Our team

Adam Manhertz is a bordereaux technician at Rokstone.

He joined the group in November 2021, having worked in the insurance industry for six years previous.

Outside of work, Adam’s main hobby is bouldering and rock climbing.

Ahjmal Subratty is a compliance officer and the deputy MLRO at Rokstone Mauritius, responsible for ensuring the company is compliant with all laws and regulations in Mauritius.

Ahjmal joined Rokstone in April 2021, having spent the last ten years working in vetting and compliance administrator roles at Cheribinny Ltd, Dölberg Group, and Rentsolutions Ltd.

Outside of work, Ahjmal enjoys travelling, volunteering, spending time with family and friends, and activities including football, table tennis and hiking.

Aisling Brady is a commercial underwriter at iSure Underwriting, responsible for reviewing and issuing renewal terms to brokers.

She joined iSure in January 2021. She previously spent eight years as a commercial underwriter at Liberty Insurance, and between 2013 and 2020 worked in a brokers office as a commercial account executive. 

Outside of work, Aisling enjoys spending time with her family. She loves the outdoors, and tries to do a lot of outdoor activities. She is also involved in her local GAA club and enjoys attending club matches and helping out in fundraising and events. 

Alexandra has 5 years of experience underwriting both livestock and equine business. She has been involved in the equine industry since a young age, growing up riding sporthorses and then working for a Thoroughbred farm and for Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. Her college experience includes equine business management at Cazenovia College, and a Master of Business Administration at Clarkson University. Her focus turned to the livestock industry when she joined AXA XL in 2016, serving as a Livestock Underwriter until this July. She consistently demonstrates excellent business acumen, solid comprehension of profitability metrics, and is pursuing further education in data analytics to support the RARU book.

Amira Slim is a portfolio assistant at Rokstone. Amira is responsible for assisting our underwriters in their day-to-day underwriting job.

She joined the group in July 2019, having previously worked as a technician broker at Afro-Asian Insurance services.

Amira is a proactive and a forward-thinking individual, and outside of work loves taking on new challenges, as well as working out and doing yoga classes.

Amy Morgan is an Underwriting Services Executive. In her role, she assists the underwriters with administrative processing.

Before joining the Aventum family, Amy worked as a safeguarding officer within a mental health setting. New to the insurance world and curious to learn more, it was Aventum’s staff retention and company benefits that appealed to her the most.

Away from work, Amy enjoys working out and spending time with her son. She also started to learn Mandarin and French during the first lockdown and would like to pick these both up again soon.

Anna Last is an underwriting services executive for Novus Underwriting, responsible for general administrative duties, as well as making transactions, dealing with issues/discrepancies, and chasing brokers for additional data.

She joined the group in June 2022, having previously spent over a year as an underwriting and operations technician at Ensurance.

Outside of work, Anna likes to spend time with family and friends. She is also a trained beautician and still does a few appointments outside of work to keep busy.

As a Junior Underwriter, Anna specializes in placing Builders' Risk coverage across the US.

 During her time in the Risk Management Insurance program at Florida State University, Anna worked as an intern at Hull and Company. She later became an Associate Underwriter at CRC Group.

 Keen to step outside of binding authority underwriting and leave the wholesale brokerage space, Anna was drawn to the Aventum culture from the very start.

 Away from work, Anna enjoys playing pickleball, going to the beach and the driving range and spending time with her family.

Annika Roney is a managing director at Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters, responsible for overseeing a team of Risk Analysts that are leveraging geographical information systems (GIS), CAT modeling and other advanced technologies in order to drive underwriting decisions.

She joined Rokstone CRU in April 2019. Prior to this, Annika had been underwriting commercial construction and renovation projects.

Outside of work, Annika enjoys hiking and biking with her family, but can also be found traveling back to her hometown in Germany.

Antonia Good is a delegated authority executive at Rokstone. Antonia focuses on coordinating aspects of client relationships and reviewing new and historical data attached to such agreements.

She has experience working for both a Lloyd’s broker and an MGA. She has also worked within an international non-marine treaty team, facing clients and legal counsel directly to carry out license approvals, as well as modelling in excel expected premium accruals for quarterly reviews. 

If Antonia wasn't working for Rokstone, you'd likely find her playing tennis. She used to compete when she was younger. Antonia also loves languages and her long term goal is to be fluent in both Russian and Mandarin.  

Aoife McCaffrey is a credit controller at iSure Underwriting.

Aoife joined iSure in June 2020, having previously been employed in the finance sector for over 20 years, 10 of which were in the insurance industry.

Outside of work, Aoife enjoys running, hiking and cycling, and has completed a group 120 mile cycle for charity.

Avinash Seebhujun is the executive director at Rokstone Mauritius.

He has over 12 years of experience in the financial sector, working in global business, leasing, reinsurance, global treasury activities and banking. Avinash started his career as a junior doing admin and due diligence checks for customers. He had the privilege to work for London Underground as a customer information assistant during his studies to then become a compliance officer, money laundering reporting officer, compliance manager, and head of compliance.

If he wasn’t working for Rokstone, he would have been a chef, with his own restaurant on a beach in Mauritius.

Avril Cox is a director and senior underwriter at iSure Ireland, responsible for underwriting commercial insurance policies, broker development and marketing.

She joined iSure in November 2019, having spent over 15 years in the insurance industry working for MGAs and insurance companies.

Prior to getting into insurance Avril was an aspiring archaeologist and outside of work she volunteers on digs around Ireland and further afield. She also loves watersports, especially rowing.

Barry O’Leary is a senior underwriter and director at iSure Underwriting, responsible for commercial combined new business and signing off on both MTA and EB referrals for team members.

He joined iSure/iFarm in July 2019 following 25 years working at Aviva in various commercial underwriting roles.

Outside of work Barry helps to coach GAA hurling and football for his local club St. Oliver Plunketts. He enjoys gardening and DIY projects.

