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The leaders of Victor bring perspective, specialization and experience to the business of running a global enterprise focused on one thing - the success of its partners and clients. As seasoned industry experts in underwriting, portfolio management, technology, finance and claims management, we create long-lasting relationships to bring clients and partners the latest in insurance innovation backed by a long history of producing results.

Brian Hanuschak

Chief Executive Officer, Victor

Alexander Arias

Country Manager, Victor Germany

Michael Ashkar

Principal Legal Support, Victor

Mark Bates

Chief Operating Officer, Victor

Matteo Bonfà

Country Manager, Victor Insurance Italy

Tim Carter

Chief Underwriting Officer, Victor
Interim International Leader

Ashleigh Cashman

Interim Leader and Chief Underwriting Officer, ICAT

Kristen Coffel

Global Head of Marketing, Victor

David Cook

President, Victor Canada

Mike Ferber

Head of Victor Small Business

Carie Ferdani

Chief Operating Officer, Victor US & ICAT

Jill Frances

Chief Underwriting & Operations Officer, Victor International
Active Underwriter, Victor Syndicate 2288

Brian McDermott

Chief Information Officer, Victor

Tara McGuire

Senior Human Resources Business Partner, Victor

John Stephenson

Country Manager, Victor Insurance UK

Fred Willemze

Country Leader and Managing Director, Victor Insurance Netherlands
Strategic Partnerships Director, Victor International

Alexander Arias

Country Manager, Victor Germany

Responsible for developing the vision and strategic direction for Victor's business in Germany.

Alexander joined Victor in April 2019, following a successful career at ERGO Insurance Group, where he spent 13 years in a number of leadership roles including Head of Cyber Insurance, Head of D&O and Professional Liability, as well as Head of Financial Controlling at ERGO Hellas, in Greece. Earlier in his career, he also held finance roles at Bayer Cropscience, in the US, and Siemens, in Munich.

Alex was instrumental in the establishment of the whole product development and underwriting unit for Victor Germany, including the product and underwriting strategy. He brings over 15 years of insurance industry experience.

Alex studied Business Administration with a diploma from the University in St. Augustin, Germany.

Michael Ashkar

Principal Legal Support, Victor

Michael Ashkar is responsible for providing principal legal support to Victor. He leads a team of in-house attorneys to support key corporate strategies. In addition, Mike coordinates with compliance colleagues to seamlessly integrate legal and compliance mandates within the business practices.

He previously served as the Assistant General Counsel at Oliver, Wyman & Company. Before that, he was a corporate associate at Brown & Wood and Morrison & Foerster. In his more than 15 years of combined law firm and in-house experience, Mike has successfully presided over a variety of legal matters, including initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital debt and equity financings, and SEC filings. He has previously advised on corporate governance, risk management and intellectual property protection.

Mike holds BA, MBA and JD degrees from Boston University, and is a member of the New York, New Jersey, and California State Bars.

Mark Bates

Chief Operating Officer, Victor

Mark Bates is the Chief Operating Officer for Victor. He ensures operational consistency and efficiency across the organization, globally.

Prior to his role at Victor, Mark held several senior leadership positions at Marsh, including Chief Operating Officer for Marsh Private Client Services; Chief of Staff to the CEO of Insurance Services Businesses; Chief Marketing Officer for US Commercial Brokerage Business; National Head of Client & Market Insights; and National Head of Pricing of Services.

He was previously a Partner at Oliver Wyman, where he sold and led strategy consulting engagements with Fortune 500 companies to develop and execute growth and go-to-market strategies. Before that, he worked at CarnaudMetalbox, Europe's largest food-packaging manufacturer, where he led the company's transformation to lean production in the firm's UK and German operations.

He holds an MS in Engineering from Cambridge University.

Matteo Bonfà

Country Manager, Victor Insurance Italy

Matteo Bonfà is Country Manager of Victor Insurance Italy. Leading the Italian team, he is responsible for defining and implementing Victor's vision and strategic direction, to drive Victor's growth and development in the country.

