David Banks is editor of Arabian Insurance Review, from the publishers of Global Reinsurance.
David has been reporting on Middle East insurance and finance since 2003 and spent four years as a business journalist in the United Arab Emirates.
He has more than 10 years of experience in the media, both journalism and public relations.
His previous work includes political press relations in London and PR for a Premier League football team, as well as speech writing, lobbying, hosting seminars and editing financial brochures and books.

Geoffrey Bell is President of Geoffrey Bell and Company which advises a wide range of central banks and governments on their international reserve asset and liability management programmes. 
He was financial adviser to the Central Bank of Venezuela for over twenty five years and has acted as financial advisor to the Government of Barbados for more than twenty years and the Government of Jamaica for almost a decade. The company acts as a consultant to major corporations and banks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and South America providing advice on capital market transactions as well as undertaking economic, financial and country risk analysis. The company also specializes in bank regulation and has worked closely on issues relating to the Basel Banking Committee. Geoffrey Bell was Chairman of Guinness Mahon Holdings, one of London’s oldest merchant banks, from October 1987 to April 1993 and negotiated its sale to the Bank of Yokohama in 1989.
Born in Grimsby in 1939 and educated at the London School of Economics, he joined H.M. Treasury after graduation. In 1963 he was a Visiting Scholar with the Federal Reserve System mainly based at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.           
During 1964 and 1965 he lectured on monetary economics at the London School of economics.  Between 1966 and 1969 he was Economic Advisor to the British Embassy in Washington. 
In 1969 he joined one of London’s leading merchant banks, Schroders, as Assistant to the then Chairman, Gordon Richardson, who later became Governor of the Bank of England.  He became a director of the company as well as an Executive Vice President of J. Henry Schroder Bank in New York working on the international expansion of the group.
Geoffrey Bell formed his own company in 1982.  He was the Founder and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Consultative Group of International Economic and Monetary Affairs known as the Group of 30.  His book, “The Euro-Dollar Market and the International Financial System” has been translated into French and Japanese and he writes frequently in the International Herald Tribune and in other financial journals.  Geoffrey Bell was appointed a Governor of the London School of Economics in 1994.

Dr. Nikolaus von Bomhard was born in Gunzenhausen in 1956. He completed his law studies at the universities of Munich and Regensburg with a doctorate.

He joined the Munich Re graduate trainee program in 1985, and afterwards worked as an underwriter in the Operational Division: Fire/Treaty. In 1992 he was appointed Deputy Head of the Operational Division: Germany. In 1997 Mr. von Bomhard took on the task of building up and managing the Munich Re office in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2000 he was appointed to the Board of Management and from 2001 was responsible for the Europe 2/Latin America Division. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management with effect from 1 January 2004.

Mr. von Bomhard is responsible for Group Development, Group Investments, Group Communications, Group Audit, and Group Executive Affairs.

He is married with two children.

Born 1959, Austrian

1977 - 1981 Study of actuarial theory at the University of Technology, Vienna
1981 "Certified actuary" (with distinction)
1977 - 1982 Study of law at the University of Vienna
1982 "Doktor iuris"
1983 - 1993 Federal Ministry of Finance (Insurance Supervision), Vienna
1993 - 1994 EFTA, Economic Affairs Division (Financial Services), Brussels
1994 - 2002 Federal Ministry of Finance (Insurance Supervision), Vienna
Head of the division for financial supervision (1994 - 2002)
Head of the Insurance Supervision (1999 - 2002)
2002 - Financial Market Authority, Vienna
Director, Insurance and Pension Supervision

• Representative of the FMA to CEIOPS
• Chairman of the CEIOPS Task Force on the Revision of the Siena Protocol
• Member of the IAIS Executive Committee, Technical Committee and Implementation Committee
• Chairman of the IAIS Insurance Laws, Regulations, Practices and Standards Subommittee (1996 – 2007)
• Certified actuary (Austrian Actuarial Association)
• University teacher for insurance supervisory law at the University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna and the University of Salzburg
• Editor of a journal on Financial Market Law
• Several publications in German and English

Ashraf Bseisu is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Solidarity Group.  He is also the President of the General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF) and Chairman of the Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA).

