Faculty

Our faculty brings a depth of insurance or technology expertise – often both at once – to their sessions. Whether looking at the threat of disruption from outside or originating significant innovations inside the industry, the speakers have perspectives that will give you and your peers insights as you enter the Fall planning season. Take this opportunity to discuss these points of view with members of the faculty and with your peers.

Below is the roster of confirmed ICEF2018 faculty members. More will be added over the coming days.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Roland Chan, CLU, CHS, is the founder and CEO of FindBob. FindBob's mission is to help encourage better transition behavior throughout the insurance and financial services industry.

Roland was a successor to a 26 year old insurance MGA in Toronto, where he managed over 150 active agents and advisors and over $100M in in-force premium. He's served on a number of local and national industry boards. His passion for insurance and financial advice, coupled with his expertise as a former enterprise software architect, led him to create FindBob. FindBob's enterprise platform is currently helping some of Canada's largest distributors and North American carriers tackle difficult succession planning and talent acquisition challenges.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Stephanie El-Chakieh is the founder and CEO of Volyse, a telehealth company specialized in travel health, aiming to help travelers be well equipped for any destination. Ms El-Chakieh leveraged her expertise in order to help others who are as passionate about traveling. She embraces change and remains on the cutting edge of healthcare innovations.

Ms. El-Chakieh is a Quebec pharmacist, with a doctorate in Pharmacy, as well as a master’s degree in Advanced Pharmacotherapy from the University of Montreal. Having previously worked in more than 15 hospitals and numerous pharmacies across Quebec, Stephanie has become renowned for her clinical judgment and expertise. Ms El-Chakieh is also on the executive board of Pharmacists Without Borders (PSF Canada).

Session: Digital Insurance: Changing Models to Align Business and IT

Mike Fitzgerald is a senior analyst with Celent's Insurance practice and is based in Cary, North Carolina. He has specific expertise in property/casualty automation, operations management and insurance product development. Mike's research focuses on billing, business process and operations, social media use in insurance, and distribution management.

Mike brings extensive industry experience to the analyst role. Prior to joining Celent, he was vice president of enterprise underwriting solutions at Zurich North America, where he led the evaluation of technology alternatives to support a new underwriting product development process. He held a number of positions at Royal & Sun Alliance, including a field operations regional executive role. His technology implementation experience includes the installation and maintenance of billing, automobile policy administration, and workers compensation automation. In the 1990s, Mike led an initiative which delivered one of the first global online technical underwriting and claims learning platforms in the industry.

Mr. Fitzgerald has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Davidson College and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Session: Don't Forget the Data! It's the Lifeblood of Your Business

Doug Grant has been helping the insurance industry in Canada – individual companies and cross-industry groups in both P&C and Life – make effective use of technology for many years.

The progress of technology from the first green screens to smart phones, apps, social and IoT has been a fascinating journey. Connecting businesses in the supply chain with EDI and portals has improved efficiencies and service times; the next wave of APIs, platforms and micro-services will enhance connectivity; AI, Blockchain, Voice and other emerging technologies promise better customer service.

The web took digital connectivity to the customer. Social brought new functions, triggering the current focus on self-service, customer experience and engagement; paradoxically both enhancing loyalty and increasing freedom of choice.

Doug is a founding partner of Insurance-Canada.ca, a leading Canadian Insurance resource centre for consumers and insurance professionals alike. He helps organize and host Insurance-Canada.ca's annual conference and other industry events.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Brian’s insurance career began shortly after the Ontario government introduced the first “no-fault” auto insurance plan in 1991. His experience with broker automation technology runs across multiple generations of systems from green screen to mobile.

As a trainer and consultant, Brian has worked with hundreds of broker firms and managing general agents across Canada, giving him a unique perspective on insurance operations and the automation challenges facing people working in the insurance industry.

Brian’s passion for great customer experience, user productivity and good actionable business intelligence drives him to seek and create practical technology solutions for insurance distributors.