As Claims Executive, Bilka deals with Property Claims on a day-to-day basis. Bilka’s previous roles include claims handler, senior claims handler and claims operation technician at companies such as Probitas, Starstone/Enstar, Pen Underwriting, Zurich and Allianz.

Bilka wanted to join the Aventum family because of the good things they had heard about the business - especially the mission and culture.

Outside of work, Bilka enjoys socialising with friends, spending time with their daughter, cooking, travelling and reading. In addition to English, Bilka speaks Bosnian fluently, German and bits of Spanish and Turkish.

Caroline Hill is a senior credit controller at Rokstone, responsible for reviewing debt owed to Rokstone and contacting brokers for settlement. She also reviews balances received.

She joined the group in May 2022, having previously spent 17 years with Guy Carpenter/Marsh, four years with Xchanging/Aon, four years at Axis, and taken on various other one year contracts with other (re)insurance companies.

Outside of work, Caroline enjoys running any distance up to half-marathon. She also volunteers for a local environmental group EPIC, planting trees and hedges, clearing rivers, surveying birds and wild flowers etc. She also does beach litter picks, and likes socialising with friends around a BBQ with some beer or wine.

Carys Evans is a business development underwriter for iFarm Underwriting, responsible for looking after a panel of brokers and ensuring they receive the best service.

She joined iFarm in November 2018, having previously worked for iSure. Prior to this she worked at a broker in Wales and NFU Mutual.

Outside of work Carys likes to keep fit by running or anything outdoorsy. She is hoping to soon complete the 3 peaks challenge.

Catherine Boyle is head of compliance at iSure Underwriting, responsible for ensuring the company is compliant with all legal and regulatory requirements.

She joined iSure in April 2020, having previously spent 17 years working for Quinn Direct/Liberty Insurance across a variety of roles, including sales, marketing, training, quality assurance and risk.

Outside of work, Catherine is a keen cyclist and enjoys nothing more than heading out regularly with her local cycling club. She is also a volunteer with Autism NI, and helps to run their local support group.

Charlie Ward is an underwriting analyst at Novus Underwriting.

Charlie joined Novus in March 2021 having previously spent two years as a DUA Technician at Meridian RSL.

Outside of work Charlie likes to watch any kind of sport, in particular football. To keep active he would usually play football twice a week, before COVID-19 came along.

Christian Fattore is an exposure analyst, responsible for building out the exposure department for both Aventum and Mulberry, and to begin modelling in-house.

He joined the group in May 2022, having previously spent nine months at Lancashire Group working on terrorism modelling.

Outside of work Christian enjoys bouldering at various locations across London, as well as reading and watching TV shows.

As an Underwriting Assistant, Ciara Pouch joins Aventum wanting to experience working for a company with a highly personalised feel. 

Joining Aon right out of university, Ciara first worked as a Professional Indemnity insurance broker for four years, before moving to Aon’s MGA to a role as an Underwriting Assistant for the Marine book of business. 

Outside of work, Ciara loves socialising with friends, visiting her family in Ireland, going to the gym and going on long walks.

Claire Brady is an accounts assistant at iSure Underwriting, responsible for reconciling insurer bordereau, agent payment allocations and answering account queries.

She joined iSure in September 2020, after a period of 15 years in insurance, working in both broking and direct insurance.

Outside of work, Claire enjoys fly fishing as a way to relax.

In his role as an Underwriting Assistant, Colin issues policies and endorsements as well as learning, on the job, about the everevolving livestock industry.

Before joining the Aventum Group, Colin worked with AXA XL since 2018 as an Assistant Underwriter. Keen to join the family and learn more about the livestock world, Colin was looking for a company that empowered its employees.

Away from work, Colin enjoys walking his dog and spending time with his wife. He also is an avid hiker and likes to cook on his Big Green Egg.

Colton Kovar is a risk engineer at Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters, responsible for reviewing construction drawings/Geotech reports, and coordinating project inspections with outside vendors and developers.

He joined Rokstone CRU in March 2021, having previously been a civil engineer for a consulting firm in Austin, Texas.

Outside of work Colton is an avid bowhunter and the majority of his weekends in autumn hunting about an hour north west of Austin.

Dan McCarthy is the vice president of Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters, responsible for underwriting and managing the growth of the company’s casualty products through risk selection and pricing.

He joined the Group in November 2021, having previously worked at a Bay Area brokerage firm within its construction team, focusing on all types of contractors, developers, and project business. Prior to that he held underwriting positions at AXA XL and Zurich, focusing on casualty.

Outside of work, Dan loves travelling to new cities with his wife, and spending time with friends and family. He also enjoys golf, and physical activity generally.

As a Senior Engineering Underwriter, Dan Watson writes power and construction risks. Eager to be part of a business that helps its people succeed, Dan was enthusiastic about joining the Aventum family from day one, after speaking to the leadership team about the vision of the company.

Before joining, Dan spent 12 years at RSA, followed by briefer stints at Pioneer and Globe. He has been associated with Engineering lines of business since 2006.

Away from work, Dan enjoys watching cricket and football, playing golf and letting his young daughters use him as a climbing frame.

As Claims Technician, Daniel reviews and processes claims - liaising regularly with brokers. Before joining the Aventum family in September 2022, Daniel worked at Guy Carpenter until December 2021 before moving to Tysers in early 2022.

Wanting to progress his career and grow his knowledge of the insurance world, Daniel wanted to join Aventum Group because of the opportunities to learn and further his experience in the industry.

Away from work, Daniel enjoys attending football games, and going to festivals and live music events.

Daniella Graves is a portfolio assistant at Rokstone. Daniella is part of the Rokstone reinsurance property team, responsible for the administration.

She previously worked in the accounts team for Aventum Group, on reception and on the wholesale team, before moving to Rokstone. She has six years of experience in the insurance industry and has only worked for Aventum.

If she wasn’t working for Rokstone, Daniella would probably be travelling the world partying day and night!

Danielle Kilpatrick is an agricultural motor underwriter at iFarm.