Mr. Bseisu has over 20 years of experience in the insurance and financial services sector, where he held several Executive positions like the Director of Strategic Planning, Chief Executive and Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, He also worked for major insurance/reinsurance companies such as Arab Insurance Group (ARIG), and Trust International Insurance Company.

Mr. Bseisu is a member of the board of several companies, financial institutions, and professional bodies.  He is the Deputy Chairman of the Arab War Risk Insurance Syndicate (AWRIS); Member of the Executive Council, GCC Coordination Commission for Insurance & Reinsurance Companies; Member of the Board of Trustees of the Human Resources Development Fund of Bahrain; Chairman of Solidarity Takaful S.A., Luxembourg.; Deputy Chairman of First Insurance Company, Jordan; Member of the Board of Directors of MAA Takaful Berhad, Malaysia.

Mr. Bseisu is a holder of a Master’s degree from the "London School of Economics”, United Kingdom, and a Bachelors degree from “Southern Methodist University” in the United States of America.

Brian Duperreault, age 61, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

Mr. Duperreault is a 30-year insurance industry veteran who has served at the top of his profession in numerous leadership roles, including 10 years as chief executive officer of ACE Limited and a member of the company’s Board of Directors from 1994 until 2007.
 
He served as executive Chairman of ACE until June 2006, when he retired as an employee and became non-executive Chairman. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ACE from November 1999 through May 2004 and as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer from October 1994 through November 1999.

Prior to joining ACE, Mr. Duperreault had been employed with American International Group, AIG, since 1973, and served in various senior executive positions with AIG and its affiliates from 1978 until September 1994, including as Executive Vice President, Foreign General Insurance and, concurrently, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American International Underwriters Inc., AIU, from April 1994 to September 1994. Mr. Duperreault was President of AIU from 1991 to April 1994, and Chief Executive Officer of AIG affiliates in Japan and Korea from 1989 until 1991.

Mr. Duperreault serves as a member of the board of directors of Tyco International Ltd. and the Insurance Information Institute.  He also serves on the boards of the Centre on Philanthropy, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and the International Insurance Society in the role Chairman.   He is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the School of Risk Management of St. John's University. 

Mr. Duperreault holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Saint Joseph’s University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dominic Frederico is President and Chief Executive Officer of Assured Guaranty Ltd., a position he has held since December 2003.  Before this appointment, Mr. Frederico was the Chairman of ACE Financial Services, and has supervised the operations of Assured Guaranty since its acquisition by ACE Limited in 1999.

Prior to his position at Assured Guaranty, Mr. Frederico was employed with ACE for nine years, progressing to increasingly senior positions, including: President & CEO, ACE Bermuda; Chairman, President & CEO, ACE INA Holdings and President & Chief Operating Officer, ACE Limited. In addition, Mr. Frederico was Vice Chairman of ACE Limited, and Chairman of ACE INA, ACE USA and ACE Financial Services. He oversaw the successful acquisition and integration of the domestic and international property casualty operations acquired by ACE from CIGNA Corporation in July 1999 and the acquisition of Capital Re Corp., the predecessor company to Assured Guaranty, in December 1999.

Prior to joining ACE, Mr. Frederico spent 13 years at various subsidiaries of the American International Group. Mr. Frederico holds an M.B.A. in Finance and a B.S. from Drexel University and a Certified Public Accountant’s designation in the State of Pennsylvania. In addition to his professional responsibilities, he is a Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Drexel University

Hans Peter Gerhardt was appointed CEO of the Paris Re Group following the acquisition of the reinsurance business of AXA Re from the AXA Group. Hans-Peter Gerhardt had joined the AXA Group in 2003 as C.E.O of AXA RE and in addition served as Chairman of AXA Liabilities Managers (run-off operations). From 1988 to 2003 he held both underwriting and management functions for the Cologne Re Group which merged into General Cologne Re where he finished as a member of the group Executive Committee and as C.E.O of various underwriting divisions. His career in reinsurance began in 1981 with Hannover Re, upon his return from the United States where he had worked in management administration for the Astronautics Corp. of America.

