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Kathy Ryan, SPHR, is an award-winning author and owner of Pinnacle Coaching Group, LLC.  Over the last 30 years, Kathy has influenced thousands of people in the business and non-profit sectors through her coaching, consulting, speaking and on-site training. Her expertise covers a wide range of subjects including leadership, communication, human resources management, team dynamics, and performance management.

Kathy earned her B.A. degree in psychology and history from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and has been awarded a lifetime certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Society for Human Resources Management. She has experience working with diverse industries including insurance, hospitality and entertainment. She is certified in the use of the Myer-Briggs Type Assessment (MBTI), as well as a number of other assessments and tools to support development.

Kathy is author of the book, "You Have to Say the Words" An Integrity-Based Approach for Tackling Tough Conversations and Maximizing Performance, which won a Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association.  Her interactive training program based on the book has helped thousands of managers to improve their coaching skills and drive performance. Her articles on leadership and other personal development topics have been published in numerous magazines including the Insurance Journal. You can follow Kathy’s blog, Inspired Leadership, at www.CoachKathyRyan.com .

Frederick J. Fisher, J.D. is currently the President of Fisher Consulting Group, Inc. and was the Founder of E.L.M. Insurance Brokers, a Wholesale & MGA facility specializing in Professional Liability and Specialty Line risks. He is a Member of the Editorial Board for Agents of America;  a Faculty Member of the Claims College, and Member of the Executive Council, School of Professional Lines sponsored by the Claims & Litigation Management Association and Instructor for the Academy of Insurance.

Since his career began, Mr. Fisher focused on one vision: providing financial security to the client. The result was a successful 40-year career in Specialty Lines Insurance. In 1975, Mr. Fisher began his career on the service side, as an Independent E&O claims adjuster. In 1982, he bought the Company, continued with claims, while expanding the firm’s services to include qualitative claim auditing, risk management & loss control services, and acting as a TPA. In only 4 years, the annual billings increased by 400%. His claim auditing techniques and recommendations resulted in substantial client savings (including the SCRTD now known as the Los Angles MTA). Many Insurers and self-insureds adopted not only the performance standards raised in the audits but adopted his recommended Attorney Management Guidelines as a base, which are still in use today by many major insurers. 

In 1995, he formed what is now known as ELM insurance Brokers, a firm that has acted as an MGA and Wholesale Broker of Professional Liability Insurance and Specialty Lines. From nothing, the firm grew rapidly to a $30 Million dollar facility when sold in 2008. He has lectured extensively on professional liability issues since 1978 and authored over 64 articles in trade journals and periodicals. He is the author of BROKER BEWARE, Selling Real Estate within the Law. He designed a program to conduct on-site pre-underwriting risk management assessments of a clients' professional liability exposures. In 1993, he was elected to the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) Board of Trustees. After serving in all Officer capacities, he was elected President in 1997. He remains a Special Materials Expert for several RPLU courses and is the Senior Technical Advisor for The Professional Liability Manual, first published by the International Risk Management Institute in 1990. He has taught over 100 CE classes and lectures. He testifies regularly as an expert witness in cases dealing with the duties and obligations of professionals as well as on coverage and claims-made issues.

Nancy Germond is the Executive Director, Risk Management and Education, for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, the “Big I.” She is located in Phoenix, Arizona. With almost four decades of risk management experience, her unique insights and abilities help businesses better understand and manage their risk. Nancy has authored scores of risk management-related articles, and white papers and has consulted and presented to public-sector and private-sector insurance organizations. She is a licensed P&C agent and adjuster.

A second-generation insurance professional, Nancy was the first risk manager of the City of Prescott, Arizona, and has worked in the private and public sectors as a claim and risk manager. Nancy holds a B.A. in Communication from Mills College and a Master’s degree in sociology from Lincoln University. She also holds the Associate in Risk Management, the Associate in Claims designation from the Insurance Institute of America, the Insurance Training Professional Designation from the Society of Insurance Trainers and is a Senior Professional in Human Resource Management.

Chris Burand is the Owner/Founder of Burand & Associates, LLC.  Chris is the only insurance agency consultant with an Institute of Business Appraiser’s Certified Business Appraiser Accreditation and one of the very few who are certified by the two largest E&O carriers to provide audits for agencies.  With more than 35 years of experience in the insurance industry, Chris is acknowledged as a leading consultant and is a nationally recognized speaker and author.  His broad experience and wealth of knowledge have enabled him to work with hundreds of agencies, taking great care to learn the client’s goals and understand their needs while developing a solution for their specific situation.

Chris combines education, experience, and knowledge from multiple perspectives at proven levels that few other consultants or educators can provide.  This enables Chris to provide holistic solutions.  Chris’s services help agencies, individuals, and carriers identify strengths and opportunities, optimize productivity and profits, implement real-world strategies, leverage resources, and develop realistic plans of action in order to maximize profitable growth.