She joined iFarm in March 2020, having previously worked for BiB Insurance Group.

Outside of work, Danielle reads a lot, and likes to run and strength train. She used to do kettlebell sport until she had to have an operation in 2019 and hasn’t been able to return due to the pandemic.

David Boyle is the managing director at Rokstone Special Risks, responsible for starting a non-traditional contingency account, mostly comprising new or differentiated lines, alongside growing multiple complementary specialty accounts.

He joined the group in December 2021, having previously run his own MGA since 2018. Prior to this he worked at Lloyd’s as a class underwriter for several different contingency accounts, most recently starting a new contingency account for ArgoGlobal. Before working at Lloyd’s he was a contingency underwriter for Munich Re in London.

Outside of work, David likes to play football once a week and get to the gym. However, most of his time is dedicated to his young family, with two boys and a girl.

David Turner is the portfolio manager of construction and engineering business at Rokstone.

David has 43 years' experience in the London insurance market, including syndicates at Lloyd's, combining senior broker and underwriter roles specialising in international onshore construction business.

Outside of Rokstone, David loves the quiet life of rural SW France.

Dean Pitts is the Chief Distribution Officer at Rokstone. Dean has responsibility for establishing and overseeing various underwriting teams across multiple classes of insurance, including property, marine, financial lines, contingency and accident and health.

He has over 30 years’ experience in insurance, heading up global property portfolios for a number of the largest syndicates in Lloyd’s. Dean also served as chairman of the NMA Lloyd’s Worldwide Property Committee.

When he isn’t working for Rokstone you would more than likely find him on the golf course.

Deandra Santangelo is an underwriter and Associate Director in our Aura Underwriting division. In this role, she underwrites and facilitates the daily handling of the Lloyd’s Caribbean property facility. 

Deandra joined the group in March 2018 as a specialist in niche property and casualty risks in and around the Caribbean. Being a Bahamian national Deandra holds many personal and professional ties to the Caribbean and with this comes a wealth of knowledge of the territory. She has 13 years’ experience in the sector, having previously been employed by broking firms both in The Bahamas and London. This includes years spent at Morgan White Bahamas and Endeavour Insurance Services. 

Outside of work, Deandra is a major foodie and enjoys trying out new foods, recipes and restaurants. She also has a passion for jewellery making and spends countless hours perfecting this craft. 

Donald Stewart is vice president of Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters, responsible for underwriting excellence.

He joined Rokstone CRU in April 2019, having worked in the insurance industry since 1987. In this time he has worked for AIG, Zurich, and Reliance National, all in roles related to construction underwriting.

Outside of work, Donald enjoys playing golf, reading, kayaking and hiking.

Eanna O’Connell is a commercial underwriter at iSure Underwriting.

Eanna joined iSure in June 2020, with 12 years’ previous experience as a commercial underwriting, and another 5 years spent in commercial broking.

Outside of work, Eanna has a keen interest in most sports and assists with coaching the Under 7 boys Gaelic Football team for the local GAA club Killygarry.

Eman Almusalli is a junior portfolio assistant in the claims department of Rokstone Aviation.

Before joining Rokstone, she worked as an accountant and bank reconciliation agent at three different companies.

Outside of work, Eman enjoys meeting friends and family

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Eric has over 21 years of experience underwriting livestock and equine business, including 10 years managing an underwriting team. Since 2013, Eric has built a book of livestock business from the ground up to nearly $30 million in annual GWP with Catlin, XL and finally AXA XL. Since late 2019 Eric managed the US based livestock and equine underwriting team for AXA XL. He has a strong agriculture industry knowledge and relationships with both brokers as well as clients.

Fatima Asaad is a portfolio assistant at Rokstone Aviation, responsible for collecting and entering all the information related to aviation risk assessment.

She was previously a customer service trainee in the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, and an accountant in two different private companies.

Outside of work, Fatima enjoys exercising and cycling near the beach, and visiting family and friends.

Freddy Thumwood is an IBA technician for Novus Underwriting, responsible for producing agent statements, chasing premium, and the daily posting of receipts and payments. 

He joined the group in December 2021, having previously worked as a credit controller at insurance broker Stonebridge Corporate for 11 years. 

Outside of work, Freddy is a keen rugby player, and enjoys going out socialising with friends and family. 

Gavin Dollings is the chief underwriting officer at Aventum Group, responsible for the management, performance and governance of the underwriting of the Group’s digitally traded classes of business within Rokstone.
He joined the Group in March 2022, having previously been Covea Insurance’s commercial underwriting director for five years. Before that he had also spent 10 years at Allianz heading up their casualty and construction lines, and as a management consultant for Accenture.
Outside of work, Gavin enjoys taking part in a number of sports, especially windsurfing and skiing when time and weather conditions allow. He also likes running, mountain biking, fitness classes, and travelling.

Grant McMorrow is a senior underwriter at Novus Underwriting. Grant specialises in sourcing, underwriting and managing multiple product lines across the broad spectrum of ‘specialist consumer products’ for our various capacity partners, focusing predominantly on warranty style business.

Grant previously worked within the Lloyd’s market, working for multiple managing agencies spanning the last 13 years. In that time he helped manage and develop multiple key relationships in the warranty space – helping the book to grow to one of the largest within Lloyd’s.

Outside of work Grant has a young family, but when time allows he enjoys playing and watching multiple sports, as well as walking his beloved dog.

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Hannah Esposito is a IBA Technician at Rokstone.

Her experience includes 12 years within the insurance industry working for both insurers and brokers. Hannah started out in insurance working for Xchanging and has in-depth knowledge of the Lloyd’s market. 

Hassan Nemer is a portfolio analyst at Rokstone Aviation, responsible for ensuring all bound risks are successfully authorised.

He joined Rokstone in August 2020, having spent 16 years working in financial services, starting with investment banking as a business analyst. Hassan moved into reinsurance in 2012, working for Trust Re, where he stayed for eight years.

Outside of work, Hassan enjoys reading and spending time with his children.