Mr. Giffin is a Principal in the Tillinghast insurance consulting business of Towers Perrin, the firm’s insurance management and actuarial consulting unit, and is located in New York.  He assists global, regional and local financial services clients in expanding and improving their operations.  He specializes in multinational insurance strategies and operations, P&C and life & pension lines, bancassurance and other integrated financial service strategies, ERM development, M&A transactions and integration, strategy implementation, regulatory issues and competitive market analysis.  Mr. Giffin is the Publisher of Tillinghast’s Emphasis magazine.

Prior to joining Towers Perrin in 1983, Mr. Giffin served as Consultant for the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), as Director of Management Services for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, as First Deputy Commissioner for the Massachusetts Division of Insurance and as Chief Counsel for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.  Work for HIID was to assist the Indonesian Ministry of Finance in the drafting of insurance laws and regulations and establishment of an insurance regulatory authority and processes.

Recent assignments include the following:

Assisted major U.S. life insurers in determining the potential for participation in foreign markets through global strategies; assisted U.S., U.K., Asian and Australian insurers in evaluating and executing entry and expansion strategies for Europe, Asia and Latin America, in P&C insurance, life insurance, private pensions and asset accumulation.

Assisted a major multinational insurance organization, a large U.S. life insurer, a foreign bank and a non-financial service provider in the formulation of integrated financial service strategies and business planning, linking insurance, banking, mortgage and related financial services through customer-centered, controlled delivery channel approachs, with emphasis on low cost delivery and low capital intensity.

Assisted a leading French multiline financial institution in evaluating entry opportunities in the U.S.  Assisted a leading U.S. mutual fund operator and a major HMO management company in the formation of a new life company; assisted a major U.S. health insurer in reorganizing its marketing and communications functions.

Assisted the court-appointed Trustees of a large Japanese insurer in the valuation of over $2.0 billion in P&C, health and life reinsurance claims for use in settling outstanding obligations as part of the reorganization of the company.

Assisted a major European reinsurer in developing a runoff plan for U.S. operations.

Hussain Hadi began his journalism career with the Informa Group in London, publishers of leading insurance titles such as Insurance Day and The Review. As the Coordinating Editor of the Insurance Law division he managed a number of titles including Insurance Law Monthly, Law of Insurance Contracts and Professional Negligence & Liability. He launched the online version of the Lloyd’s Law Reports: Insurance & Reinsurance and set up training courses on Reinsurance Practice and Law. He has overseen the publication of a number of books including Tackling Insurance Fraud and Insurance Disputes. He then moved to Oxford University Press where he managed a portfolio of commercial and international law titles. He is now based in Dubai as the Editor of POLICY magazine, a dedicated insurance

His Excellency Dr. Bassel Hindawi is the Director General of the Insurance Commission of Jordan. Since assuming this position in early 2000, he managed the implementation of a multi-year action plan aimed at modernizing the regulatory framework in accordance with international best practices and enhancing the efficiency of the insurance sector. This positioned the Insurance Commission of Jordan to be recognized as a model regulatory authority in the region.

Dr. Hindawi also led the initiative to establish the Arab Forum of Insurance Regulatory Commissions (AFIRC) in late 2006, as a regional driving force for insurance regulation by promoting collaboration, transparency and adoption of international standards, in order to ensure the creation of a well-governed, well-regulated and well-supervised regional insurance and reinsurance industry.

In his capacity as President of the International Association of Insurance Fraud Agencies (IAIFA), Dr. Hindawi spearheaded the restructuring of the Association in order to give it a global dimension in combating insurance fraud and maximize the level of integrity throughout the insurance industry.

Prior to leading the Insurance Commission of Jordan, Dr. Hindawi previously worked as an advisor to the Minister of Industry & Trade on Jordan’s accession to the World Trade Organization, and at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, in addition to being a lecturer at the George Washington University.

Some of His Excellency's professional activities and associations have been as follows:

Wasef Jabsheh, founder and the Chief Executive Officer of International General Insurance Company Ltd (“IGI”), is a well known figure within the Middle Eastern (Re)insurance community with over 40 years industry experience.

Wasef commenced his insurance career in 1967, following the completion of his degree at the American University in Cairo, with Kuwait Insurance Company before moving on to manage the company’s branch in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In 1973, Wasef joined Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC) as Deputy General Manager and was promoted to General Manager 3 years later. Wasef remained with ADNIC for over 15 years and is widely acknowledged as the pioneer for the underwriting of offshore energy business in the region.

