Doris Kearns Goodwin
Presidential Historian and Pulitzer Prize -Winning Author
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker and Pulitzer Prize- winning, New York Times #1 best-selling author. Her eighth book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, will be published on April 16, 2024. Artfully weaving together biography, memoir, and history, this new book takes readers on the emotional journey Doris and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life as they delved into more than 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, of the events and pivotal figures of the decade—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.
Goodwin’s previous books include the critically acclaimed and New York Times best-selling Leadership: In Turbulent Times, which incorporates her five decades of scholarship studying Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Leadership inspired the History Channel’s miniseries events Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and FDR, which Goodwin executive produced through her production company, Pastimes Productions, Inc.
Goodwin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Her Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln was awarded the Lincoln Prize and was in part the basis for Steven Spielberg’s highly acclaimed film “Lincoln.”
Well known for her appearances and commentary on television, Goodwin is seen frequently in documentaries and on television news, cable networks and late-night talk shows. She even portrayed herself on an episode of the enduringly successful television show “The Simpsons.”
Goodwin’s interest in presidential leadership was inspired by her experience as a 24-year-old White House Fellow, working directly for President Johnson in his last year in the White House, and later assisting him in the preparation of his memoirs. Her first book was the widely praised and enormously popular Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.
Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American Presidency. Goodwin lives in Boston. She was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1979, and is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning team.
Andrew N. Mais
Commissioner, Connecticut Insurance Department
Andrew N. Mais was nominated by Governor Ned Lamont to be Connecticut's 33rd Insurance Commissioner on March 4, 2019.
Mais was elected as NAIC Vice President and serves on the Executive (EX) Committee. Additionally, he serves on the NAIC's Internal Administration (EX1) Subcommittee, the Audit Committee, the Government Relations (EX) Leadership Council, the Property and Casualty Insurance (C) Committee, the Financial Regulation Standards and Accreditation (F) Committee, and the International Insurance Relations (G) Committee. He is also a member of the NAIC's Special (EX) Committee on Race and Insurance, which is charged with conducting research and analyzing issues of diversity and inclusion within the insurance sector.
Mais also serves on the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Macroprudential and Executive Committees. The IAIS is the international standard-setting body responsible for developing and assisting in the supervision of the insurance sector.
Mais has led discussions in several forums on race, diversity, and inclusion at the state level and within the insurance industry and in insurance practices. He has also joined the efforts led by Governor Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz to address social inequities in Connecticut, including the Council on Women and Girls and cultural competency initiatives.
Mais previously was a member of Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services, providing industry-leading thought leadership and insight on U.S. and international regulatory affairs.
Prior to that, he was a Director at the New York State Insurance Department. There he served four governors as part of the Department's senior leadership team through numerous events, including the financial crisis of 2008 and major state and federal changes in health insurance regulations and laws.
Even outside the government, Mais has dedicated much of his life to public service. He most recently served as chair of the Council on Ethics for the town of Wilton, CT, where he lives. Other recent service includes the Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk; the American Red Cross; the Board of Finance of the Town of Wilton; and the Rotary Club of Wilton.
Astrid Jäkel
Chief Risk Officer and Member of the Executive Committee, Aegon Ltd.
Astrid Jäkel is Chief Risk Officer and member of the Executive Committee of Aegon Ltd. She was appointed as Aegon’s Group Chief Risk Officer in March 2022 and leads the global risk team, including financial and underwriting risk management, non-financial risk management as well as overarching risk governance and enterprise risk management framework. She co-led Aegon’s redomiciliation to Bermuda in 2023.
Astrid has more than 20 years of experience in the global insurance sector. She joined Aegon from the international management consultancy firm Oliver Wyman where she was a partner in the Insurance and Asset Management Practice and co-leader of the European Insurance Financial Effectiveness team. She worked with leading European and global insurers on a broad range of projects to help transform and optimize their risk, finance, and investment capabilities.
Astrid Jäkel holds an M.Sc. in Business Administration and a PhD in Finance from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany, as well as an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
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Craig Swan
Chief Executive Officer, Bermuda Monetary Authority
As Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Craig Swan has overall responsibility for all supervisory and operational activities conducted by the BMA. In addition, he serves as an Executive Director on the BMA’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Swan joined the Authority in 2006 and has held various positions, including Managing Director (Supervision) and, most recently, as Deputy CEO.
Prior to joining the Authority, Mr. Swan worked as Controller & Vice President, Strategic Information Services for Arthur J. Gallagher Bermuda.
