AMWINS - Key Persons
Angela Higbea has served as Controller of Amwins since 2001. She is responsible for financial reporting and treasury management for the firm, as well as debt reporting and compliance. Angela also oversees audit and tax compliance for all operations of the company and performs mergers and acquisitions diligence as appropriate. A graduate of Florida State University, Angela serves as treasurer for the KennedyStrong Foundation, a non-profit organization fighting for opportunity for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is also an annual participant in Big Day on the Lake in support of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Carolinas.
Benjamin R. Sloop currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Amwins. Prior to taking on the role of COO, Ben had served as president of our small business division, Amwins Access, since its inception in January 2015. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Harvard, he began his career in management consulting at Bain & Company, and then joined Parthenon Capital, a private equity fund, where he worked on the Amwins capital raise in 2005. The following year, he joined Amwins in an M&A role. He left Amwins in late 2007 to attend Stanford Business School. Ben worked for Bills.com, a Silicon Valley start-up, until October 2011, when he joined Amwins once again.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Business Development
- Senior Vice President of Business Development and Head of M & a
Chris Stallmann currently serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Head of M&A for the firm. He joined AmWINS in 2017 and is responsible for sourcing, structuring and executing acquisitions, partnerships and minority investments. In addition, he leads a team which supports the Firm with data and analytics.
Prior to joining Amwins, Chris worked with Arlington Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C. and in the investment banking division of Deutsche Bank based in New York City. He is an expert in sourcing and executing M&A transactions, including acquisitions, minority investments, JVs and divestitures.
Chris is a graduate of the University of Georgia and an active member of the Charlotte community.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President of Operations
Christopher P. Gill is Executive Vice President of operations for Amwins with responsibility for the firm's data and analytics function and strategy. Previously, Chris was responsible for product ownership and helped lead the development of Amwins' proprietary technology solutions. Prior to joining Amwins in 2003, Chris worked for over 10 years with Royal & SunAlliance USA and Chubb Group. He began his career as a professional liability underwriter and later transitioned into roles focusing on business process and digital distribution. Chris is a graduate of Wake Forest University and holds bachelor's degrees in both economics and politics.
Darin K. Stafford has served as Chief Financial Officer of Amwins since October 2016. Darin joined the firm from Remington Outdoor Company where he served as vice president, corporate controller and led a 40-member finance team with broad responsibility over corporate, operational and strategic finance, investor relations, shared services, treasury, risk management and real estate. Before joining Remington, Darin worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 15 years, including a three-year rotation in London, England. Darin is a 1994 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a bachelor's degree in both Accounting and Finance.
Job Titles:
- President of Amwins Access
David Lavins serves as President of Amwins Access, a leading MGA/wholesale platform specializing in small business and personal lines with $1.3B in premium. He previously served as the division's Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining the firm in 2016, David spent 11 years at Ridgemont Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm with more than $4 billion of assets under management. David began his career in the Boston and Amsterdam offices of Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in Philosophy and Economics and was recently recognized as a member of Insurance Business America's Hot 100.
Since 2008, Donna has served as general counsel of Amwins and is responsible for identifying and managing all legal risks of the company. She advises executive leadership and the Board of Directors on a range of business issues, including corporate governance, risk management and regulatory compliance. Prior to joining Amwins, Donna served as corporate in-house counsel for BB&T Insurance Services, Inc. Earlier in her career, she served in private practice with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, concentrating in mergers & acquisitions and general corporate matters. A noted expert in her field, Donna has been recognized as an "Outstanding Woman in Re/Insurance" by Intelligent Insurer magazine, named an "Elite Woman in Insurance" by Insurance Business America magazine, and received a First Chair Award in 2018 for her contributions to the legal community. She holds a B.S.N. from the University of Tennessee and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina.
Job Titles:
- President
- Executive Chair of Amwins Global Risks
James C. Drinkwater is president of Amwins and executive chair of Amwins Global Risks. He previously served as president of our Brokerage division from 2008 to 2021, and prior to that was chief operating officer of Amwins Brokerage. James capitalizes on his more than 30 years of experience in E&S casualty, as well as wholesale and specialty brokering, to establish goals and priorities for Amwins' Property & Casualty producers across the country. Prior to joining Amwins in 2005, James held executive positions with both Stewart Smith Group and Willis Group. He began his career in the London marketplace.
Job Titles:
- President of Amwins Brokerage
- President, Brokerage Division
Jeff McNatt serves as president of Amwins Brokerage and is responsible for the design and execution of overall brokerage strategy while overseeing more than 400 specialty broker teams and various risk and industry practice groups that share knowledge and solutions across the Amwins platform. Additionally, he focuses on recruiting, training and developing the next generation of Amwins brokers, cultivating key market and retail client relationships, and assisting in the growth and development of exclusive capacity and firm wide proprietary products.
Previously, Jeff served as executive vice president and leader of the Florida branches of Amwins Brokerage. Jeff joined Amwins in 2007 as a property broker, opening an Amwins office in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2011, he relocated to Florida to open an Amwins office in Satellite Beach, managing a large book of catastrophic and non-catastrophic business.
Jeff graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in business administration, risk management and insurance.
