Gerard is an International Insurance Executive who has operated for the past 15 years at Board and Executive Management level with underwriting P&L responsibility and has more than 25 years of experience with international blue-chip insurance companies (i.e. UAP International, Axa Corporate Solutions, Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe) and private equity owned insurance companies (i.e. ANV Group), in both underwriting management and broader corporate development roles.
Gerard is acknowledged for an exceptional track record of profitable premium growth and the creation and delivery of underwriting transformation and turnaround plans, as well as building new businesses and launching new products across multiple channels of distribution, with experience of raising PE capital for business acquisitions.
Gerard hold a Business Economics degree from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and a Mathematics degree from the St Amandus Institute of Ghent, Belgium.
Gerard is fluent in Dutch, French and English.
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and has extensive insurance experience.
Prior to joining Alta Signa, David was Chief Executive Officer of SureStone Insurance Dac, having previously held the role of Chief Financial Officer.
David joined SureStone from FBD Insurance Plc, a listed Irish Insurer, where he worked for 12 years and held various senior finance roles, most recently as Group Head of Finance.
Prior to joining FBD, David was an audit manager with Deloitte in Dublin.
Adam spent 30 years in private practise as a barrister, solicitor and US attorney.
He practised law in London and New York for a global law firm and spent 10 years on the firm’s management committee. He then moved in-house, where he acted as General Counsel, Deputy Chairman and/or Claims Director for various insurance start-up businesses.
He has been Chair of the European Chapter of PLUS and International Vice President of the International Association of Defense Counsel.
Adam specialises in Lloyd’s, Company and MGA corporate governance and on helping to resolve complex commercial disputes.
Alex is an experienced insurance software and operations manager.
Prior to joining Alta Signa Alex held for 6 years the role of Head of Operations responsible of rolling out digital transformation projects that consist in adding new digital and MI capabilities to the architecture map in order to streamline business processes to underwriters and claims handlers.
Prior to that he was 16 years with Accenture in various roles amongst other Software Product Manager, and in various other project manager functions deploying insurance platforms into this industry.
Alex holds a Master in Finance from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, a Postgraduate in Digital Transformation from UPF Barcelona School of Management. He is fluent in Spanish, English and Catalan.
Prior to joining Alta Signa, Leanne spent 15 years working in Legal and Insurance industries.
Leanne started her career at Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP in London as a Legal Secretary and has also worked at Carter Perry Bailey LLP.
In 2011 she joined ANV as an Executive Assistant to support Senior Management.
Leanne currently provides administrative support to Alta Signa, with particular focus on Human Resources and Claims.
With more than a decade of insurance experience as both an Underwriting Director and Business Development Manager, based in various European countries, Dennis holds a deep understanding of the unique needs of the markets.
Before joining Alta Signa, Dennis was Underwriting Director – Professional Lines at ANV Global Services, from 2014 to 2019, based in Barcelona. Prior to this, from 2006 to 2014, Dennis held several roles at Liberty International Underwriters, these included being Financial Lines Manager for the CEE and CIS Region and Sales and Development Manager across all lines.
Dennis is a German qualified lawyer and holds a law degree from the University of Munich, Germany and has studied in Madrid, Spain. He has worked as a lawyer in Germany, Chile and South Africa.
Dennis is fluent in German, English, French and Spanish.
Ingo started his career at Houston Casualty Company Global in Barcelona as a Financial Lines Underwriter at the German, Austrian & Swiss and Eastern European Desk. His main responsibilities were the development of the Swiss and Eastern European markets for both commercial and financial institutions accounts.
His insurance product expertise includes all Financial Lines and Cyber for Financial Institutions. Ingo was also part of a specialist team responsible for cross-selling Transaction Risk Insurance, Contingency and K&R in the Northern and Eastern European markets.
Beside heading the Spanish branch, Ingo manages Alta Signa relations with Scandinavian and Eastern European brokers.
Ingo graduated from HEC Lausanne, Switzerland, in Economics (MSc) and further holds an LL.M. in Insurance law from University of Hamburg. He is fluent in French, Spanish, (Swiss-)German and English.
Francesco is an experienced insurance professional leading Alta Signa's Italian branch. His career to date has seen a strong focus on Marine underwriting and Francesco has deep insights into the trends and developments in this fast-moving sector.
Francesco's career spans two decades and leading roles in several leading Italian insurance companies. After fifteen years in UMS, Generali and SIAT in marine and aviation claims management positions, Francesco co-founded a new Marine MGA as part of Cattolica Group's Specialty Lines project. The MGA was set up in Genoa in 2018 and Francesco served from the offset as its CEO.