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Darryl Herrick
Co-Head Insurance, Global Atlantic
Darryl is the Co-Head of Reinsurance business at Global Atlantic, where is responsible for helping lead the Institutional Markets business across multiple key segments including Block and Flow reinsurance. Darryl is also responsible for expanding and broadening Global Atlantic’s institutional client base among the Top – 50 L&A insurance companies in the U.S., as well as with partners globally. Darryl also helps to oversea the development of our Bermuda office and collaborating with key government, regulatory and industry relationships on the island. Prior to Global Atlantic, he worked as a Partner with C12 Capital Management, a Director at Barclays Capital and Vice President at Goldman Sachs.
David Altmaier
Executive Advisor, BILTIR
David Altmaier joined the Southern Group in 2023 after spending 14 years as an insurance regulator for the state of Florida. From 2016 – 2022, David served as Florida’s Insurance Commissioner. He was NAIC President in 2021, and the Vice Chair of the IAIS Executive Committee from 2019 – 2022. He is based in Tallahassee, Florida.
Garon Wilkinson, IRMCert
Vice President Risk Advisory, Aon
Garon joined Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Limited in June 2020 as Vice President - Risk Advisory. Garon assists with the execution of the global Commercial Re/insurance strategy and works closely with the client service team and the client origination team to support the Company's quality standards, growth and profitability targets. He has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Risk Advisory practice group including all client deliverables relating to the Risk function. He liaises with the Commercial Reinsurance finance and actuarial teams to ensure that the Risk Management Framework, CISSA and FCR are produced in a collaborative manner.
Prior to joining Aon, Garon served as Lead Risk & Compliance Analyst at QBE's Bermuda based captive reinsurer Blue Ocean Equator Re. He joined QBE in 2014 and while serving in his role there attained the International Certificate in Risk Management (IRMCert) from the Institute of Risk Management (IRM). Garon drove QBE's ERM Framework through Risk Appetite Monitoring, Risk and Control Assessments, Issue Reporting and Stress Testing. He also delivered the QBE Compliance Framework including the Compliance Plan, Suspicious Activity Reporting, Licensing, Whistleblowing, Conflicts of Interests and oversight of Compliance Training.
Before joining QBE, Garon served as Senior Analyst in the Insurance Supervision department at Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) from 2012 to 2014 where his portfolio consisted of life or long-term insurance companies. His role consisted of performing management reviews for compliance, statutory return analysis, and solvency capital evaluation. He also undertook on-site reviews and analysis of capital models.
In 2011, Garon served as a Catastrophe Modeling Analyst at Renaissance Re Ltd. Prior to this Garon started his career in reinsurance at ACE Tempest Life Re where he served from 2004 to 2011 working with variable annuity guaranteed benefits.
Garon graduated from Bermuda College with an Associate in Arts (Business Administration) degree before attaining a Bachelor's in International Business and Economics from Sophia University in Tokyo. Garon spent a total of six years living in Japan attending school and working. Garon is also fluent in Japanese..
Hirofumi Ichihara
Chief Risk Officer, Dai-ichi Life Reinsurance
Hirofumi Ichihara is the Chief Risk Officer of Dai-ichi Life Reinsurance Bermuda, a captive company of Dai-ichi Life Holding, and also serves as the Head of the Finance Team at DLI North America, the regional headquarters of the Dai-ichi Life Group overseeing business in the North America region.
Before relocating to North America in 2022, he dedicated approximately 20 years to actuarial roles in Japan at the Dai-ichi Life Group. His contributions include embedded value and economic solvency calculation of Dai-ichi Life, and liaising with the financial regulator regarding an economic solvency regulation set to become a new rule effective from 2025.
He is a Fellow of The Institute of Actuaries of Japan
Michael Pagano
Partner Financial Institutions Group (FIG) and Head of Insurance Coverage in Financial Institutions Group, Appollo
Michael Pagano is Partner, Financial Institutions Group (FIG) and the Head of Insurance Coverage in the Financial Institutions Group at Apollo and is responsible for helping Apollo grow our business providing capital and asset management solutions for insurance companies. Before joining in 2022, Michael was a Managing Director and the Head of Insurance Portfolio Management at Voya Investment Management. Prior to Voya Investment Management, Michael was a Managing Director and the Head of Portfolio Specialist Group at New York Life Investments.
Michael holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from Amherst College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Peter Giacone
Senior Managing Director, Insurance
Peter Giacone is a Senior Managing Director and Global Head of the Insurance Ratings team at KBRA, where he performs credit and financial analysis for the company’s rating process. In addition to insurance and financial guaranty, Peter also works closely with KBRA’s investment fund and public finance analytical teams.
Prior to joining KBRA, Peter spent six years as chief financial officer at the Liquidation Bureau within the New York State Department of Financial Services. Over the span of his 35-year career in financial services, Peter has worked extensively in analytical roles involving risk management, capital markets, and financial reporting at numerous companies including Morgan Stanley, MetLife, and XL Capital.