Upon leaving ADNIC, Wasef returned to Jordan where he established Middle Eastern Insurance Brokers, specialising in marine and energy broking and later International Marine and General Insurance Company Ltd. Both Companies were acquired by Houston Casualty Company (HCC) in 1994 with Wasef being appointed to the board of Directors until his resignation in 1997.

In 2002, Wasef established International General Insurance Company Ltd. (IGI).
IGI is an international (re)insurance company that specialises in underwriting energy, marine, engineering, commercial/industrial property, financial institutions and non-proportional reinsurance treaty business.

The Company commenced operations in March 2002 and has evolved into a major participant within its specialised classes of (re)insurance. In 2005, IGI raised an additional US$ 75 million of capital through a private placement and current capital and surplus stands in excess of US$ 150 million.

During 2006, IGI established a Holding Company, International General Insurance Holdings Limited (“IGIH”), within the Dubai International Financial Centre (the “DIFC”) and affected a share swap from IGI Amman to the new entity. IGIH transferred the underwriting company from Amman to Bermuda.  However, the underwriting function continues to be undertaken from the Company’s operational centre in Amman.

IGI have a subsidiary Company in Labuan (Offshore Malaysia) which is regulated by the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority.  The intent of this operation is to access business from the Malaysian first tier reinsurance market. To compliment this operation, IGI have set up a marketing office in Kuala Lumpur.  In 2008, IGI set up a marketing Office in the DIFC in order to enhance production from regional markets.

IGI is currently in the process of establishing a subsidiary company in London, United Kingdom. This will provide the Company with a wider access to European markets.

IGIH acquired a majority shareholding in S.R. Bishop Underwriting Ltd and S.R. Bishop Underwriting (Bermuda) Ltd (SRB), a marine underwriting agency. They will underwrite marine business on behalf of IGI London once licensing is obtained.  SRB is one of the principle leaders of marine business in the London market, leading approximately 50% of their risk portfolio.

IGI is recognised by the international insurance community as being a lead underwriter within its principle classes of business attracting strong support from international markets.

Datuk Noripah Kamso is the Chief Executive of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd. She was previously Chief Executive of CIMB-Principal Asset Management Berhad from September 2004 to October 2008, after bringing more than 23 years experience in corporate credit and lending: 10 years via a Commercial Bank outfit, and 12 years via Investment Banking outfit. She has managed a Derivatives Broking Outfit via CIMB Futures Sdn Bhd for 9 years.

Deemed a two-time winner of the “Marketing Personality of the Year” award (for 2006 & 2005) by Asia Asset Management for the Asia Pacific region and CEO of The Year for Malaysia (2007), Datuk Noripah has successfully overseen CIMB-Principal’s further expansion into new markets and institutional mandates.

She currently serves as Council Member of the Federation of Malaysian Unit Trust Managers (FMUTM) and as Deputy Chairman of FMUTM's Education Committee. Besides being a Past President of the Malaysian Futures Brokers Association (MFBA), Datuk Noripah also authored the book “Credit Decision Making: The Qualitative Credit Approach”, which was used by Institut Bank Bank Malaysia (IBBM) as a module for its Certified Credit Professional (CCP) exam.

She graduated from Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, USA and obtained her MBA from Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, USA.

Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim is the Secretary-General of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), a post he has held since the IFSB started to operate in 2003. Prior to his current post, he was the Secretary-General of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions. He is a member of the Consultative Advisory Group of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, now serving his second three-year term, and the International Liaison Group, Basel Committee for Banking Supervision. He previously served as a member of the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board, for two consecutive terms, ending November 2008.

Professor Rifaat is a Visiting Professor at the ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK, and is a Member of the Governing Council of International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance, Malaysia. He is the co-author of Islamic Finance: Growth and Innovation, Islamic Finance: The Regulatory Challenge and Business and Accounting Ethics in Islam. He is the first recipient of the Euromoney Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Islamic Finance Award, and other distinguished awards.