Session: Insurance in Transition: Agile or Waterfall?

As Assistant Vice President, Programs and Digital with Markel Canada, Emily focuses on coverholders, programs and online business, tailoring Markel Canada distribution methods and product offerings to address the needs of brokers, MGAs and customers. With over 18 years in the Property and Casualty insurance industry working as a broker and insurer, Emily works to create alternative distribution solutions using technology and other tools to support key partners.

Emily holds an Honours Bachelors of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as her CRM and FCIP designations.

Session: Book of Business Data Management: From Necessary Evil to Business Driver Using Analytics
Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

In addition to founding BobTrak, Inc., David Kelly is a long-tenured solution architect and thought leader in the Incentive Compensation Management domain. He has worked on dozens of projects across most industries to provide accurate, high-performing, and maintainable systems to solve complex and data-intensive business problems. He is the author of The Book on Incentive Compensation Management: The Systematic Administration of Variable Compensation in the Enterprise and the e-book Out of the Box, or Out of the Question: What Won't Your Incentive Compensation Management System Do?, as well as numerous white papers and presentations on the intersection between business requirements and system capabilities.

Session: Customer Experience Is The Product

Jim Klotz is a Vice President of Research and Consulting at Novarica. He is a veteran of the Property/Casualty insurance industry, having spent 15 years as the SVP and CIO of PMA Companies, where he led efforts to replace all of the company’s core legacy technology, establish a corporate call center, and introduce a risk management information system.

Before his time at PMA, Jim spent almost 20 years in IT leadership at Travelers Insurance; he also served as VP of Claims and Strategic Operations and Systems for Selective Insurance.

More recently, Jim worked as an independent consultant for P&C insurers and solution providers. He has a BS in Finance and Insurance from the University of Connecticut.

Session: Where Insur + Tech Meet: The Collaboration Story of a ‘Top 5’ Insurer and a Technology Startup

Philippe Lafreniere is Chief Growth Officer at Slice. Philippe brings over 25 years of global insurance technology experience to the role, where he is focused on building more meaningful relationships with companies committed to becoming digital insurers and serving the needs of the on-demand economy.

As Chief Growth Officer, Philippe works with carriers globally to partner on the development of realistic plans for creating new digital insurance products serving business and consumer end-customers. As a member of the Slice Executive team he also infuses product development and marketing strategies to help refine ICS.

Philippe is a proven insurance industry executive with a bench of experience in product management, product marketing and sales for various global, industry-leading technology companies. Before joining Slice, he served as Senior Vice President of Product Marketing at EIS Group, where he was responsible for helping global insurers transform into agile, digital enterprises. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Product Innovation at iter8, as well as Director of Product Marketing and Management at Camilion Solutions, where he helped scale the company before its acquisition to SAP in 2013.

A graduate of the Insurance Institute of Canada, he received his C.I.P. before completing an Executive Program in Strategy and Innovation from MIT Sloan School of Management. Philippe is a frequent speaker and contributor at insurance events globally.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Andrew is an InsurTech influencer and keynote speaker who has a passion for growing the insurance industry through digital (www.andrewlo.ca). He is also a Business Strategy Advisor for Ryerson University’s DMZ, helping to develop digital entrepreneurs and startup companies at the #1 university incubator in the world.

Andrew was the CEO of Kanetix Ltd. before it was acquired by Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. He led all digital innovation and growth for Kanetix Ltd. – Canada’s largest digital customer acquisition platform for insurance and financial services.

Session: Implementing InsurTech Best Practices in Broker Distribution

Michael is Senior Vice-President of Commercial Insurance at PROLINK. He is responsible for driving the growth and strategy of our commercial insurance division, as well as managing his own book of clients. Michael has always been a large advocate of proactive risk management and his clients have come to rely on him to bring industry best practises to their organization. He is constantly driving new coverage, service and delivery innovation to ensure the resiliency of our clients. Michael holds leadership positions in a number of different insurance industry associations with a passion for moving the insurance industry forward with new and innovative ideas. He loves meeting with clients, prospects and insurers to help them solve their problems and take advantage of new opportunities.