Helen Ford is a development underwriter at iFarm Underwriting, responsible for the business development and relationship management of Third Party Agencies and her own panel of brokers.

She joined iFarm in November 2017, and has worked in underwriting for over 10 years, with six years of agriculture experience. Prior to iFarm she was a development underwriter at Rural Insurance Group.

Outside of work, Helen is kept busy by her young son. When she gets a chance, she likes to binge watch thriller/crime series, and also spends time raising awareness for autism to help support her young man and the autistic community.

Holly Daniels is a motor underwriter at iFarm Underwriting, responsible for new business enquiries, existing business and motor renewals.

She joined iFarm in April 2020. Prior to this, she worked in the agricultural industry for both Rural and BIB.

Outside of work, Holly has a young son called Jacob, and most of her time is spent entertaining him.

Ian Anson is the portfolio manager for property, power and energy at Rokstone. Ian works in the direct and facultative property division and is responsible for business production and analysis, and facultative reinsurance buying strategy and execution.

He started his career in 2013 and spent the subsequent years at Alesco, working in onshore energy and power generation specialty lines. From there he developed a specialism in heavy industrial risks and managed a team of onshore energy brokers placing international energy accounts.

If Ian wasn’t working for Rokstone, he would probably be playing golf, having earned a golf scholarship to the University of Kansas.

Ion is a business analyst at Rokstone. Ion works in the underwriting team, focusing on reporting, statistics and technical audit.

He previously worked at several insurance companies and brokers abroad, being responsible for analytics, facultative reinsurance and business development across all lines of business throughout CIS countries, with a focus on property lines.

If he wasn't working at Rokstone, Ion would probably be travelling the world, riding a motorcycle and writing a book.

James Potter is the chief executive officer and co-owner of Rokstone and a board director of Aventum Group.

James has over 23 years' experience within the London and global insurance markets, successfully developing and maintaining a valued network centralised on long term strategic partnerships.

He has had responsibility for establishing various trading divisions, teams and MGA's within the broking and underwriting environment, from start-ups and the restructuring of existing teams, to servicing global placements for multinational firms with global capacity providers and client networks.

James has facilitated the placing and underwriting of reinsurance and/or insurance products, schemes, and delegated authority arrangements, including online trading platforms, covering a variety of classes of business including terrorism, property, energy and casualty contractors all risks.

Jamie Stoneley is an underwriter at Novus Underwriting.

Jamie joined Novus in February 2021, having previously spent over six years with Canopius Managing Agents mostly writing business covering individuals financial commitments or income if they are unable to work due to accident, sickness, or if they are unemployed.

Outside of work Jamie describes himself as a bit of a ‘fitness freak’ and can often be found on his bike. Despite not being a rower, or even interested in rowing, he has previously rowed the English Channel and around the Isle of Wight.

Jasmin Schumer is an underwriter and head of policy administration at Rokstone Underwriting Managers Miami. Jasmin has responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day operations and underwriting of property and construction reinsurance placements.

She joined the group in October 2019 having previously worked as a realtor associate. She performs a pivotal role within the underwriting area of the platform, working closely with London-based portfolio managers and Rokstone distribution sources.

Jasmin has extensive experience in the private and commercial property and construction sector, including real estate, financial and reinsurance, utilising her knowledge and experience of property construction types, risk management and assessments. She has worked closely with her US colleagues to develop the US underwriting platform.

Jason Jones is a claims assistant for Rokstone.

He joined the company in April 2021, having previously worked as a healthcare assistant, police constable and claims technician.

Outside of work, Jason enjoys going to the pub.

Joanne Lambe is a product development manager, responsible for the digital transformation of Rokstone’s existing products and leading the development of new digital products.

She joined the Group in February 2022, having previously spent nine years at Simply Business, where she worked as technical MGA manager. Her first underwriting job was as a package underwriter at Ecclesiastical, before moving to Aviva in 2001 where she worked on complex commercial risks.

Outside of work, Jo is a bit of a foodie, and loves cooking and eating out.

Joanne Partridge is a farm underwriter at iFarm Underwriting, responsible for renewals, MTAs and new business enquiries.

She joined iFarm in February 2021, having previously been an account handler at Lycetts, and before that a farm underwriter at BIBU.

Outside of work, Joanne is a keen walker, and is studying for a degree in Environmental Science with the Open University.

John Eldridge is the Chief Commercial Officer at Rokstone.

John joined the group in January 2020. He has over 15 years’ experience within financial services, previously holding MD roles in retail insurance broking, wholesale insurance broking and London market underwriting environments.

John has a track record of working alongside founders to drive strategy execution, corporate development and value creation.

He has worked with Rokstone to establish group strategy and objectives, reconfigure corporate and management structure, and deliver enhanced MI and analytics, including the introduction of an actuarial function.  

John McGonigle is the Chief Underwriting Officer at Novus Underwriting. His main responsibilities include the profitable development and management of the warranty and consumer products portfolio underwritten on behalf of Novus’ capacity partners.

He has worked within the insurance industry since early 1991, mainly within the London market (both company and Lloyd’s). His focus since 1997 has been on the underwriting of warranty and associated consumer insurance products, both in the UK and on an international basis.

Outside of work he has undertaken a number of personal and team challenges for charity, including rowing the English Channel, riding the off-road London to Brighton route and climbing the three peaks.

Josephine Lyons is a commercial underwriter at iSure Underwriting, responsible for reviewing and issuing renewal quotations to brokers.

She joined iSure in January 2021, having worked in the insurance and finance industry for over 20 years. She has worked in the finance department for a large cement manufacturing company and worked as a commercial underwriter for Liberty Insurance.

Outside of work, Josephine like going for walks and gardening. She is involved with the underage local football club and likes to attend matches and training, and also help out with fundraising and events. 

In his role as Head of Professional Indemnity, Josh works to maintain the running of a profitable PI portfolio. 