Peter earned a B.S.B.A. in accounting from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and an MBA in finance from the New York University Stern School of Business.
Petra Hielkema
Chairperson of EIOPA
Petra is the Chairperson of EIOPA and has been leading the Authority since September 2021, following her appointment by the European Council on 27 May 2021 after confirmation by the European Parliament on 18 May 2021.
Petra is a member of the ESRB Steering Committee and the ESRB General Board and a voting member of the IAIS Executive Committee. Besides that, she is the Champion of the IAIS Fintech Forum.
Prior to this role Petra was Division Director of Insurance Supervision at De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB, the Dutch Central Bank) as well as Alternate Member of the EIOPA Board as well as the Chair of the EIOPA Policy Committee. Petra joined DNB in February 2007 as a policy advisor, contributing to the development of Solvency II. In 2013 she became Head Insurance Policy and in 2015 she was appointed as Head of the DNB Expert Center for Fit & Proper assessments. In February 2017 Petra started as Director of Payments and Market. Prior to joining the Dutch Central Bank fulfilled several roles working in Central Asia.
Petra has a European Masters in Law & Economics and a Masters in Russian Studies. She is married and proud mother of three children..
Sean C. Brennan
Executive Vice President of Pension Group Annuity and Flow Reinsurance, Athene
Sean C. Brennan has served as our Executive Vice President of Pension Group Annuity and Flow Reinsurance since January 2020. Mr. Brennan is responsible for overseeing the strategy of our pension risk transfer and flow reinsurance businesses and is responsible for expanding opportunities for development within those businesses.
Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. Brennan served as Senior Vice President and Head of Pension Group Annuity at Athene Holding. Before joining our company, he served as Global Pensions Director for Marsh & McLennan Companies, responsible for developing and implementing its global pension strategy, and oversaw $15 billion in global asset-liability management. Mr. Brennan also spent 14 years with Mercer holding several positions, including Partner in the Financial Strategy Group. In that role, he was responsible for leading Mercer’s efforts to develop its pension risk transfer capabilities and sales strategy as well as leading several large pension risk transfer transactions. In addition, Mr. Brennan provided investment strategy and risk management advice to corporate plan sponsors regarding the PRT business.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and political science from Emory University. He is a CFA Charterholder and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries
Suzanne Williams-Charles
Chief Executive Officer, BILTIR
Suzanne Williams-Charles is the Chief Executive Officer at the Bermuda International Long Term Insurers and Reinsurers association. Williams-Charles has over 25 years of industry experience. As CEO, Williams-Charles is responsible for leading the organization’s global advocacy, public and regulatory policy initiatives. Williams-Charles is also responsible for leading BILTIR’s community outreach agenda.
Prior to joining BILTIR, Williams-Charles was the Director of Policy and Regulation, Corporate Secretary and Data Privacy Officer at the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers. Before that, she served as Head of Reinsurance Compliance at Hiscox Re and spent over a decade in increasing roles of responsibility at the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), culminating in her role as Deputy Director of Insurance Supervision.
Williams-Charles began her career with KPMG as an auditor. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Privacy Officer and has achieved several insurance industry designations. Williams-Charles also serves as a Director on the Boards of WeSpeak Bermuda and HBSC Life (Bermuda) Limited.
Takeko Uemoto
Chief Actuary, Aflac Re Bermuda Ltd.
Takeko Uemoto is the Chief Actuary of Aflac Re Bermuda Ltd. and has served as the Senior Vice President enterprise corporate actuary of Aflac Incorporated, responsible for leading enterprise-wide regulatory capital management modeling and economic capital modeling. She serves as the chair of BILTIR’s Global Advocacy Committee’s Japan Subcommittee.
Prior to joining Aflac, she was a vice president and actuary for Prudential Insurance. Before that, she was vice president insurance strategist, Insurance Asset Management at Goldman Sachs & Co., GSAM and held positions of increasing responsibility at Ernst & Young LLP.
She is a CFA Charterholder, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Financial Risk Manager, and a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter.
Takeo Oshima
Vice President Corporate Development, Fortitude Re
Takeo Oshima is Vice President, Corporate Development at Fortitude Re. Prior to joining Fortitude Re, Takeo spent more than 12 years in Swiss Re Japan as Pricing Actuary, Head of Pricing and Mortality Portfolio Owner for Asia. His experience includes all major benefits in Japan and various reinsurance structures for large blocks and flow businesses. Before joining Swiss Re, Takeo worked for Hartford Japan, where he was engaged in risk management of Variable Annuities sold by banks.
He is a Fellow of The Institute of Actuaries of Japan.
