Directors & Officers

James River Group Holdings, Ltd.

 

Frank N. D'Orazio, Chief Executive Officer of James River Group Holdings, Ltd. – Mr. D'Orazio joined James River Group Holdings in November 2020 as our Chief Executive Officer. From 2003 to 2020, Mr. D'Orazio held various executive positions at Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG., a specialty insurer and reinsurer, most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff. Mr. D'Orazio previously held the positions of President, Underwriting and Global Risk; President, International Insurance; Chief Underwriting Officer; and Senior Vice President, Global Product Manager for General Casualty at the same company. Prior to Allied World, Mr. D'Orazio was a Regional Vice President, Global Risk Management at Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. Mr. D'Orazio began his career with The Chubb Group. Mr. D'Orazio received a B.A. in Political Science and American Studies from Fairfield University.

 

 

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. Prior to that, Ms. Doran worked as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group of Barclays and Lehman Brothers. Ms. Doran received an MBA in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago and a BA in Government from the University of Notre Dame.  She and her partner are the parents of two young daughters.

 

 

J. Adam Abram - Mr. Abram has served as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board since November 2020, after having previously held the role from January 2018 to August 2019. Mr. Abram was Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board from September 2014 through December 2017 and August 2019 through October 2020. Mr. Abram served as our Non-Executive Chairman of the Board from October 2012 through September 2014, and before that, 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 Executive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of James River Group, Inc. 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, Inc. Mr. Abram served as lead independent director of the Yadkin Financial Corporation, a bank holding company, ("Yadkin"), from July 2014 until its acquisition by F. N. B. Corporation in March 2017 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.

Thomas L. Brown – Mr. Brown has served as one of our directors since October 2021. Mr. Brown retired in 2019 as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of RLI Corp (“RLI”), a specialty insurer serving diverse niche property, casualty and surety markets. He previously served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at RLI from 2011 to 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Brown was a partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, where he served for ten years as its Central Region Financial Services Leader and led teams responsible for the banking, insurance, capital markets, real estate and investment management business sectors. Mr. Brown currently serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. In 2020, Mr. Brown joined the board of directors of Easter Seals DuPage & Fox Valley, and he previously served on the board of Easter Seals Central Illinois. From 2004 to 2017, Mr. Brown served on the board of trustees of Illinois Wesleyan University. Mr. Brown received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1979. He is a certified public accountant.

Janet Cowell - Ms. Cowell has served as one of our directors since May 2016.  Ms. Cowell has served as a director of ChannelAdvisor Corporation, an e-commerce cloud platform company, since 2016, and as the independent chair of IFM’s Global Infrastructure Fund Investor Advisor Committee since January 2019.  Ms. Cowell is also Chair of the Wharton Executive Education Board.  Previously, Ms. Cowell served as Treasurer of the state of North Carolina from 2009 through 2016 and 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 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.

Kirstin M. Gould – Ms. Gould has served as one of our directors since October 2021. Ms. Gould served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of XL Group Ltd (“XL”), a NYSE listed global insurance and reinsurance company, until XL was acquired by AXA, S.A. in 2018. Ms. Gould joined XL in 2000 and served in various leadership roles during her tenure including leading the marketing and communications function from 2007-2015 while concurrently serving as General Counsel from September 2007. Ms. Gould was a member of various executive management committees, including XL’s Enterprise Risk Management Committee, as well as a member of XL’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board. From 2005-2011, Ms. Gould also chaired the Policy Committee of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR), which is a trade association of international property and casualty insurers and reinsurers. Ms. Gould currently serves on the board of Pacific Life Re Global Limited where she is a member of the Risk, Audit and Renumeration Committees. She also is the founder of Harrington Advisors LLC, a consulting company focused on strategic advice including M&A, corporate governance and insurance regulatory matters. Ms. Gould began her career in private practice with the law firms Dewey Ballantine LLP in New York (1991-1995) and Clifford Chance LLP in New York and London (1996-2000). Ms. Gould received a Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude) from the State University of New York at Albany and a Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.

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.

Patricia H. Roberts - Ms. Roberts has served as one of our directors since July 2019. Ms. Roberts built a 35-year career at General Reinsurance Corporation, joining in 1977 as an excess casualty underwriter, and rising through the ranks in various leadership roles. She retired in 2012 from her dual position as President and Chairman of General Star Management Company and President and Chairman of Genesis Management and Insurance Services Corporation, two wholly owned subsidiaries of GenRe. Ms. Roberts served on the Navigators Group Inc Board from 2014 until 2019 when Navigators was sold to Hartford Financial Services Group. Ms. Roberts holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from George Mason University, and received her CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) designation in 1985.

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.

Sundar Srinivasan - Mr. Srinivasan has served as one of our directors since November 2018. Mr. Srinivasan founded Emerald Lake Safety after a wide-ranging career in investments and business. He was formerly a Portfolio Manager at Elliott Management, a $35bn+ global investment fund where he worked extensively in both private equity and public securities. Mr. Srinivasan has extensive experience in investments and multiple areas of the financial services industry. Mr. Srinivasan has chaired or served on numerous public and private company boards, including Blue Knight Energy Partners (NDX: BKEP), DICE (NYSE: DHX), Answer Financial and James River. Prior to Elliott, Mr. Srinivasan was a Vice President in the Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley and a Management Consultant at Oliver Wyman.

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

Terry McCafferty, President and CEO of the Specialty Admitted Insurance Division – Mr. McCafferty has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of our Specialty Admitted Insurance segment since joining the Falls Lake Insurance group in October 2018. Prior to this, he served as Head of Group Captives and Alternative Risk at Zurich, from 2015 to 2018. Prior to that, Mr. McCafferty served as Chief Operating Officer at Zurich Programs and Direct Markets, from 2006 to 2015. From 2000 to 2006, Mr. McCafferty held multiple Vice President positions at Farmers Insurance Group, including Finance Operations, Corporate Planning and P and C Operations. Prior to that, Mr. McCafferty served as Assistant Vice President at Zurich Personal Insurance, Recreational Products, from 1998 to 2000. Mr. McCafferty began his career in 1985, working in Audit at Ernst and Young. He’s also worked at Great American Insurance in Internal Audit, Financial Reporting and Product Management. Mr. McCafferty received his MBA in Finance from Xavier University and B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Miami University.

JRG Reinsurance Company, Ltd.

Daniel Heinlein, President and CEO of the Casualty Reinsurance Division– Mr. Heinlein was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer of JRG Reinsurance Company Ltd., our subsidiary engaged in the casualty reinsurance business, in April of 2018. He most recently held the position of Vice President of Underwriting for JRG Re. Mr. Heinlein joined JRG Re in June of 2012 from Willis Re Inc. where he produced and serviced US property and casualty treaty reinsurance accounts. Mr. Heinlein is a graduate of Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with majors in Finance and Banking, and Risk Management and Insurance.