1986 - Joined AIG Data Center  
1995 - AIG Companies, North American East Coast Regional Non-life Insurance Sales Division
1997 - AIG Sigorta A.S. (Turkey) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director
2001 - 2004 - AIG General (South Korea) President
2004 - present - President and CEO of Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Ltd

Michael has been an insurance journalist for seven years. He joined Reactions, the global insurance and reinsurance magazine, as a graduate trainee in 2002, working in its London office. He was made a staff writer six months later.
In 2005, Michael was promoted to US Editor of Reactions, and moved to New York.
He was promoted to Editor of Reactions in March 2007 and still works in Reactions’ New York office.
Before joining Reactions, Michael studied Economics and Politics at the University of Manchester from 1997 to 2000. He took a year out after university to travel around India and south-east Asia. He is a British citizen and grew up in Bedfordshire, England.

Sherry Manetta is the Director of Consulting Services at Conning & Company. Conning is a leading insurance industry specialist dedicated to providing asset management, insurance research and strategic consulting to insurance companies. Utilizing proprietary tools and modeling techniques, Conning’s consulting specialists provide insurers with customized investment strategy, enterprise risk management, capital management and business planning services.

Ms. Manetta has over 25 years of experience providing critical business solutions for insurers. Prior to joining Conning in 2007, Ms. Manetta was a senior strategy and business transformation consultant to global insurance and financial services companies. She has held senior management positions in the insurance industry, including Chief Information Officer of The Phoenix Companies, CFO and head of planning for Aetna’s health business, and CFO, head of planning and operations of Aetna’s large case pension business. She was also CEO and CFO of a specialty managed care company and an Audit and Consulting Partner with Ernst & Young.

Ms. Manetta is a member of the board of directors of several social service and educational organizations. She is a graduate of Misericordia University with a degree in Mathematics and earned an MBA from Indiana University.

Alison was appointed Managing Director for the Global Life & Health Risk Transformation team at Swiss Re in August 2006 to determine appropriate transformation mechanisms for the life and health business of Swiss Re and to support active capital and risk management, including the transfer of risk to the capital markets through securitisation and other techniques.  Previously Alison was the Chief Financial Officer for Swiss Re Life & Health Limited and she joined Swiss Re in 2003 as the Finance Director for the Global Life & Health Business Group.  Alison started her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she focused on the insurance industry, working in an audit and advisory capacity, and on M&A transactions.

Alison holds an LLB Hons in law from the University of Birmingham and is a qualified ACA

Arif Naqvi, 48, is Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Capital, based in Dubai. Abraaj Capital is the largest private equity firm in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) with capital of more than US$ 1 billion and manages five funds totaling an additional US$ 7.5 billion. Abraaj Capital has been associated with the most notable transactions in the region, and has won numerous accolades and awards, including MENA region PE Firm of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2007, it was voted one of the 50 most admired companies in the Gulf. Mr. Naqvi is a member of the Young Presidents Organization, where he was the Emirates Chapter Chairman from 2002 to 2003. He was designated a New Asian Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) from 2003 to 2004. He is a member of numerous think-tanks and policy groups, such as the WEF Arab Business Council, and is a Board Member of the Pakistan Human Development Fund, the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation & Achievement in Jordan and the Dubai Government Education Endowment Fund in the UAE . He is also a member of the EMPEA Advisory Council and the IMD Foundation Board. Mr. Naqvi was recognized as one of the 50-most influential people in the private equity industry by Private Equity International (PEI) magazine in June 2007, and, in June 2008, one of the 50 people who will change the course of private equity. In 2006, he was awarded the highest civilian honour in Pakistan, the Sitari-e-Imtiaz, by the republic’s president. Mr. Naqvi was educated at the London School of Economics and previously worked with Arthur Andersen & Co, American Express Bank, Saudi Arabia’s Olayan Group and The Cupola Group, which he founded in 1994.  Married with two children, Mr. Naqvi started Abraaj Capital in 2002.

Britt Newhouse is Chairman of Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC and a member of the Executive Committee.

From 2001 until his appointment to Chairman in 2008, Britt served as the President and CEO of the firm’s Americas operations, where he was responsible for all broking business in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Britt also held the position of Eastern Region Manager and served as the New York Branch Manager.

He currently serves on both the Education Committee and on the Board of Overseers for St. John’s University, School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science. He is also a member of the Brokers and Reinsurance Markets Association (BRMA) board of directors.

