On July 30, 2010 we announced the formation of LinkedIn’s Reinsurance Claims group, which is a forum for the discussion of issues concerning U.S. and international ceded and assumed reinsurance claims.  (Post here)  We would like to introduce the co-managers of the group:  Nigel Shepherd, Robert Bear, Marc Lanzkowsky, Theresa Hajost, Bill Hook and me.  It is an honor to work with such a talented and professionally diverse group of people, and their commitment to the group bodes well for its success.    

But there is more.  Every one of these people is a great human being that is a pleasure to know and with whom it is a privilege to collaborate.  All are readily approachable and willing to share freely their impressive knowledge, skills and experience.  And that is what makes for a great Web 2.0 discussion and networking group.    

Nigel Shepherd, J.D., CPCU, ARe.  Nigel has twenty-five years of insurance and reinsurance experience, with a focus on global claims management. 

Nigel owns NCS Capital Management LLC, a boutique consulting firm that focuses on property and casualty (“P&C”) reinsurance and insurance matters.  NCS partners with New-York-City-based Lanzko Consulting, Inc. (co-manager Marc Lanzkowsky’s firm) to design and implement proactive strategies to reduce claims costs and mitigate loss exposure.   

Prior to forming NCS, Nigel was Global Head of Claims for both Aspen Specialty Insurance and the Alea Insurance Group, where he was responsible for claims strategies and operations worldwide.  He was part of Aspen’s Global Leadership Team, responsible for establishing and implementing a strategic plan for the worldwide claims operation.  Nigel integrated the diverse Group Claims business units into one team, simplified key operational risks associated with loss adjustment, and reduced redundancies, operational costs and paperwork.  He also formulated policies and procedures for legal service procurement, independent adjusters, third-party administrators and fraud control.    

Prior to his Aspen and Alea roles, Nigel was a Senior Vice President with Converium Reinsurance (f/k/a Zurich Re) and an Assistant Vice President at XL Reinsurance, leading and managing teams for a variety of reinsurance programs.  During his Converium tenure, Nigel had management responsibility for the professional liability, medical liability and special casualty liability business units.   Nigel also functioned as the Head of Claims, where he successfully managed commercial auto and general liability claims, and was instrumental in integrating into the underwriting department the claims department’s expertise in claims, actuarial matters and accounting.    

Nigel received a J.D. from Pace University School of Law in 1993, and a B.S. in Finance from Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management in 1984.  He is a member of the New York bar and holds the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriting (“CPCU”) and Associate in Reinsurance (“ARe”) professional designations.   

Nigel’s insurance and reinsurance industry knowledge and experience, coupled with his legal and extensive claims management background, is a tremendous benefit to the group and its members.   

Robert Bear, FCAS, CPCU.  Robert Bear is a P&C consulting actuary and a reinsurance arbitrator and consultant.  He owns RAB Actuarial Solutions LLC, where he performs loss reserve studies and reinsurance pricing analyses requiring complex loss simulations; serves as a reinsurance arbitrator and expert witness in insurance and reinsurance arbitrations; resolves complex insurance coverage problems; researches and develops loss reserving models; and provides litigation and investor support. 

He has over 33 years of insurance and reinsurance industry experience, including 20 years managing reinsurance actuarial services.  He began his career at the Insurance Services Office (“ISO”), and served as an actuarial manager at the Prudential Reinsurance Company, Signet Star Re, L.L.C. and SCOR Reinsurance Company.  He then served as Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary of the PXRE Group, where he was responsible for actuarial loss reserving and pricing model development, as well as related corporate modeling. 

Bob is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (“FCAS”), an ARIAS-U.S. certified insurance and reinsurance arbitrator, a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow in the Conference of Consulting Actuaries.  He earned MS degrees in theoretical mathematics from New York University and in applied mathematics and economic systems from the Polytechnic Institute of New York.  He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Bridgeport, where he earned a B.A. in mathematics.   