Prior to PROLINK, Michael has held sales, marketing, underwriting, risk management and consulting positions at a number of insurance and technology companies.

Keynote session: Disruption in the Insurance Industry: Are We There Yet?

Sharon Ludlow, CPA, CA, ICD.D, is a C-suite executive and corporate director, who has 25 years of experience in both the Life & Health and Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance industries. Sharon is formerly President & CEO, Swiss Re Canada; one of the world’s largest reinsurers and President, Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, Canada’s 2nd largest P&C insurer. Sharon serves as Corporate Director for the Global Risk Institute and recently advised OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pensions plans, on its insurance investment strategy. Sharon serves on the Boards of EIS Group, Green Shield Canada and Ortho RTI. Earlier in her career, she launched Kanetix, Canada’s first on-line insurance marketplace for consumers.

Sharon is a Chartered Accountant/Chartered Professional Accountant; with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto. Sharon is a graduate of the Directors Education Program, Rotman/Institute of Corporate Directors and holds an ICD.D designation.

Sharon was awarded by WXN as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women and one of the Top 50 Women in the insurance industry globally by Reactions magazine.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Jeff believes in the broker channel. Getting ahead of the insurtech revolution, he co-founded Digital MGA to provide Canadian brokers with product, technology, and digital marketing enablement. Digital MGA offers the Apollo platform free to qualifying brokers. Apollo provides quote-bind-issue insurance products white labeled for broker's websites, helping them automate workflows and compete on the digital landscape. Jeff carries the vision of an industry where computers do the work so people can build relationships. With a background as a broker and strong insurance industry fundamentals, Jeff empowers producers and brokerages to reach their digital potential.

Jeff was Insurance Broker Magazine Top 10 Under 40, and recipient of the Insurance Business Magazine Young Guns Award in 2018. He writes professionally for several publications including the Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun, National Post, and the Vancouver Province.

Session: Implementing InsurTech Best Practices in Broker Distribution
Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Adam Mitchell is President of Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers in Whitby. Adam is the 3rd generation Mitchell and took over the family brokerage in 2009.

Since taking over the brokerage, Adam has grown the business organically over 880%, while still maintaining a strong retention of existing customers. Last year the brokerage grew 46%, and is currently growing at $1 million net new premium every 51 days. In 2009 premium sitting at $2.5 Million which has grown to $22 Million here in 2018.

Adam is forward thinking, ambitious and fearless, willing to take risks that traditional brokers might not. Adam moves leaps and bounds ahead where technology is concerned embracing new technologies to enhance his team’s ability to communicate with clients the way they want and ensure strong customer satisfaction.

Adam’s strong leadership skills and bold moves get him recognized across the industry. Adam was named as one of IBC’s Young Guns 2 years in a row, named one of the Top 10 Brokerages for the last 3 years and Top 10 Elite Broker in Canada, and won IBAO’s Innovator of the year in 2016 and this year being recognized as first runner up for the Insurance Canada Technology Awards. In 2017 Mitchell & Whale was runner up as Brokerage of the Year.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Don Miller is President & CEO of The Ai Organization. The Ai Organization is an interrelated group of niche financial companies focused on creating certainty for its clients. The companies are comprised of a retail brokerage, a wholesaler, and the InsurTech Auto Shield, serving the North American marketplace.

Don resides in Toronto and serves on the board of directors of Homes 4 Hope, having built over 100 homes for differently abled people from some of the poorest countries in the world.

Session: How eSignatures Enable Digital Insurance Transformation

Fred Onorato has more than 25 years of experience providing sales support for software solutions.