Gail P. Norstrom is the President and CEO of Gulf Reinsurance Limited, Dubai, UAE.  Gulf Re is a specialist reinsurer founded in May 2008 in the Dubai International Financial Centre and is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The company writes all lines of non-life treaty reinsurance (except medical) and offers facultative reinsurance for energy, construction and other large property risks for insurance companies in the six Gulf Cooperation Council  (GCC) states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates(UAE). The shareholders of Gulf Re are (equally) Gulf Investment Corporation (Kuwait), the investment arm of the GCC, and Arch Capital (Bermuda).

Prior to joining Gulf Re in February of 2008, Mr. Norstrom spent six years as a Managing Director, in Aon’s National Property Broking Group in New York.  This Group has the responsibility for property insurance products, risk management services as well as client property insurance program placement. In that role, Mr. Norstrom assisted Aon clients in developing property risk assessment, mitigation and risk retention / transfer strategies and served as the lead broker for several global insurance placements. He was also a member of the team coordinating Aon’s Terrorism Risk Management activities, acted as strategic advisor to Aon Property Risk Control organizations and oversaw Aon’s Property Benchmarking activities.

Prior to joining Aon, Mr. Norstrom spent thirty plus years in the property insurance business, all with Industrial Risk Insurers (IRI), Hartford CT.  He retired in June of 2001 after eight years as President and CEO. As CEO he had overall responsibility for the property insurance and risk management services organization and led the organization through its evolution from an Industry Association to becoming a key component in GE Capital’s insurance business (now part of Swiss Re). During his career at IRI, he has had responsibility for property insurance underwriting, loss control engineering, claims, marketing, as well as its reinsurance programs.

Stephen Packard is a Director in Deloitte Consulting’s Insurance Strategy & Operations practice, based in Hartford, Connecticut.  He has more than 25 years of experience assisting insurance companies deal with some of their most complex business issues, including:  strategy formulation and execution; shareholder value analysis; competitive benchmarking; product development; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; business turn-arounds; and technology strategy and implementation. 

Prior to joining Deloitte, Stephen served in a variety of senior executive positions at Aetna, Travelers, and The Hartford Insurance Group.  He was formerly a partner in Accenture’s global insurance practice and has also practiced law. Over the years, he has had experience in numerous business transformation projects involving underwriting, claims, marketing, front and back office cost reduction, business process redesign, and agency management. 
Stephen has written and spoken on numerous insurance topics at various U.S. and international industry forums.  

Stephen earned a JD (magna cum laude) from New York Law School, and a BS from Fairfield University.  He resides in Guilford, CT with his wife, Eileen, and their four children.

Andrew Rear is the head of Oliver Wyman’s insurance consulting business in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. Andrew is a regular commentator and speaker on the life and non-life insurance industry.

Since joining Oliver Wyman in 2000, Andrew has driven the development of our intellectual capital in a range of strategic themes across both life and general insurance, with a particular focus on understanding how leading players establish and sustain competitive advantage, and helping insurers to find the right strategic responses at group- and business unit-level as markets develop.

Andrew has authored a number of major publications including the firm’s research into The Future Regulation of UK Savings and Investments, commissioned by the Association of British Insurers in 2001 and its follow-up in 2002. In 2004 he authored the major study into the future of the global life insurance industry, Going on the Offensive: the $1,600 Billion Prize, and most recently in 2006 he wrote The New Federalism, charting the changing relationship between Group and Business Units across the major global insurers.

Before joining Oliver Wyman, Andrew worked in the UK life industry in a several roles covering marketing, strategy, and finance.

Andrew graduated from Cambridge University in Mathematics and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries. He has been involved in a number of professional and industry groups, across a range of topics.

Roger Sellek is Managing Director – Global Financial Services at A.M.
Best Company.

Based in London, Roger is responsible both for the strategic
management of A.M. Best’s existing corporate relationships and developing new relationships with key constituents in the insurance and broader financial services sectors in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, the Middle East, and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He also provides input on rating criteria, working closely with A.M. Best’s senior analytical staff in the United States, London and Hong Kong.