Before joining the Aventum family, Josh worked at Channel, Navigators and Optio for 12 years. Attracted by the business believing it would be a great fit for him, the benefits package and company culture appealed significantly to Josh from the outset. 

Away from work Josh enjoys socialising, going to the gym and playing golf.

Julie Thompson is the motor underwriting manager at iFarm, responsible for the underwriting decisions of the motor team.

She joined iFarm in May 2019, having previously worked in insurance for 33 years, starting at broker in Germany for British Army motor/household/kit insurance. Since 2006 she has written agricultural insurance.

Outside of work bootcamp and running are Julie’s hobbies. She also chatted to Barry Gibb once on the Isle of Wight ferry, as he was on his way to perform at the 2017 festival.

Katie Jones is an assistant underwriter at iSure Underwriting, responsible for Medical Malpractice and Beauty.

She joined the Group in October 2021, having previously worked for a commercial insurance broker located in Poole for almost six years. Her role within the company was the as existing business manager where she headed up a team looking after the Medical Malpractice and Beauty renewals and customer service.

Outside of work, Katie recently took on the challenge of bringing two puppies into her family, so they certainly keep her very busy. She is also part of a competitive cheerleading team where she participates as both an athlete and a coach. 

Kelly Shutt is a Head of Propositions and Distribution at iFarm Underwriting, responsible for the management of key broker accounts and strategic partnerships.

She joined iFarm in March 2018 as a development underwriter and moved into her current role in May 2020, having previously worked in agriculture for 11 years. She was a new business underwriter at BIBU before moving to Rural as a development underwriter in 2016.

Outside of work, life is hectic for Kelly, as a mum of two young boys and one very needy Labrador!

Ken Higgins is a senior underwriter and director at iSure Ireland, responsible for managing a team of underwriters in their daily duties and reviewing and developing the iSure products.

He joined iSure in April 2019, having been a commercial underwriter for over 18 years, working for Quinn Insurance, Liberty Insurance and Prestige Underwriting.

Outside of work, Ken is a big sports fan, and particularly enjoys rugby and football, with Leinster and Liverpool being his teams. He is involved in coaching the Co Cavan RFC Under 12’s, a group he has coached since they were Under 7’s. 

Kevin Galer is a portfolio manager for property at Rokstone. Kevin is responsible for UK corporate property reinsurance business.

He has been underwriting and managing books of business for over 30 years and has always enjoyed trading with his broker friends.

When he isn’t working for Rokstone, he can be found boat angling and searching for that record fish. Kevin also enjoys beating his children at computer games and finding excuses to avoid the numerous DIY jobs his beloved wife keeps finding for him.

Kevin Kiely is a development underwriter at iSure Ireland.

He joined iSure in September 2019, having previously spent 17 years at Aviva.

Outside of work, Kevin is a keen cyclist, and is a fan of professional cycling, cooking and gardening.

Laura Wakeford is a farm underwriter at iFarm Underwriting, responsible for renewals, MTAs and quotes.

She joined iFarm in January 2021, having previously spent over 21 years at BIBU Underwriters.

Outside of work Laura is a mum, and enjoys going to the gym and having days out with her family.

Underwriting Performance Manager Lee Ellis joined the Aventum family after hearing many good things about the company from people already working within the Group.

Previously at Geo Agriculture for the last couple of years as a Senior Product Manager, Lee also worked at Rural Insurance as a Product Manager. Lee also spent 13 years at Direct Line Group. 

Away from work, Lee likes to spend time with his family and enjoys taking trips in the camper van.

Lewis Phillips is a commercial underwriter at iSure Ireland, responsible for reviewing broker submissions and referrals against the company’s risk appetite and acceptance criteria and responding to broker queries in a timely manner.

He joined iSure in July 2020 as the third member of the Cork office. He previously worked as an existing business commercial underwriter for a large insurer in Cork and prior to that worked as an Insurer Development Manager for a personal lines broker in Bristol.

Outside of work, Lewis and his wife love getting out and exploring the wonderful scenery Ireland has to offer. He enjoys walking the cliffs and finding nice country pubs along the way. His other favourite pastime involves cheering on the Welsh rugby team.

As the Surety and Credit Portfolio Manager, Luis is responsible for building and developing Rokstone’s surety and credit treaty book.

Before joining the Aventum family, Luis was Global Chief Operating Officer at CESCE, before moving to a COO position at Active Capital Re in 2019.

He enjoys a flexible working environment and trust in his decisions; he found both in Rokstone - so when an opportunity presented itself to join the business, Luis couldn’t say no. Away from work, Luis enjoys the great outdoors, leather crafting and reading.

As an Underwriting Services Executive, Madison assists underwriters with administrative duties such as processing risks and generating quotes.

After graduating from the University of Essex in 2022 with a first-class Psychology degree, this is Madison's first job since leaving education.

Inspired by the core values of the company, away from work, Madison enjoys going to the gym and socialising.

Mark Hughes is a motor development underwriter, responsible for growing and servicing the business motor account.

He joined iFarm in November 2017, having worked in insurance since 1998 in various roles at companies including Direct Line, Aviva, Towergate and Rural Insurance.

Outside of work, Mark enjoys family time, football and boxing. He was also once an extra in the TV soap Brookside

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Maryam Al-Qaidoom is a portfolio assistant at Rokstone Aviation responsible for reviewing new business and renewal submissions that follow our underwriting guidelines and align with company financial goals.

She has eight years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry, including three years as a technical account and assistant underwriter in casualty at Trust International Insurance & Reinsurance, and seven months as a processor underwriter (property and engineering) at Damana-Saudi Arabian Insurance Co.

Outside of work, Maryam likes sport, cooking, meeting friends, and spending time with family

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Max Isadore is an assistant portfolio manager at Rokstone. Max is responsible for overseeing the admin side of the property book.

Before joining Rokstone Max attended the University of Sussex, graduating with a degree in economics and international development.

When he isn’t working for Rokstone, Max enjoys watching and playing a range of sports like football and rugby.

Michael Simone is president of Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters.