Fred works with some of OneSpan’s largest e-signature clients in the financial services, insurance & credit union space and acts as an advocate and liaison between OneSpan and these accounts, to assure their continued success. Having served as a champion for providing leadership to clients and as a Pre-sales Manager throughout his career, Fred’s passion for ensuring an exceptional customer experience are the hallmark of his work.

Session: Implementing InsurTech Best Practices in Broker Distribution

Ian Portsmouth is an award-winning writer, editor, marketer and business innovator recognized for excellence by such organizations as the National Magazine Awards Foundation and Canadian Business Press and Canadian Public Relations Society. With the knowledge gained from 23 years as a business journalist and B2B marketer, Ian is a trusted media commentator and public speaker on the management issues and best practices of independent business and high-growth companies, and he regularly moderates events and discussion forums for senior executive audiences.

In January 2017, Ian joined one of Canada's leading providers of B2B content and marketing services — Newcom Business Media — as Managing Director, Insurance Media Group. There he runs several publications and services for Canada's insurance industry, including Canadian Underwriter and Claims Canada magazines.

Prior to joining Newcom, Ian was Group Publisher, Business and Personal Finance at Rogers Publishing Ltd., overseeing the strategy and operations of three of Canada's top media brands: Canadian Business — Canada's largest-circulation paid business magazine; MoneySense, the country's best-selling personal finance magazine; and PROFIT, Canada's first and leading media brand for entrepreneurs and SMB executives.

In his 12 years as the Editor-in-Chief of PROFIT, Ian launched several awards programs for entrepreneurial business, including the HOT 50 ranking of Canada's Hottest Startups, the FuEL Awards for Canada's Top Entrepreneurs Under 30, and the Canada Export Achievement Awards. He was appointed Publisher of PROFIT in January 2012, adding Canadian Business to his portfolio in December 2013 and MoneySense in March 2014.

Ian is also the co-author of Marketing Masters: The Best Ideas of Canada's Savviest Marketeers, published by John Wiley & Sons, and the founding host and producer of both the BMO Business Coach podcast (100-plus episodes) and the Rogers Business Series of how-to videos for small business owners.

Session: Where Insur + Tech Meet: The Collaboration Story of a ‘Top 5’ Insurer and a Technology Startup

Peter Primdahl joined The Co-operators Group through their subsidiary, Sovereign General Insurance, in 2010. He has spent most of his time at Sovereign as head of their Specialty Operations division. In July of this year he moved to the parent company and into the newly minted role of ‘VP, Emerging Business Models’, with the mandate of conceptualizing, exploring and incubating innovative business models.

Peter has spent most of his career underwriting and managing Specialty & Niche Lines, as well as Large & Complex Risk departments. In 2017, Peter was seconded to head up the Co-operators “Innovation Initiative”, with the objective of advancing corporate knowledge and learnings pertaining to various external dynamics that featured prominently on Co-op’s environmental scan.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

John has 20 years of experience with top consumer brands – in brand strategy and development, digital marketing, creative development as well as strategy and organizational transformation. He is a creative and empathetic leader who loves building and collaborating with high-performance teams.

John's most recent role was with Economical Insurance where he built and launched the Sonnet digital direct brand.

He recently completed his Executive MBA from the IVEY School of Business and the Customer Focused Innovation Program at Stanford Business School.

John lives in Toronto with his wife, two boys, and two Hungarian Vizsla dogs; he is an avid cyclist and distance runner.

Session: InsurTech For Claims: Current Trends And Future Opportunities

Greg Smith, MBA, FCIP, CRM, is a Senior Vice President at Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. where he is currently responsible for the firm’s shared services functions including Information Technology, Human Resources, Quality and Compliance. Throughout his twenty-one year career at Crawford he has held a number of leadership roles in marketing, project management, operations and sales. As a member of the Canadian board of directors and global senior leadership team Greg has been responsible for a number of change management and business transformation initiatives that cut across the organization.