Prior to joining A.M. Best, Roger was Commercial Director for Lloyd’s
of London for six years, responsible for the market’s strategic business
relationships with its investor base, brokers, the rating agencies and the
financial analyst community. Shortly after joining Lloyd’s in 1996, Roger was appointed Head of Commercial Policy and subsequently became Managing Director of Lloyd’s Market Risk Unit, where he directed the development and application of the market’s risk-based-capital system. He had earlier worked as a consultant to the Equitas Project, assuming management responsibility for the analysis of all non-APH liabilities.

In addition to 15 years of extensive experience and achievement in the
insurance and reinsurance sectors, Roger has a long academic background, graduating with a BSc in mathematical physics from the University of Exeter in 1978 and with a PhD three years later. Roger also holds an MBA in strategic management from Imperial College. Between 1981 and 1992, Roger carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge and worked in a number of academic positions in the United Kingdom and overseas, including as a lecturer in applied mathematics at the University of Sydney. During this period, he also spent 18 months as the National Squash Coach for Thailand

Donald A. Stewart is Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life Financial Inc.

A native of Scotland, Mr. Stewart joined the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada in London, England in 1969. He emigrated to Montreal in 1972.

In 1974, Mr. Stewart left the Company to pursue a career in benefits consulting in Toronto. He returned in 1980 to lead the Canadian Group Retirement Services Division. From 1987 to 1992, Mr. Stewart held overall responsibility for Information Technology. He was appointed head of Sun Life Trust Company in September 1992. In 1996 he was appointed President & Chief Operating Officer, and in 1998 Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Stewart is a director of the American Council of Life Insurers, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, and international aluminum products company Novelis Inc.

Born in 1946, Mr. Stewart holds a degree in Natural Philosophy from the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1968 with first class honours.

A lawyer by training, Mr. Subramaniam served as a Singapore diplomat for 10 years when he also worked at the United Nations in New York and in Geneva and has served as a member of Dispute Settlement Panel in an international trade dispute between the EU and US on Government Procurement in the GATT, the former WTO.

Riding on the success of "Asia Insurance Review" which he launched in 1991 as the premier professional regional insurance magazine serving the information needs of insurance practitioners in Asia, he moved to launch Middle East Insurance Review incorporating Global Takaful in September 2006 to do the same for the Middle East and North African (Mena) region.

As Editor-in-Chief of Asia Insurance Review, he has also organized more than 120 technical insurance conferences and spoken at several of them as well. He is PR Consultant to the Asean Insurance Council and Resident Moderator of the celebrated Asia Insurance Industry Awards to salute excellence in the insurance industry for the past 12 years. 

As President and Chief Executive Officer of PartnerRe Ltd., Patrick Thiele is responsible for the strategic direction and management of the Company. He is also a Director of PartnerRe.

Under his leadership since 2000, PartnerRe has successfully transitioned from a Cat-only reinsurer to a well-diversified, global reinsurance company. With 13 office locations worldwide offering reinsurance coverage for property and casualty, catastrophe, specialty lines, life, and alternative risk products, PartnerRe’s total assets currently exceed $17 billion, total capital is greater than $5 billion, and for the year ended December 31, 2007, revenues were $4.2 billion.

PartnerRe aims to provide highly-valued products to its clients, deliver appropriate returns to shareholders, and ensure a satisfying work experience for its employees. To support this vision, PartnerRe has a culture of thoughtful and disciplined risk-assumption within pre-determined return goals. This is the foundation of PartnerRe’s success.

Prior to joining PartnerRe, Patrick was Group Director of Development of CGNU (formerly CGU), and Chief Executive Officer and President of St. Paul Companies worldwide insurance operations.

Patrick holds both a B.S. in Finance and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as well as the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He currently serves on the board of the School of Risk Management and Actuarial Science, New York, and is associated with the University of Wisconsin’s Graduate School of Business

Prem Watsa is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a financial services holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property, casualty and life insurance, reinsurance, investment management and insurance claim management.

In 1985 Prem took control of Markel Financial which was controlled by the Virginia based Markel family. In 1987 he then re‐organized and renamed it Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. He has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since its inception. He is also Vice President of Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel, Chairman of Odyssey Re and Chairman of the Board, Northbridge Financial Corporation, both being publicly listed subsidiaries of Fairfax.