Job Titles:
- Board Director
- Director
- Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Core Specialty Insurance Holdings, Inc
Jeff Consolino is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Core Specialty Insurance Holdings, Inc. From February 2013 to June 2020, he was with American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG), where he served as a Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. From February 2013 until its acquisition in November 2016, he served as Chairman of the Board of AFG's majority-owned subsidiary, National Interstate Corporation. From December 2015 to June 2020, Mr. Consolino was Chairman of the Board of Neon Capital Limited, an AFG subsidiary which operated Syndicate 2468 at Lloyd's of London. From March 2006 to February 2013, he was a founding member of management with Validus Holdings, Ltd., a global (re)insurer based in Bermuda, as President and CFO. Mr. Consolino also served as Chief Executive Officer, President and founding Director of PαCRe Ltd., a Bermuda-based underwriter of top-layer property catastrophe (re)insurance during his time as an executive officer of Validus through December 2015, when PαCRe Ltd. ceased operations and returned all capital to its shareholders. Until joining Validus Holdings, he served as a managing director in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch specializing in insurance company advisory and financing transactions. In addition to serving on the AmWINS and Core Specialty Boards, Mr. Consolino is currently a director of Beat Capital Ltd. and has served on the board of directors for AFG, National Interstate, Neon Capital, Validus and PαCRe Ltd. He graduated from Duke University with a BS in electrical engineering in 1988 and received an MBA from Cornell University in 1992.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Katie Katzman is currently serving as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Amwins. Katie has been with the firm for over 10 years and is responsible for overseeing Human Resources, Talent Acquisition and Benefits. She is also a member of the Brokerage Division leadership team, serving as a resource for all recruiting, hiring and onboarding. A graduate of NC State, Katie dedicates her time outside of the office to local community outreach and has worked with the Junior League of Charlotte.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer
Kristin L. Downey is Chief Administrative Officer for Amwins. Kristin joined Amwins in December 2002, initially serving as Director of Human Resources. She now leads a team responsible for developing and implementing the people strategies to support Amwins' business objectives. Kristin also directs the management and operations for compensation and benefits; human resource systems and payroll; employee relations and assistance; talent management; training & development; and marketing & communications. She leads the company's philanthropic efforts, including the recently formed Amwins Foundation.
Prior to joining Amwins, Kristin was employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where she spent five years in the Assurance and Business Advisory Services (ABAS) practice and two years as the recruiting manager for the Carolinas ABAS and Tax practice.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President of Marketing
Lisa Kuszmar is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Amwins where she collaborates with senior leadership to form and implement the vision and strategy for Amwins' brand. Lisa works across all departments, focusing on key projects and corporate initiatives to ensure consistency and alignment with overall brand positioning. Prior to joining Amwins in 2007, Lisa was already familiar with the firm, having worked with the ad agency representing Amwins for two years. She is a graduate of Elon University and has been building business to business brands since 1998.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Leadership Board of Directors
- Executive Chair
Job Titles:
- Board Director
- Director
- Founder and Portfolio Manager of Dragoneer Investment Group
Marc Stad has served as a director of Amwins since 2015. Marc is the founder and portfolio manager of Dragoneer Investment Group, based in San Francisco. Prior to founding Dragoneer, Marc was a portfolio manager at the Investment Group of Santa Barbara, where he was the partner in charge of the firm's Hong Kong office. He also worked as an investment professional at TPG Capital in the company's North American Buyouts Group and prior to TPG, was with McKinsey & Company. Marc received his AB in Government from Harvard University and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Chief Underwriting Officer
- Appointed Chief Underwriting Officer
Mark R. Bernacki is the newly appointed Chief Underwriting Officer of Amwins, the first to serve in the role. Prior to that, Mark served as President of Amwins Special Risk Underwriters, LLC. In addition, Mark runs the Amwins Alternative Risk Transfer Team for Amwins. He was recently named to Insurance Business America's Hot 100 List in recognition of his forward thinking strategies and ability to turn unprecedented challenges into opportunity.
Prior to joining Amwins, Mark served as Head of Global Property and Head of US Property for Beazley Group PLC. Mark was also employed by Liberty Mutual Group, as VP of Broker Operations and Assistant VP of Midwest Operations. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and the United Kingdom, giving him a unique perspective in the global insurance market. Mark received his degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison and has conducted MBA coursework at Rutgers University.
Matt Ebbel has served as a director of Amwins since 2012. Matt is currently the Managing Partner at Skyknight Capital. Matt was at New Mountain Capital from 2003 to 2016 and still serves as a Senior Advisor. He previously worked in the Corporate Finance and Strategy group at McKinsey & Co. Matt is a director of Connextions, Inc. and Maritime Holdings L.L.C. (d/b/a Intermarine), and was formerly a director of Tygris Commercial Finance Group, Inc. He received his AB in Economics magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2001. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer of Amwins Global Risks
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Group Benefits Division
Job Titles:
- President, Underwriting Division
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Underwriting Division
Job Titles:
- President, Brokerage Division
Job Titles:
- President, Group Benefits Division
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Director
- Member of the Leadership Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Brokerage Division