Greg holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from Wilfrid Laurier. He is a Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP) with the Insurance Institute of Canada and holds a Canadian Risk Management (CRM) designation from the Global Risk Management Institute.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Alastair Sweeny, PhD, is an online technology pioneer who produced "Canadisk" – Canada's first multimedia CD-ROM – as a joint venture with Encyclopaedia Britannica. He has developed learning materials with Apple Computer, Microsoft, and Bloomsbury Publishing.

His specialties include business history, digital learning, Web production, Internet and mobile issues, energy issues, technology history, political and military history.

Alastair's corporate history clients have included some of Canada's largest companies: Investors Group, Alberta Energy Company (now Encana/Cenovus), Magna International and Gendis, Inc. (Sony of Canada). I have worked with leading writers such as W. L. Morton, Peter C. Newman, Richard Gwyn and Pierre Berton.

Recent books include The Trackers (Co-authored with Richard Evers), which explores the issue of privacy on the Web (2013); BlackBerry Planet, on the history of RIM's groundbreaking mobile device (Wiley, 2009); Black Bonanza, on Canadian oilsands development and North America's energy future (Wiley, 2010); Fire Along the Frontier: Great Battles of the War of 1812 (Dundurn, 2012), and Canada's Digital History.

He has been featured in interviews on Bloomberg, MSN, Forbes, Reuters, CTV, and Sun Media.

He is currently building The Confederation Years, a Web portal “dedicated to the study and celebration of those critical years, between 1863 and 1873, when the provinces and territories of what is now Canada came together as a new nationality.”

Session: Don't Forget the Data! It's the Lifeblood of Your Business

As Vice-President of Marketing, Leonie Tait leads the marketing initiatives for Kanetix Ltd. Leonie joined Kanetix in 2011 to develop a results-driven marketing team. Since then, Leonie has taken a leadership role in marketing strategy, brand development and digital marketing as well as building an in-house content marketing team.

Leonie has 15 years of marketing experience, most of which has been spent in the financial services and insurance industry. Prior to Kanetix, Leonie spent seven years in London, U.K. at Barclays Bank Plc, where she developed digital marketing programs that consistently delivered online revenue growth for retail and small business banking products. Before Barclays, Leonie worked with market research firm Euromonitor International, where she developed the company's first digital marketing campaigns, growing the website as a sales channel.

Leonie has a passion for performance marketing and seeks to align customer experience with revenue goals. Leonie holds a B.B.A from the Schulich School of Business and a Diploma in Digital Marketing from the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (UK).

Session: Managing Risk in the InsurTech Industry

Dimitri advises clients involved in domestic and international technology-related commercial transactions and has particular expertise in negotiating and drafting complex technology agreements, including with respect to procurements, development and implementation arrangements, licensing, hosting and maintenance agreements, outsourcings, and investments and financings.

Dimitri has negotiated and drafted a wide range of technology-related agreements with virtually all of the major Canadian chartered banks, financial institutions, and insurers. He is admitted to practice law in the Provinces of Ontario and Alberta, as well as England & Wales.

Zemel van Kampen LLP is a boutique technology law firm located in downtown Toronto. ZVK delivers a high level of technology law expertise and service, advising on all aspects of technology-related matters. ZVK’s clients range from start-up operations to large Canadian and international corporations, including some of the leading technology companies in the world.

Session: Digital Insurance: Changing Models to Align Business and IT

Patrick has more than 25 years of experience enabling technology and electronic commerce in the insurance and risk management communities. Patrick is a Founding Partner of Insurance-Canada.ca, Inc., the premier source for Canadian information on insurance & technology.

Patrick currently serves as Insurance-Canada.ca's Director of Products and Services, and sits on the company's Advisory Board. He edits the Intersection, Insurance-Canada.ca's blog, produces and hosts on-line and in-person events, and develops bespoke offerings for Insurance-Canada.ca's clients.