Bob serves as Chairperson of the Casualty Actuarial Society (“CAS”) Dynamic Risk Modeling Committee and as co-chairperson of the CAS Loss Simulation Model Working Party.  He previously served as a Chairperson of the Reinsurance Association of America (“RAA”) Actuarial Committee and as President of Casualty Actuaries in Reinsurance (“CARe”).  He has authored several CAS discussion papers and articles on reinsurance pricing, loss reserving, and risk modeling issues.  His blog on actuarial and dynamic risk modeling issues is here. 

Bob also serves as a co-manager of LinkedIn’s Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group, which is now over 880 members strong and is one of the premier online ADR discussion groups.   (See the latest post here)

Bob’s formidable technical and actuarial skills, combined with his industry and dispute-resolution knowledge and experience, are a great asset to the group and its members.    

Marc Lanzkowsky.    Marc is the founder and principal of Lanzko Consulting, Inc. and the Managing Editor of The Claims SPOT  blog, one of the only blogs (if not the only blog) that focuses exclusively on insurance and reinsurance claims.   Lanzko provides top notch claims consulting, auditing and management services, as well as claims-related operational management consulting services. 

Marc started his career as an insurance defense and coverage attorney in New York City, representing physicians and hospitals against malpractice claims and defending insurance companies in coverage disputes.  After practicing law for seven years, he became a Specialty Claims Adjuster at Zurich Insurance Company.  Managing physician, hospital and nursing liability claims, he was part of a black-belt team that helped improve claims-department operations.  

After being promoted to Northeast Regional Manager for Healthcare Medical Malpractice Claims, Marc was responsible for over 1,900 professional liability claims and more than $250 million in case and expense reserves.  He was subsequently promoted to Claims Director for Operational Innovation for the Specialty Claims Division.  As a direct report to the Vice President of Specialty Claims, Marc ensured operational efficiency for multiple specialty lines in a department consisting of 150 claims professionals handling 14,000 open claims.   He developed performance metrics to improve productivity and facilitate team management.  Tapped for the company’s 9-11 disaster recovery team, Marc assisted in the relocation of over 100 claims professionals within one week of that terrible tragedy. 

Following a successful career at Zurich, Marc was recruited to help build a specialty claims organization as Vice President (and, later, Senior Vice President) of Home Office Claims Management for Arch Insurance Company.  Charged with developing and implementing all internal processes and best practices for this new global P&C insurer, he created an innovative, fully accessible and paperless claims technology system, which was used by claims professionals worldwide.  Marc also assisted senior management in due diligence for potential acquisitions, and formed and managed relationships with multiple claims vendors.  As the company and department grew, Marc was put in charge of performance metrics and best-practices oversight for its 85 claims professionals and third-party administrators handling over 20,000 open claims. 

He also led the litigation management department and created a special investigation unit to help combat insurance fraud.  And by implementing a program to review legal invoices, he was able to reduce litigation expenses an average of 11% in the first year.  Outsourcing several back office functions and transferring the handling of primary casualty files to a new Midwestern claims office, he also helped reduce the company’s unallocated expense costs significantly. 

In addition to his work at Lansko, Marc serves as a member of the Board of Directors for IncentOne, a provider of integrated incentive solutions to clients ranging from small business to FORTUNE 500 companies. 

Marc received a bachelor’s degree from New York University  in 1988 and a Juris Doctorate degree from Pace University School of Law  in 1991.  He is a member of the New York bar. 

Marc’s extensive experience in direct insurance claims matters — coupled with his involvement in reinsurance-related matters, impressive contributions to the blogosphere, and energetic, entrepreneurial spirit – enables him to provide a unique perspective on the subject matter of this group.    

Theresa W. Hajost.   Theresa W. Hajost, an experienced, AV-rated reinsurance attorney, is a partner at Halloran & Sage LLP, and Senior Partner of its Washington Office.  She has over fifteen years of experience in reinsurance dispute resolution, and more than twenty-years of experience handling insurance coverage litigation.  She represents both cedents and reinsurers in arbitration and litigation; performs reinsurance claims audits and reserve sufficiency evaluations; negotiates commutations; and counsels clients on effective presentation of reinsurance claims.