Since 1985, Fairfax has compounded book value by over 25%. Fairfax has total assets of approximately US$28 billion, revenues in excess of US$7.4 billion and common shareholders’ equity of approximately US$4.6 billion. The company is listed on both the Toronto and New York Stock Exchange.

Prem Watsa’s professional career began in 1974 when he joined Confederation Life Insurance Company in Toronto; he went from being a Research Analyst to become a Vice President of Confederation Life’s Investment Counsel. He then joined GW Asset Management where he was a Vice President. He later opened his own asset management company, Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. (now fully owned by Fairfax).

He holds a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India and obtained his MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children, Director of ICICI Bank, member of the Advisory Board for the Richard Ivey School of Business, member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Ontario Museum Foundation and Chairman of the Investment Committee of St. Paul’s Anglican Church.

Dr. James J. Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. Through voter registration, education and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans into the political mainstream.
For the past three decades, Dr. Zogby has been involved in a full range of Arab American issues. A co-founder and chairman of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the late 1970s, he later co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In 1982, he co-founded Save Lebanon, Inc., a private non-profit, humanitarian and non-sectarian relief organization which funds health care for Palestinian and Lebanese victims of war, and other social welfare projects in Lebanon. In 1985, Zogby founded AAI.
In 1993, following the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord in Washington, he was asked by Vice President Al Gore to lead Builders for Peace, a private sector committee to promote U.S. business investment in the West Bank and Gaza. In his capacity as co-president of Builders, Zogby frequently traveled to the Middle East with delegations led by Vice President Gore and late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. In 1994, with former U.S. Congressman Mel Levine, his colleague as co-president of Builders, Zogby led a U.S. delegation to the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Cairo. Zogby also chaired a forum on the Palestinian economy at the Casablanca Economic Summit in 1994. After 1994, through Builders, Zogby worked with a number of US agencies to promote and support Palestinian economic development, including AID, OPIC, USTDA, and the Departments of State and Commerce.
Dr. Zogby has also been personally active in U.S. politics for many years; in 1984 and 1988 he served as Deputy Campaign manager and Senior Advisor to the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign. Most recently, in 1995 DNC Chairman Don Fowler appointed Zogby as co-convener of the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee (NDECC), an umbrella organization of Democratic Party leaders of European and Mediterranean descent. In 1999 and 2001 he was reelected to that post. Also in 2001, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and in 2006 was also named Co-Chair of the DNC’s Resolutions Committee.
A lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations, and the history of the Arab American community, Dr. Zogby appears frequently on television and radio. He has appeared as a regular guest on all the major network news programs. After hosting the popular “A Capital View” on the Arab Network of America from 1993-2001. From 2001 until now he hosts the award winning “Viewpoint with James Zogby” on Abu Dhabi Television, LinkTV, Dish Network, and DirecTV.
Since 1992, Dr. Zogby has also written a weekly column on U.S. politics for the major newspapers of the Arab world. The column, “Washington Watch,” is currently published in 14 Arab and South Asian countries. He has authored a number of books including two publications, “What Ethnic Americans Really Think” and “What Arabs Think: Values, Beliefs and Concerns.”
Dr. Zogby has testified before U.S. House and Senate committees, has been guest speaker on a number of occasions in the Secretary’s Open Forum at the U.S. Department of State, and has addressed the United Nations and other international forums.
Dr. Zogby is also active professionally beyond his involvement with the Arab American community. He currently serves on the national advisory board of the American Civil Liberties Union, The Human Rights Watch Board of Directors for the Middle East and North Africa and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Additionally, he is a Senior Advisor for the polling firm Zogby International, where he is responsible for the firm’s groundbreaking polling across the Middle East.
In 1975, Dr. Zogby received his doctorate from Temple University’s Department of Religion, where he studied under the Islamic scholar Dr. Ismail al-Faruqi. He was a National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellow at Princeton University in 1976, and on several occasions was awarded grants for research and writing by the Knight Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Defense Education Act, and the Mellon Foundation. Dr. Zogby received a Bachelor of Arts from Le Moyne College. In 1995, Le Moyne awarded Zogby an honorary doctoral of laws degree, and in 1997 named him the college’s outstanding alumnus. In 2007 Temple University’s College of Liberal Arts named him its Distinguished Alum.