Throughout his career, Patrick has held senior management positions with insurance companies, distributors, consulting firms, and technology solution providers. He serves on boards and committees of various industry associations.

Patrick authors articles for leading trade publications and has spoken at insurance and technology conferences in Canada, the US, UK, Europe, and Bermuda.

Session: Don't Forget the Data! It's the Lifeblood of Your Business

Janine White leads the sales and operations for Canada's largest online marketplaces for financial services. With almost two decades of experience working in the insurance and financial services world, Janine is an expert at bridging the gap of understanding between consumers and the financial products available to them.

A consumer first, Janine has spent her career making financial services more accessible to Canadians through Kanetix. Janine joined the company in 2001, not long after its inception, and has been with Kanetix through its various stages of growth and success. She has been part of almost every area of Kanetix, including leading the charge on business development, spearheading the company's early digital marketing programs, ensuring the highest quality of partner management, and even serving as one of the company's first bookkeepers.

Prior to joining Kanetix, Janine held several roles as at Scotiabank in Canada and spent time working in the railway industry in the UK.

Session: InsurTech Startup Pitch Competition

Thomas A. Winant is President of STRAAM Group. He was previously the Executive Vice president of STRAAM Corp since 2009. Prior to that was the Chief Operating Officer for Osmos USA. With these firms, he was responsible for all aspects of Company operations and sales.

Mr. Winant brings significant experience in Technology platform development and Project Management, including Structural health Monitoring used to aid in the condition assessment for bridges, buildings, and other structures under rehabilitation. He also has broad engineering experience in the construction and civil engineering fields.

Mr Winant received a BS in Civil Engineering (Structural) from Lafayette College (89’). He lives in northern New Jersey with his wife Bonnie and two sons.

Session: Inflection Point: A New Business Platform For A New Insurance Era?

Brad Worth is Vice President of the Sales Consulting Practice at EIS Group. He has 20 years of insurance and IT experience leading IT strategy and software development and implementation initiatives that support operational excellence and business transformation.

Brad has spent time in both the P&C and Life insurance domains, working for carriers, software vendors and consulting firms, including Cap Gemini, MFXchange and Markel Insurance.

Session: Implementing InsurTech Best Practices in Broker Distribution

Danish Yusuf is the CEO and co-founder of Zensurance, a Toronto-based technology startup focused on commercial insurance product and distribution.

Danish is a former leader in McKinsey & Company's Digital Insurance practice, supporting insurance clients globally on defining their digital strategy. Prior to McKinsey, Danish was a software architect and developer at IBM Canada, covering everything from mainframe development to web development.

Danish earned a bachelor's degree in Software Engineering from University of Toronto and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Session: Managing Risk in the InsurTech Industry

Maanit Zemel has more than 13 years of experience in Internet law and commercial litigation, with particular expertise in Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), online defamation (cyberlibel) and reputation management. She has successfully represented clients before all levels of courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Maanit’s advocacy experience and expertise earned her a position as a part-time member of the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board, where she acts in a quasi-judicial function, adjudicating disputes between residential landlords and tenants.

In addition, Maanit teaches business law at the University of Toronto and at Ryerson University. Maanit is admitted to practice law in the Province of Ontario and in New York State.

Presenters, Panellists and Moderators

Roland Chan

Stephanie El-Chakieh

Mike Fitzgerald

Ron Glozman

Doug Grant

Brian Hitchlock

Emily Horsman

David Kelly

Jim Klotz

Philippe Lafreniere

Andrew Lo

Michael Loeters

Sharon Ludlow

Jeff McCann

Adam Mitchell

Don Miller

Fred Onorato

Ian Portsmouth

Peter Primdahl

John Rocco

Greg Smith

Alastair Sweeny

Leonie Tait

Dimitri van Kampen

Patrick Vice

Janine White

Thomas A. Winant

Brad Worth

Danish Yusuf

Maanit Zemel

Presentation Topics

InsurTechTO 2018