In addition to reinsurance disputes, her litigation experience includes insurance-coverage cases arising from an assortment of claims and policy-types, with a concentration in complex environmental and toxic tort claims.  She has litigated professional liability, errors and omissions, directors and officers, bankers’ bonds, architects and engineers, and board of education claims.  She also has significant experience handling federal and state appeals. 

Theresa is also a lecturer for the University of Wisconsin Business School’s annual courses “Reinsurance Management and Accounting” and “Reinsurance:  Advanced Concepts,” and has authored a number of articles concerning reinsurance, insurance and arbitration practice and procedure.  Throughout her legal career, Theresa has maintained an active pro bono practice, representing clients ranging from children in abuse and neglect proceedings to persons committed to mental institutions.   

Theresa’s wide-ranging experience as an expert reinsurance and insurance litigator, instructor, author and commentator gives her a unique perspective not only on reinsurance claims, but on reinsurance dispute resolution in general, all of which she shares with the group and its members.    

Bill Hook.   Bill is a long-time friend, mentor and colleague of mine, as well as a sometimes client.  Based in London, he was Head of Technical Operations (and Group Head of Claims) for the Tawa Group.  With Tawa’s purchase of Pro Insurance Solutions Ltd. (“Pro”), which now manages the runoff of CX Re, KX Re and PX Re, Bill has assumed a senior claims management role in that firm.  Pro provides run-off management and professional services to the international insurance and reinsurance industry. 

Bill has over 30 years experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry.  He initially worked as an underwriter in 1971 for a composite insurer and moved to its reinsurance arm in 1979 where he undertook a claims supervisory role.  In 1982 he joined CIGNA and subsequently became Claims Director for their European run-off operations.  From there he joined Price Waterhouse Coopers  (U.K.) (“PwC”), where he specialized in claims management and reinsurance disputes on behalf of a number of U.K. insolvencies, including The Charter Re, The Independent and Black Sea & Baltic.  He also provided claims consultancy services for a number of active writers, including Lloyd’s syndicates, and was responsible for the business development of the claims consultancy offering of the firm. 

Bill left PwC to join the Tawa Group in 2004, where he became Head of Claims, and later, Head of Technical Operations.  Part of the Tawa senior management team, he operates extensively in the due diligence process of run-off acquisition targets, manages the Tawa/Pro claims team, and provides claims and runoff management consultancy services to a large number of  companies outside the Tawa Group.    

Bill has contributed articles on claims management and claims audits/inspections to Insurance Day, Run-off & Restructuring Magazine, and Mealey’s Reports, and periodically speaks at industry seminars.  In November 2009 he was appointed to the Board of the prestigious Association of Run-off Companies (“ARC”), where he is a member of the Marketing & Public Relations Committee as well as the Academy training facility.    

Bill brings to bear a wealth of reinsurance and run-off-management-related knowledge, skill and experience, and the unique perspective he has on the U.S., London and European markets gives the group a truly international focus.     

Philip J. Loree Jr.  You can read about my background and experience at the Loree & Loree website here. 

The other co-managers and I are thrilled about the new group and look forward to making it work for its members. 

The group, which is already more than 80 members strong, welcomes new members, and encourages (but does not require) active participation.  The only requirement for membership is a bona fide interest in reinsurance claims.  The group is not a forum for, and does not permit, advertising or blatant self-promotion, so our members need not be concerned about being subject to sales pitches and the like. 

If you are already a member of LinkedIn, please click here to apply for membership in the group.  If you are not a LinkedIn member, please click here and you will be guided through the process of creating a profile (which does not need to be completed in one step).  Once your profile is started, and you have a user name and password, you can click here to apply for membership in the group.  Joining LinkedIn is free, as is joining the group.

We look forward to meeting you online!

Tags: Bill Hook, Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group, LinkedIn, Marc Lanzkowsky, Nigel Shepherd, Philip J. Loree Jr., Reinsurance Claims, Robert Bear, Theresa W. Hajost

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 14th, 2010 at 8:38 am and is filed under ADR Social Media, Reinsurance Claims. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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