Directors & Officers

James River Group Holdings, Ltd.

J. Adam Abram, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of James River Group Holdings, Ltd. and Chairman of James River Group, Inc. – Mr. Abram has served as Chief Executive Officer and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board since September 2014. Mr. Abram served as our Executive Chairman of the Board from October 2012 through September 2014, and before that, Non-Executive Chairman of the Board from December 2007 to September 2012. Mr. Abram also previously served as our Chief Executive Officer from December 2007 through March 2008. Prior to this, he served as the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of James River Group from its inception in 2002 through 2007 and from March 2008 until October 2012 (during which time he periodically served in different roles at various operating units). Mr. Abram was also a founder of James River Group. Mr. Abram currently serves as lead independent director of the Yadkin Financial Corporation, a bank holding company, (“Yadkin”), since July 2014 and, prior to that, as the Chairman of the Board of VantageSouth Bancshares, Inc., a bank holding company, and its subsidiary bank, VantageSouth Bank, from November 2011 until its acquisition by Yadkin in July 2014. He also served as Chairman of Piedmont Community Bank Holdings, Inc., a bank holding company, (“Piedmont”), since he co-founded it in 2009 until it was also acquired by Yadkin in July 2014. Mr. Abram received his B.A. from Harvard University.

Robert P. Myron, President and Chief Operating Officer of James River Group Holdings, Ltd. – Mr. Myron has served as our President and Chief Operating Officer since September 2014 and has served as a director since December 2010. Mr. Myron served as our Chief Executive Officer from October 2012 to September 2014, and before that as our Chief Financial Officer from June 2010 until September 2012. Prior to that time, Mr. Myron served as Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Risk Officer of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc., a property-casualty insurance company, from 2007 until 2010, and before that, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Argo Group International Holdings Ltd., an insurance and reinsurance company, from August 2007 to October 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Myron was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of PXRE Group, Ltd., a property reinsurer, from 2005 to August 2007, and before that, served as Treasurer from 2003 to 2005. Prior to PXRE, Mr. Myron was the President of Select Reinsurance Ltd., a privately-held Bermuda-based property-casualty reinsurer, from 1999 to 2003. Mr. Myron received his B.S. in Accounting and his B.A. in American Studies from Babson College. He also holds the Associate in Reinsurance designation and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Sarah C. Doran, Chief Financial Officer of James River Group Holdings, Ltd. – Ms Doran has served as our Chief Financial Officer since January 2017. Ms. Doran previously served as Senior Vice President, Strategy, Treasurer and Investor Relations at Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG, a specialty insurer and reinsurer. She joined Allied World from Barclays where she was a Director in the Financial Institutions Group, responsible for executing strategic transactions including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures and capital raising for the insurance and reinsurance industry. Prior to Barclays, Ms. Doran was a Vice President in the Financial Institutions Group at Lehman. Ms. Doran received an MBA in Finance and Economics from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and a BA in Government from the University of Notre Dame.

Bryan Martin- Mr. Martin has served as our lead independent director since December 2014, and as a director since December 2007.  Mr. Martin is a managing director of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., a global investment and technology development firm, and head of the D. E. Shaw group’s U.S. growth and buyout private equity unit. Prior to joining the D. E. Shaw group in 2005, Mr. Martin served as a partner at J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC, a private equity division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., from 2003 until 2005. Before that, he was a partner at the Beacon Group, LLC, a private equity, strategic advisory and wealth management partnership, and co-manager of Beacon Group Energy Investors II, LP. Mr. Martin began his career as an equity analyst at Fidelity Investments, a diversified financial services company. He received a B.A. in history from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

Jerry R. Masters- Mr. Masters has served as one of our directors since December 2014. Mr. Masters is a private investor. From 1991 to 2000, Mr. Masters held various executive positions within the financial organization at Microsoft Corporation, last serving as Senior Director, in which role he was responsible for external and internal financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting. From 1980 to 1991, Mr. Masters worked in the audit department of Deloitte & Touche LLP. From 2005 until August 2014, Mr. Masters served on the board of directors of TransMontaigne Partners LP, a terminaling and transportation company, and has served on the board of directors of Sandhills State Bank since 2010. Mr. Masters holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Nebraska.