He joined the group in January 2019 and has over 25 years of experience in underwriting general liability, automobile and workers' compensation coverages for major insurance carriers with a specialisation on large complex construction programs throughout the US.

Michael joined Rokstone CRU from AXA-XL where he served as vice president - underwriting manager, directly responsible for the North East and Western regions operating out of the New York office.

Michael has held a New Jersey property and casualty brokers license since 2003, earned a bachelor of science degree in communications from St John’s University in 1995, and has had construction risk and insurance specialist (CRIS) designation since 2011.

Mike Pilla is the chief executive officer of Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters.

He joined the group in November 2018, having previously worked in senior positions for a range of companies. He was CEO at Technical Risk Underwriters, CUO at OnPoint Underwriting and CUO at MGA Britt Paulk Insurance.

Mike has been on the vanguard of finding technology to prevent losses at construction sites and has developed deep client and broker relationships focused on developing standards and methodologies to reduce both attiritional and large claims.

Mike's specialty knowledge includes; large construction and engineered risks, named wind, critical quake and flood underwriting; large wood frame underwriting and prevention, building MGU's from the ground up, acquisition turn arounds, commercial hull and liabilities, inland marine and ocean marine underwriting.

Molly Brazier is an underwriting services executive at Novus Underwriting, responsible for processing transactions for Novus, and providing underwriting support for Aura Underwriting.

She joined the group in December 2021, having previously worked in IBA accounts at a large insurance broker dealing primarily with reinsurance business.

Outside of work, Molly loves fashion and shopping. In her spare time she will most likely be at Lakeside, Westfield, or online shopping.

As Head of Compliance at Rokstone Underwriting, Nelli Thomas helps to build and maintain the US Compliance structure. With 16 years of regulatory and insurance compliance experience, Nelli joins Rokstone from a specialty, niche-focused commercial insurance carrier where she served as Assistant Vice President.

Graduating from the Questrom School of Business with a Master of Business Administration and Management in 2022, Nelli also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the International Institute of Practical Psychology in Latvia.

Away from work, Nelli enjoys motorsports, keeping fit, and traveling.

Nicole brings 13 years of insurance experience with 11 years of focus in livestock and equine claims. Nicole has a background in the horse industry and studied at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. She was the lead adjuster for livestock claims at AXA XL beginning in 2014 before being promoted to Livestock and Equine Claims Manager in 2019. Nicole’s focus is on a client-centered approach to improve the claims experience by developing and implementing service-oriented procedures.

Orlaith McPike is a credit controller at iSure Underwriting, responsible for managing the debt flow within iFarm UK and iSure UK, managing the aged debt, and broker queries/payments.

She joined iSure in June 2020 having previously spent 12 years working for the Ulster Bank, and latterly a mortgage broker.

Outside of work Orlaith enjoys travelling and going on long walks and hikes. She would love to do Route 66!

Paul Hallinan is the portfolio manager of property business at Rokstone.

He has in excess of 20 years' experience in the London insurance market, including syndicates at Lloyd's, combining senior broker and underwriter roles specialising in international commercial property business on both a primary and excess basis, as well as writing marine liabilities and cargo.

Outside of work, Paul enjoys playing golf and going to the gym.

As Head of Engineering, Peter Rossell manages Rokstone’s book of Operational Power and Construction business.

Before joining the Aventum family, Peter worked at Globe Underwriting for three years, which eventually became part of the Ardonagh Group. The primary reason for joining the company was due to the improved paper that Rokstone could offer his team, something highly prized as an MGA.

Away from work, Peter spends a lot of time helping his children with their DIY projects and they have recently joined the property ladder. He also can happily watch any kind of sport.

Philip Wood is the chief executive officer at Novus Underwriting.

He has more than 28 years’ experience in extended warranty, all risks and niche product specialisms of the insurance market spanning across Europe, the Middle East and Far East markets.

Outside of work, Philip spends time with his family, including long walks with the pet dog. He also cycles to keep fit and shoots

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Rabia Karamat Ali is a portfolio assistant at Rokstone Aviation, whose main responsibilities include maintaining proper business records in the database and applying systems and procedures to ensure smooth administration of records.

Rabia joined Rokstone in November 2020, having previously been an intern with AXA Gulf Insurance for two months.

Outside of work, Rabia enjoys gardening, painting and drawing.

Reece Ranson is a portfolio assistant for the facultative property team at Rokstone.

Reece began his insurance career in 2019 working in claims for Markerstudy, before joining Clegg Gifford & Co as a trainee underwriter, and then Rokstone in February 2021.

Outside of work, Reece enjoys going to the gym, watching Netflix, and socialising with friends.

Richard Isgard is a partner and senior vice president/head of claims at Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters, responsible for handling legal issues, drafting and negotiating agreements, and working together with underwriting to create policies and endorsements.

He joined Rokstone CRU at its inception in January 2019. He is an attorney and has handled and managed construction claims for 35 years – 20 years as outside counsel and 15 years on the insurer side.

Outside of work, Richard has many interests, including sand sculpture, tennis, painting, gardening and collecting vintage tools.

Rita Russ is an underwriter at iSure Underwriting, currently working on the UK side of the business dealing with renewals and cancellations for the Sports & Leisure scheme, Medical Malpractice scheme and Beauty & Allied Health scheme.

She joined the company in July 2018, but has been in the insurance industry for nearly 40 years, with experience as a broker and underwriter, working for Royal Insurance, GA Bonus and Bluefin to name a few.

Outside of work Rita lives in a semi-rural location and loves going walking and mountain biking during her lunch hour and at weekends. She also entertaining and foreign holidays when allowed.

Rob Birchard is a portfolio manager for marine cargo business at Rokstone.

Rob started his insurance career in 1978 during which time he has worked in broking, for JH Minet (now Aon) and Alexander Forbes (now Lockton); and underwriting, for XL syndicate (now AXA XL), and the Sirius syndicate. He joined Rokstone in March 2021, having also recently worked for Starstone, Argenta, and Pioneer/K2.