In just five years Francesco's MGA became a recognised and profitable player in the market with a team of 16 people. Following the acquisition of Cattolica by Generali, he opted for a fresh start and joined Alta Signa.
Over the years, Francesco has acquired solid claims handling, underwriting and management skills. He has comprehensive knowledge of the entire insurance industry, in all its technical and formal aspects. In addition, he has demonstrated an exceptional ability to lead cross-functional teams through periods of growth and change, to implement operational efficiencies, reduce operating costs and improve stakeholder satisfaction in the unit he leads.
Francesco holds a degree in Marine Economics from Genoa University, writing his master's dissertation in Marine insurance law. He is fluent in Italian and English.
Mark started his career as a management trainee at Aon in the company's Casualty Insurance department. In 1992 he moved to Marsh, the broker, where he worked for 20 years in various broking and management roles in the Casualty and Financial Lines arena.
As a manager at Marsh, Mark led a number of departmental practices including Casualty, Risk Management, FINPRO, Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions, and Financial Institutions.
In 2013 Mark joined Torus to manage and develop their Financial Lines and Professional Liability book of business. Soon after, he joined Navigators to set up a company office in Rotterdam and was responsible for the development and management of the Benelux Financial Lines, Professional liability and Casualty business lines.
Mark holds a University of Applied Sciences/Business School (HEAO/HES) degree and completed the in-house Marsh Accelerated Leadership Program.
He is fluent in Dutch, English and fully conversational in German.
Jérôme started his career in 1999 as a claims handler at Groupama and soon after participated to the launch of a small broking firm – ASSOR – specialized in car and home insurance.
Following his time at ASSOR, Jérôme worked for several leading insurance companies in France. He worked for AIG Europe as a professional indemnity underwriter for regulated and non-regulated professions, as well as for ACE Europe to develop the company's PI department.
In 2010 Jérôme joined Torus to open the company's French branch and led the Professional Indemnity and Financial Institutions department, where he worked with French, European and Middle Eastern brokers. In 2014, he joined Navigators to set up the company's Paris office and was responsible for PI/FI and Cyber departments and later also of the Management Liability.
Jérôme holds a degree in Insurance International Management. He is fluent in French, English and is conversational in Spanish.
Maximilian is a senior insurance manager with more than a decade of experience in Financial Lines Management and Distribution.
Having worked in several management roles at AIG in Germany, Max has managed multinational & cross-border teams across Continental Europe and the UK and gained strong Financial Lines underwriting know-how with a product focus on Directors & Officers and Financial Institutions. He has a proven track record in the growth, complex restructuring and turnaround of insurance portfolios and teams. Max' experience in working alongside large clients, combined with his in-depth knowledge of the German-speaking and Northern European insurance markets, makes him expertly placed to lead Alta Signa operations in these territories.
Max holds a Business & Economics degree from the University of Passau. He is fluent in English and German.
Mauro is Alta Signa's dedicated Cyber insurance resource. He co-leads the development of Alta Signa's Europe-wide Cyber strategy and is the Technical Head of all matters related to Cyber insurance.
Prior to joining Alta Signa and the insurance industry in general, Mauro worked as a cybersecurity specialist and analyst for various companies including CapGemini, HP Enterprise Services and UniCredit. In 2019 Mauro moved from active employment in cybersecurity to insurance, when he joined SATEC as Manager and Senior Underwriter for Cyber Insurance.
In his role at SATEC, Mauro developed a sizeable Cyber insurance portfolio which included Italian as well as Continental European risks. This broad knowledge of the European Cyber market, combined with his deep technical knowledge of information security, makes Mauro's profile a particularly strong one in the Cyber underwriting space.
Mauro holds a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Cagliari and is based in Milan. He is fluent in Italian and English.
Before joining Alta Signa, Sytse held a role as broker and underwriter at several established companies in the insurance market. Sytse started his career in the Financial Lines industry as broker at Aon in the Netherlands, specializing in financial institutions. Subsequently, he joined Marsh's FINPRO team as a broker before transitioning to the role of Senior Underwriter for financial institutions at AIG.
In his role as broker at Aon and Marsh, Sytse was responsible for tailoring Financial Lines insurance programs on behalf of large and mid-sized financial institutions and commercial companies. While in AIG, Sytse was responsible for risk analysis and portfolio management for the company's financial institutions lines. Sytse is experienced with a broad range of Financial Lines products like D&O, PI, EPLI, Crime and POSI.
Sytse holds a Master of Laws degree from Maastricht University. He is fluent in Dutch and English.
Marc has more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, specialized in all Financial Lines products including Cyber.