Matteo has over twenty years of experience in the insurance industry, including CEO and CUO roles at Underwriting Solutions Srl and Gefass Srl, two MGAs within the AON group. Prior to this, Matteo contributed to the growth of QBE insurance in Italy, specializing in the field of medical malpractice in the public and private health care, as Underwriting Manager, General Liability and Pharma. Earlier in his career, he worked with several brokerage companies, working closely with Lloyd's of London.

Matteo Bonfà holds a degree in Business Economics from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Tim Carter

Chief Underwriting Officer, Victor
Interim International Leader

Tim Carter is Victor's Global Chief Underwriting Officer and Interim Leader of our international businesses. He is responsible for driving the sophistication and consistency of Victor's underwriting capabilities globally and developing our underwriting talent. In addition, Tim is responsible for Victor's international businesses in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Australia on an interim basis.

Tim joined Victor in March 2022 as Head of Global Actuarial and Portfolio Management, and brings over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry both globally and in the US. Prior to joining Victor, he held Chief Underwriting Officer positions at Zurich, AIG, and Argo Group.

Tim holds a BSc. in Mathematics from the University of Nottingham in the UK and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Ashleigh Cashman

Interim Leader and Chief Underwriting Officer, ICAT

As Interim Leader, Ms. Cashman is responsible for leading ICAT and its subsidiary, Boulder Claims. She is also the MGA’s Chief Underwriting Officer, responsible for the underwriting results of ICAT’s three business units: Middle Market, Small Commercial, and Residential. In this role, she is actively involved in developing and managing underwriting capacity for ICAT Managers.

Ashleigh Cashman has two decades of experience in the insurance industry. Prior to her current role, she was a Senior Vice President and served in various capacities in the Underwriting department, including four years as a Product Analyst/Manager. Before joining ICAT, Ashleigh was a securities analyst for a portfolio management company where her responsibilities included creating and monitoring equity portfolios and analyzing potential investment opportunities.

Ashleigh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with a major in financial management from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.

David Cook

President, Victor Canada

David Cook is President of Victor Canada and is responsible for developing the vision and strategic direction of the company.

Dave joined Victor Canada, formerly ENCON, as an actuary in 1992 and has gained extensive industry knowledge in his more than 25 years with the company. He was appointed Vice President and Chief Actuary for Victor Canada's Underwriting Management division in 2002, with responsibility for aggregate loss reserving and product pricing. In 2007, he was appointed Senior Vice President, responsible for the underwriting review of large accounts and the provision of application handling and policy issuance services to brokers. In 2009, Dave was promoted to the position of Chief Underwriting Officer, and in 2016, he was appointed Managing Director.

Dave holds a BS in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and has been an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS) since 1996.

Brian Hanuschak

Chief Executive Officer, Victor

Brian Hanuschak is Chief Executive Officer of Victor, responsible for leading operations for all of Victor's businesses in the US, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Australia.

Prior to this role Brian was President of Victor North America after leading Victor US, formerly Victor O. Schinnerer & Co. and the founding company of Victor. Additionally, he has held senior management positions in subsidiaries of Travelers, GE Capital and Berkshire Hathaway. Prior to joining Victor US, Brian was Managing Director at Guy Carpenter, responsible for developing Guy Carpenter's Program and Alternative Risk Initiatives in addition to individual treaty relationships.

He graduated from the University of Rhode Island and holds the ARM designation.

Jill Frances

Chief Underwriting & Operations Officer, Victor International
Active Underwriter, Victor Syndicate 2288

Jill Frances is Chief Underwriting & Operations Officer, Victor International, and Active Underwriter for Victor Syndicate 2288. Jill is responsible for setting underwriting direction and standards within Victor International, new product development and carrier relationships.

Previously, Jill was Managing Director, Professional Liability Leader at Victor US, responsible for leading the underwriting, risk management and claim teams for the Architects & Engineers and Real Estate flagship programs. In the span of her career, Jill held leadership positions in Underwriting, Product Development and Sales at Sentry, CNA, Hartford and Aon. As a producer and placement resource at Aon, Jill's reputation and subject matter expertise in Cyber and IT Network Security Risk Management earned her the opportunity to serve on The White House Task Force under President George W. Bush on The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace (February, 2003).

Jill holds a BS in Business Management from Western Governors University and earned her MA from Gonzaga University in Organizational Leadership. She holds the designation of Associate in Risk Management (ARM).