Outside of work, Rob is a classic car enthusiast, and also enjoys golf, watercolour painting, and gardening.

Robert Hall is an underwriting services executive at Rokstone Underwriting, responsible for general administrative duties such as filing, scanning, creating documentation and contract endorsements as well as data entry and general ad hoc support.

He joined the Group in October 2021, having previously held various temporary roles in insurance, including as an admin assistant at MPI Group, at Gallagher supporting brokers in their medical malpractice team, and at Lockton in a marine processing support role for their marine hull and liability team.

Outside of work, Robert enjoys watching and playing football, gaming, and socialising with friends and family.

Robin Ungless is the portfolio manager for treaty and reinsurance outwards at Rokstone. Robin is responsible for the co-ordination of reinsurance purchasing and design, and underwriting a London market specialty book.

He has 30 years’ experience in the insurance and reinsurance market. He has worked at a multinational group, start-up and established Lloyd’s syndicates, working on the inwards underwriting and outwards purchasing, building out portfolios of business each time.

If he wasn’t working for Rokstone, Robin would be cooking in a restaurant with a view of the sea.

Roisin O’Callaghan is a commercial underwriter at iSure Underwriting, responsible for analysing business risk information and claims history.

She joined iSure in 2021, having worked in the insurance industry since 2001. Commercial underwriting is her background, but she has also worked as an insurance broker, selling a wide range of products.

Outside of work, Roisin likes to socialise with friends, go to concerts and shows, travel and see new places. She has three children and making memories with them is important to her. She is also secretary for her local GAA club, and likes to help out in the community where she can

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Rosemarie Wise is an IBA technician in the finance team.

She joined Aventum in December 2021, having previously spent 22 and a half years at AIG and 12 and a half years at HSBC Insurance.

Outside of work, Rosemarie likes the National Trust and cooking.

Samantha Girt is a credit control assistant for Rokstone. She is responsible for collecting, reconciling and allocating payments.

Previously Sam worked for a logistics company for seven years as a customer service manager. She joined Rokstone in June 2019.

Outside of work, Sam is a keen netball player.

Scott Fautley is a property underwriter at Rokstone. Scott is responsible for underwriting and maintaining the profitability of the waste property account, whether that be underwriting new business, renewals or ongoing risks.

He joined the group in February 2016, having started life in claims for RSA and QBE. He then moved into underwriting support roles at QBE and Allianz, and finally into Lloyd’s broking.

Outside of work, Scott has been a fairly serious photographer for around a decade. He plays the drums and is also a keen runner.

Sean Hickmott is a Senior Underwriting Services Executive. Responsible for assisting with the Waste and Recycling processing and management of the policies written, before joining the Aventum family Sean worked in insurance at Vibe Syndicate Management.

After seven years at his previous employer, Sean looked to Aventum for the career advancement he was searching for, with rapid growth being one of the main attractions to the position.

Away from the office, Sean plays golf - a lockdown skill that lives on, and he enjoys going to the gym and playing guitar, though not at the same time!

Sean Murray is the chief executive officer of iSure Underwriting.

He joined iSure in July 2015, coming from W.R. Berkley Corporation. His aim is to make specialist insurance easy to buy through the expertise of iSure’s people, the embracement of Insurtech and iSure’s agility and speed. He looks to capture value by operating with brokers who acknowledge and adopt iSure’s service proposition in return for being one of their primary providers. This has enabled iSure to build strategic relationships with a defined number of selected broking partners and offer a degree of exclusivity.

Outside of work, Sean comes from a sporting family, and played Gaelic football for his hometown of Ballinamore, County Leitrim, from an 8-year-old right up until he retired at the age of 33. He also played for the county team Leitrim at U-16, minor, U-21s and the Senior team.

Simon Bowring is a development underwriter at iSure Underwriting, responsible for driving forward the Sport & Leisure product, and the Medical Malpractice and Beauty & Allied Healthcare product.

He joined iSure in June 2019 to develop the S&L product. He had previously worked at Sportscover for 3 years where he headed up the Leisure team. His insurance background has also covered Film and Entertainment insurance.

Outside of work, Simon enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters – the eldest of which is a middle distance athlete, and the youngest a county level gymnast. When not taking them to competitions or training, he enjoys watching and playing cricket and football, swimming and taking part in ultra-distance marathons around the UK.

Before joining the Aventum family, Sophie worked at Guy Carpenter as a Senior Binders and Facilities Technician, getting into the industry in 2016. Sophie was excited to join Exponential to gain a foothold in a rapidly growing team.

Away from work, you will often find Sophie in the gym putting herself through her paces training for Obstacle Course Racing. Away from the gym, Sophie enjoys catching up with her family and friends.

As a creative person, Sophie enjoys painting in her spare time and would enjoy having a photographic memory if she could pick any superpower. 

Stacey Dunster is an underwriter at iFarm Underwriting, responsible for underwriting and dealing with account queries on that come into the farm and motor teams.

She joined iFarm in August 2016, and before this spent over four years working in medical risk assessment.

An interesting fact about Stacey is that she was once in a TV show called El Dorado – repeatedly voted the worst TV show ever made!

Steve Engeham is a senior underwriter at Novus Underwriting, responsible for profitably developing the Novus account and identifying new markets and products in line with company and capacity provider’s objectives.
He joined the group in June 2022, having previously spent 25 years as a warranty underwriter, including five years at Nex Assure, 16 years at QBE, and before than Domestic & General.
Outside of work, Steve enjoys mudlarking on the Thames with his eldest son, or painting in acrylics.

Steven has 23 years of work experience in the livestock and equine industries as well as a degree and upbringing in agriculture. He has 6 years of underwriting experience, consistently delivering profitable results. Steven was promoted to Senior Underwriter in 2020 and at AXA XL managed a $10 million GWP book of 75% livestock and 25% equine business. Steven has a strong knowledge of genetics across multiple species of livestock, as well as with Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses in the equine segment. Beyond his industry experience and technical knowledge, his strengths are in relationship development and management.