In 2003, he started his insurance career at AIG in Paris as a Financial Lines underwriter for Commercial companies. After having worked on both Major Accounts and Middle Market businesses, Marc joined the Axa Group as Team Manager and D&O Chief Underwriting Officer. There, he was also in charge of the technical training for nationwide teams. In 2012, he spent 6 years at Marsh as Commercial Lines Manager in the FINPRO Department.
Based in Brussels since 2018, Marc holds a Master’s Degree in Commercial Law and a Master’s Degree in Art History.
He is native in French and fluent in English.
Wolfgang began his career in the insurance industry as a working student with AIG’s Financial Lines Team in Vienna in 2012.
After the completion of his Master’s degree, Wolfgang joined AIG’s Financial Lines Hub in Munich. During his two years in Munich, Wolfgang covered the Austrian Non-FI market and was responsible for several German DAX companies. His product expertise ended up including D&O, Legal Expense, Crime, EPLI, POSI and PTL.
Prior to joining Alta Signa, Wolfgang was a member of Bank Gutmann’s private markets investment team. He is now part of the German-speaking team headquartered in Munich, however he is based in Vienna.
Wolfgang holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He is fluent in German and English.
Thomas’ insurance experience began in 2000 at Munich Re in Munich where he held several positions as Claims Counsel, Casualty Treaty Underwriter and Financial Lines Facultative Underwriter.
Before joining Alta Signa he worked 5 years as Financial Lines Senior Underwriter with AIG Europe S.A., Germany.
With more than 20 years of international insurance experience Thomas holds a deep understanding of the unique needs of international markets.
Thomas is a qualified German lawyer (attorney at law).
He is part of the German and Austrian team of Alta Signa in Munich. He is fluent in German and English.
Nico joined Alta Signa in May 2021 after leaving University in the Netherlands.
He works in underwriting, with a particular emphasis on D&O and Cyber in the Benelux and Italy. He also assists with the company's administration and other internal matters relating to the company’s management and expansion, such as the running and improvement of the company website.
Nico holds three degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University. He is fluent in Italian, Dutch, English and proficient in Spanish.
Together with members of the management team, Nico works from Alta Signa's Brussels headquarters.
Arturo joined Alta Signa in October 2021 after having spent 5 years working in finance. During his time in the sector, Arturo specialised in financial controlling.
Having spent time in, among others, Tokio Marine and Panasonic, Arturo now turns his professional career towards underwriting. As the company's latest addition to the Spanish branch, he is in the advanced stages of being trained in all of Alta Signa’s Financial Lines products.
Arturo holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a postgraduate degree in Financial Analysis, both completed in Barcelona. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan, as well as conversational in French.
Christophe joined Alta Signa in January 2023 after completing his Master’s degree in Barcelona.
With a background in Finance and previous internships in the banking industry, he is now shifting his career focus to underwriting. Due to his interest in financial institutions, Christophe is placing a strong emphasis on this client segment while also serving Commercial D&O clients.
His areas of focus are the Eastern European and Scandinavian insurance markets.
Christophe holds a Master’s degree in Finance from ESADE Business School. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic. He further completed the first level of the CFA.
Sean started his insurance career in Bermuda, joining Marsh & McLennan in the early 1980s, initially in their captive management operations before setting up Marsh’s specialty broking operation in Dublin, Ireland.
Sean joined Liberty Mutual in 1998, with the responsibility for establishing a new international Specialty Insurance division in Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre with a particular focus on the London and European specialty markets.
In 2011, Sean became the Chief Executive Officer of London based Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited (“LMIE”). In the following 10 years LMIE achieved a tenfold profitable growth, including diversity of product and distribution.
Post the merger between LMIE and Liberty’s Lloyd’s Agency, Liberty Syndicates Management, Sean took the role of Chief Underwriting Officer of Commercial and Corporate Insurance, responsible for approximately $1.2 Billion in GWP.
Sean retired in late 2015 to set-up his own insurance consultancy and is currently a Non-Executive Director of New Asurion Europe Ltd and Aspen Risk Management Limited.
He is a graduate of York University with BA Hons in Economics/History.
Samantha joined SiriusPoint in May 2018. She is Head of Pricing and Business Planning in London.
Samantha is a qualified actuary and has been working in the London Insurance Market for the last 13 years.
Prior to joining SiriusPoint, Samantha worked at Catlin, and subsequently XL Catlin, with a primary focus on the pricing and reserving of Casualty risks. During her time at (XL) Catlin, Samantha spent a year based in the Chicago office supporting the US Excess Casualty team.
She started her career as an actuarial consultant at EMB and later Willis Towers Watson.