Brian McDermott

Chief Information Officer, Victor

Brian McDermott is Chief Information Officer for Victor. He is responsible for all aspects of technology, including formulating the overall strategic vision, leading all aspects of application development, infrastructure, quality assurance, maintenance and end-user support.

Brian has more than 27 years of technology leadership experience in retail, insurance, finance and government organizations. In his role, he oversees the implementation of digital portal strategies, and automated solutions to align with business strategy and growth. In addition, he collaborates with the executive team to make decisions around product strategy, concept and architecture, as well as driving IT delivery to adhere to government, industry, and organization compliance and security standards.

He holds an MSC in Business Information Technology from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, an ITIL Foundation Certificate in Service Management and APM Group certification in Managing Successful Programmes.

Kristen Coffel

Global Head of Marketing, Victor

Kristen Coffel is the Global Head of Marketing for Victor. She sets the marketing and customer experience strategies across Victor to drive customer engagement by providing innovative end-to-end insurance solutions.

Kristen has over 20 years of marketing, sales and management experience. Prior to her role at Victor, Kristen was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for ICAT, the property catastrophe underwriting organization within Victor, where she delivered sales, marketing and user experience strategies for ICAT's commercial and residential property catastrophe products. Previously, she worked as a Branch Manager for a financial management organization where she led underwriting and service teams to achieve sales objectives and grew the member base through business development initiatives. Kristen has also served in training, development and human resource roles, and is a certified Myers Briggs facilitator.

She holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Colorado at Denver and a BS in Psychology from Virginia Tech.

Fred Willemze

Country Leader and Managing Director, Victor Insurance Netherlands
Strategic Partnerships Director, Victor International

Fred Willemze is responsible for overseeing the development of Victor's business in the Netherlands, including the European business development based on Freedom of Service, while expanding Victor International's business with multinational distribution partners, including large affinity partners, digital platforms, independent brokers and tied agents networks.

He has extensive experience in various positions in the insurance industry, including Head of Marketing & Sales at XL Catlin and Leader of Non-Life Business for Mid & Large Corporate at Avéro Achmea. Over the last years Fred was responsible for establishing the Victor entities in The Netherlands, Italy and Germany.

Fred holds an MBA from Business School Netherlands.

Mike Ferber

Head of Victor Small Business

Michael Ferber is Head of Victor’s Small Business division, responsible for overall strategy, service and product delivery.

Mike has over 25 years of technology, process-effectiveness and change management experience. Prior to joining Victor, Mike was the Chief Information Officer for ICAT, also a Victor company. As CIO for ICAT, his role was a business position with responsibilities in the areas of technology, digital and user experience strategies, as well as operational processes.

Prior to joining ICAT, Mike served as Senior Vice President of Change Management for Lehman Brothers Mortgage division in Denver. Prior to Lehman Brothers, he spent five years with GMAC leading operations and technology within their mortgage banking division. Early in his career, he spent seven years with Ernst & Young as well as technology start-up companies.

He holds a BS in Computer Information Systems from Indiana University.

Carie Ferdani

Chief Operating Officer, Victor US & ICAT

Carie Ferdani is Chief Operating Officer for Victor US and ICAT, responsible for leading the implementation of business and operational strategies at both businesses.

Carie has over twenty years of operational, change and project management experience. Prior to taking on her expanded role with Victor US, Carie was Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer at ICAT, managing IT, operations, and strategic initiatives. Earlier in her career, Carie served as a Program Manager within the Capital Markets group of GMAC-Rescap where she was recognized and rewarded for exceptional leadership and quality commitment.

Carie holds a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, from Creighton University and a Masters of Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She also holds her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute.

Tara McGuire

Senior Human Resources Business Partner, Victor

Tara McGuire is the strategic partner and advisor for human capital matters to the leadership team at various Victor operating companies. Her areas of responsibility include developing and executing human capital strategy and change initiatives, compensation, talent management process and employee relations.

Tara brings more than 20 years of Human Resources experience in talent acquisition, compensation/job evaluation, talent management programs, employee relations and HR systems to this position. She has an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Human Resources from the University of Ottawa.

She is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) and earned her Certified Human Resource Leader (CHRL) designation.