Stuart Kinsella is a property underwriter for Rokstone. Stuart is responsible for developing and managing the waste property facility business and expanding its global footprint into new territories.

Stuart joined the group in March 2014, as his first role within the London market. He previously worked as an insurance broker at Lloyds TSB and Bluefin.

If he wasn’t working for Rokstone, he would probably be trying to play golf on as many courses across the globe as possible. He also claims to possess the unique skill of being able to enter lookalike competitions under the names of Mick Hucknall, Ed Sheeran, Boris Johnson and Ricky Hatton.

Sydney Souery is an underwriting assistant at Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters, responsible for supporting underwriters through the policy management process.

She joined Rokstone CRU in April 2021. Prior to this she was an elementary school art teacher.

Outside of work, Sydney’s hobbies include creating art and hiking with her dog.

Terence Fung is the general manager for Asia at Novus Underwriting. He is based in Hong Kong and responsible for development in affinity business (warranty business) focusing on the Asia Pacific region. He manages Novus Representative Office in Hong Kong.

He has more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry, working within several insurance companies, reinsurance companies and reinsurance brokers, and is familiar with the reinsurance market worldwide, particularly the Asia Pacific region.

Outside of work Terence enjoys playing tennis, and watches Premier League football games – he is a big fan of Arsenal.

Theodore Leung is a senior underwriting services executive at Rokstone.
He joined the Group in March 2022, having spent the previous two years as a contingency underwriting assistant at Beazley.

Outside of work, Theodore is currently learning to play the guitar and drums. He also enjoys participating in creative projects with friends, and taking his bike out along the coast on sunny days.

Therese Smith is a commercial underwriter at iSure Underwriting, responsible for underwriting commercial renewals for both package and commercial combined policies.

She joined iSure in August 2019 working from the Cavan office. Prior to this, she worked as a commercial renewals underwriter with Liberty Insurance for 13 years.

Outside of work, Therese likes to get outside with her family as much as possible, from gardening to walking. She takes part in charity fundraisers and recently completed the 100k in 30 days, and the VHI Virtual Women’s Mini Marathon.

Thomas Shepherd is an assistant portfolio manager for marine and terrorism at Rokstone. Thomas focuses on servicing the company’s marine and terrorism delegated authority arrangements, including working with both producing brokers and Lloyd's syndicates to develop and grow product lines.

He joined Rokstone in October 2017 as his first job after attending Greenwich University where he earned a degree in criminology. He works closely with portfolio managers across multiple lines of business, providing operational support to portfolio managers.

Outside of work, Thomas enjoys playing hockey and golf.

Tim Franklin is the portfolio manager for international property and head of operations at Rokstone.

Tim has 30 years’ experience in the London and global insurance market, working for firms including QBE, Antares Syndicate and Wellington Underwriting. He has helped to establish and develop the existing Rokstone platform.

Outside of work Tim enjoys running.

Tom Green is a director at Aura Underwriting. Tom is responsible for underwriting and managing the Lloyd’s Caribbean property facility.

He has worked in the Caribbean (re)insurance market for eight years, establishing a successful career, merging Caribbean expertise and relationships, with the capabilities and technical knowledge of international markets. Tom previously worked at DUAL International, where he developed his career across all aspects of the underwriting chain.

When he isn’t working for Aura Underwriting, you’d probably find Tom out on a long walk with his beloved springer spaniel or doing some other sporting activity to compensate for being a big foodie.

Tom Martin is a senior portfolio assistant at Rokstone. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the processing team.

Prior to Rokstone, Tom worked for Aon’s in-house MGA AUM. He worked on the Lloyd’s led facility Aon Client Treaty, where his role was to underwrite property/construction business within delegated authority.

Outside of work, Tom enjoys watching boxing and football, and playing golf.

Prior to transitioning to the Rokstone team in May, Tony was CEO of Imperium Insurance, one of the Rokstone businesses he co-founded with David Bearman , CEO of Aventum. Imperium was the first UK company to provide its customers with a suite of agriculture products that could be bought online under its IFarm Underwriting brand. With 25 years of experience in both underwriting and Broking, Tony is leveraged to ensure Rokstone Agriculture Risk Underwriters will have products designed around the customer that are built with agility and speed, are easy to use and the distribution is supported by experienced underwriters which adds value to our customers, insurer partners and shareholders.

As a Senior Underwriting Services Executive, Valia Assenova joined Rokstone keen to be part of such an ambitious insurance company. Wanting to be part of something big, Valia was excited when she was approached by Rokstone.

Before joining the family, Valia worked in the insurance company Beazley, for two and a half years. They also previously worked in Spain, in the Risk Management department of the ceramic company Keros.

Away from work, Valia enjoys going to the gym and socialising with friends. They also love to travel and explore new places. Valia speaks Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian and some French as well.

He has over 17 years’ experience in (re)insurance, heading up various political violence, special risks and financial lines portfolios for a number of the large local companies with a vast exposure on the African continent. He has worked for various local/global companies including Swan Insurance, Axa Africa Specialty Risks, and Jubilee Insurance (Mauritius).

Wayne Murphy is the portfolio manager for aviation at Rokstone. Wayne is responsible for creating a diverse aviation portfolio, covering airlines, general aviation and airport liability.

He has over 30 years of experience in the global (re)insurance market, specialising in aviation and aerospace. Wayne has successfully established and developed businesses in Europe, North America, Australia, the Middle East and the Far East, producing leading results through attention to detail and commitment to his projects.

If he wasn’t working for Rokstone, Wayne would probably be racing his daughter down the slopes of Whistler with his son and wife not far behind them.

Zainab Mahmood is a portfolio assistant at Rokstone Aviation, responsible for entering risk details and updating the database.

Zainab joined Rokstone in October 2020, having previously spent over four years as a technical account assistant with Trust Re.

Outside of work, Zainab enjoys reading books and going to the gym.