance policies, including general liability policies and directors & officers insurance.

He has also handled litigation involving environmental liability, toxic torts, commercial disputes including bankruptcy, and various pro bono matters. Paul has been recognized by Chambers USA 2007 - 2015: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, stating that "he receives a wealth of endorsements from clients due to his extensive knowledge of the field” and his “professionalism and dedication to excellence.”

Paul has represented clients of all sizes from diverse industry sectors, including public utilities, oil, transportation, news media and industrial manufacturing. He customizes his approach to the needs of every client and, having counseled both Fortune 100 corporations and single-owner businesses, he is sensitive to cost and time considerations as they apply to each. Reflecting this diverse practice, Paul is regularly involved with client personnel at every level, from senior management and general counsel to hourly workers.

At the start of every matter, Paul strives to identify clearly the client's goal. He formulates as early as possible a legal and factual theory of the case to achieve that goal, then pursues it consistently. As one example, a client seeking to maximize its cost recovery will require a different strategy from one seeking a quick resolution. Because most of his cost-recovery litigation is for large corporate policyholders, he often counsels on matters with substantial financial and economic impact.

Arbitration and mediation are important elements of Paul's cost recovery practice. He has been involved in alternative dispute resolution of directors' & officers' liability claims and other coverage issues. ADR is often a policy requirement for the large corporations that he represents, and he is frequently successful in obtaining resolutions that secure the highest possible percentage of the claims made by his clients.

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William Zhang

William Zhang

Topic: Enterprise Risk Management: Accentuating the upside and smoothing the downside

William Zhang is a senior analyst in Aon’s Global Risk Consulting Americas Practice, and is responsible for the collection and analysis of data for client ERM implementation projects, and for the creation of deliverables and reports. William’s project experience spans various industries including agribusiness, consumer product goods, higher education, and manufacturing. In addition to his ERM responsibilities, William works with the core Aon Risk Maturity Index Team to better assist clients in understanding and developing ERM capabilities.

Prior experience includes:

  • Identified and assessed the top 5 critical risks to a Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods firm through industry and market research, collection and analysis of customized surveys, and interviews of the executive management team; facilitated a workshop session with key executive sponsors of the ERM initiative to determine risks for deep dive analysis
  • Developed enterprise risk management capabilities for a globally recognized contract research organization by working directly with the executive committee and global treasurer to substantiate an organizational risk governance framework, processes to identify and assess risks, and mitigation strategies for critical exposures; assumed project lead responsibilities after the transition of group director
  • Utilized Lean Six-Sigma methodologies to identify opportunities for improvement in the M&A strategy of a large transportation and logistics company; developed Visio process flow diagrams for the Board of Directors
  • Developed risk reporting dashboards for a state owned insurer of last resort for quarterly reporting to the Board of Governors
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