Michael T. Oakes- Mr. Oakes has served as one of our directors since December 2007. Mr. Oakes has served as the President of Conifer Group, Inc., a consulting company, since February 2011. Prior to this, Mr. Oakes served as Executive Vice President of the Company from June 2010 until his retirement in January 2011. From December 2007 through June 2010, Mr. Oakes served as our Chief Financial Officer, and from March 2008 through June 2010, he served as our Chief Executive Officer. From 2004 through 2007, he served as Chief Financial Officer of James River Group and from 1998 until 2004, Mr. Oakes was a Managing Director in the Insurance Investment Banking Group at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., an investment banking firm based in New York. Mr. Oakes received a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Janet Cowell- Ms. Cowell has served as one of our directors since May 2016.  Ms. Cowell served as Treasurer of the state of North Carolina from 2009 through 2016. She previously served as a member of the North Carolina State Senate from 2004 to 2008.  Prior to that, she served as a member of the Raleigh city council from 2001 to 2004, and before that she worked as an independent business consultant with Sibson & Co. and a securities analyst with HSBC Bank and Lehman Brothers.  Ms. Cowell has served as a director of ChannelAdvisor Corporation since 2016.  Ms. Cowell received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and an M.A. from the Lauder Institute.  Ms. Cowell is also a level 1 CFA.  

Ollie L. Sherman, Jr.- Mr. Sherman has served as one of our directors since May 2016.  Mr. Sherman retired as a Managing Principal with Towers Watson in 2010.  At Towers Watson, Mr. Sherman functioned as a consulting actuary and practice manager for the company’s property and casualty division for over 25 years. Prior to joining Towers Watson, Mr. Sherman was employed by the Travelers Insurance Company for ten years where he had overall responsibility for countrywide workers’ compensation pricing.  Mr. Sherman graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in applied mathematics, and he is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

David Zwillinger - Mr. Zwillinger has served as one of our directors since December 2007. Mr. Zwillinger is a Managing Director of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and a member of the D. E. Shaw group’s U.S. growth and buyout private equity unit. Prior to joining the D. E. Shaw group in 2005, Mr. Zwillinger was an associate at J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC. Prior to that, he was a member of the mergers and acquisitions group at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., a global securities and financial services firm. Mr. Zwillinger graduated from Rutgers College with a B.A. in economics and earned a B.S. in finance from Rutgers Business School.

James River Insurance Company

Richard Schmitzer, President and CEO of the Excess and Surplus Lines Division– Mr. Schmitzer has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of our subsidiaries in our Excess and Surplus Lines segment since March 2010. He joined the James River Insurance Group in July 2009 as Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer. Prior to that, Mr. Schmitzer served nineteen years at the Scottsdale Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Nationwide Mutual, where he served in a variety of underwriting and underwriting management roles, most recently as Vice President of Brokerage, Professional Liability and Programs. Mr. Schmitzer received his B.S. in Business Administration from Central Michigan University.

Falls Lake Insurance Companies

Steven J. Hartman, President and CEO of the Specialty Admitted Insurance Division – Mr. Hartman has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of our Specialty Admitted Insurance segment since joining the Falls Lake Insurance group in May 2012. Prior to this, he served as Senior Vice President of IAT Group, a marketing, underwriting and claims office for a group of property-casualty insurance companies, from August 2011 to May 2012. Prior to that, Mr. Hartman served as Director at Arch Reinsurance Company, a specialty casualty underwriter, from June 2002 to May 2011. Mr. Hartman served as Senior Vice President at Gerling Global Reinsurance Corporation of America from 1998 to 2002. Before that, Mr. Hartman served as Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer and a member of the board of directors of Constitution Reinsurance Company from 1997 until its acquisition by Gerling Global Reinsurance Corporation of America, and prior to that, as Vice President of Transatlantic Reinsurance Company from 1992 to 1997. Mr. Hartman received his B.A. from Wabash College.

JRG Reinsurance Company, Ltd.

Dennis Johnson, President of Casualty Reinsurance Division– Mr. Johnson has served as President and Chief Underwriting Officer of JRG Re, our subsidiary engaged in the casualty reinsurance business, since January 2012. Prior to this, Mr. Johnson was employed by QBE Reinsurance Corp., the reinsurance division of QBE Insurance Group, from 2007 through 2012, having last served as Vice President and Casualty Treaty Manager. Prior to that, Mr. Johnson served as Vice President and Casualty Treaty Manager at Great Lakes American Reinsurance Company from 1991 to 1997. Prior to that, Mr. Johnson served as Assistant Vice President at National Reinsurance Corporation. Mr. Johnson received his M.B.A. in Finance from Long Island University.