Chris established Burand & Associates in 1992 (originally known as Growth Planning).  As a consultant, Chris has consulted with hundreds of agencies and many major insurance carriers.  He built and now facilitates two insurance agency networking associations.  He is also a featured speaker across the continent.  To date, he has presented more than 400 seminars and educational programs, and his articles have also been published more than 500 times.  He is a monthly columnist for The Insurance Journal, a past columnist for American Agent & Broker for eleven years, and his articles have appeared in Rough Notes, The National Underwriter, A.M. Best, many regional insurance publications, and many other trade publications.  He also publishes Burand’s Insurance Agency Adviser for independent insurance agents.

Areas of Expertise

Insurance Agency Appraisals:  Chris Burand’s professional services include appraisals for Acquisitions and Sales, Buy/Sell Agreements, Mergers, Dissolutions, and Perpetuation Planning.

Contingency Contract Analysis:  Contingency contracts offer opportunities to increase compensation through negotiations and strategically placing business.  Chris Burand’s Contingency Contract Analysis® service provides the information agents need to take advantage of those opportunities.

Note:  Chris Burand and Burand & Associates, LLC are advocates of agencies which constructively manage and improve their contingency contracts by learning how to negotiate and use their contingency contracts more effectively.  We maintain that agents can achieve considerably better results without ever taking actions that are detrimental or disadvantageous to the insureds.  We have never and would not ever recommend that an agent and/or agency implement a policy of, or otherwise advocate, increasing its contingency income ahead of the insureds’ interests.

PEP® (Productivity Enhancement):  Chris’s innovative statistical algorithm method for identifying procedural consistency, compliance, activity cost, and opportunity cost savings.

Carrier MD® Stability Analysis:  A unique analytical method for creating opportunities to learn negotiating points and insurance carrier stability from an agency’s perspective.

Producer Compensation Plans:  Chris Burand develops plans that increase profits and motivate producers.

Chris Christian stumbled into insurance in 1985 as a temporary employee at GAF Insurance Services, a bank-affiliated insurance agency in San Diego.  After six years with GAF, Chris moved to the carrier side, opening the San Diego branch office of RLI Corp, an underwriter of specialty lines of insurance.  The San Diego office was dedicated to Directors and Officers Liability coverage, and was the launching pad for Chris’s specialization in professional liability.

Chris left RLI in 1997 to establish her own underwriting facility at London American General Agency and branched out thereafter into professional liability broking.

Chris joined U.S. Risk in November of 2005 and six months later relocated herself, her significant other, and 26 animals to Tennessee, where she continues her pursuit of the art and science of professional liability broking, and contributes to the industry as a frequent speaker, author and association participant.

Terry has been in the insurance industry since 1979.  In an attempt to enjoy a little slower paced life he has joined the Correll Insurance Group of agencies as the President of Coastal Plains Insurance, LLC (CPI) and South East Coastal Underwriters (SECU) in beautiful Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Terry is part owner and responsible for the day to day operations of CPI and SECU. 

Prior to Terry's joining CPI he was owner and CEO of Florida Insurance Educators , Inc. which is an insurance education and consulting firm that in conjunction with Florida  Insurance School worked with state and national organizations provides a variety of educational courses and consulting services.

Terry continues to accept national speaking engagements and writes technical articles for a variety of state and national insurance publications. In his spare time Terry is also recognized by Federal and State courts as an expert on insurance coverages and serves as an expert witness.

Terry began his career in 1979 in Florida. The majority of this time was spent as the principal of an independent insurance agency in Florida where he specialized in a variety of Professional Liability programs as well as designing several specialty programs serving the Construction industry.

Terry has also worked with the Florida Department of Insurance where he was the Administrator of Agents Licensing. His primary responsibilities included the approving individuals for agent licensing and supervision the writing of all state insurance examinations. During this time he also represented the state of Florida on the National Test Development Committee which sets standards for agents licensing examinations.

Currently, Terry holds a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation and is a National Faculty Member of the Society. In addition, he serves as the Educational Consultant in the States of North Carolina.  Terry also holds a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriting (CPCU) and Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist CRIS) professional designations.

John’s career in the insurance profession spans more than four decades. He has served in underwriting and management roles with global and national insurance carriers. He has also seen the other side of the business, in roles as a retail agency producer, wholesale broker underwriter, and Underwriting Quality Assurance Leader with an MGA firm. John has experience in multiple markets, from the Southeast (Atlanta and Nashville), Pacific Northwest (Seattle), Southwest (Phoenix), and Midwest (Chicago), as well as multiple locations in Texas (Dallas and Houston).
John earned the CPCU designation in 1989 and earned the Associate in Marine Insurance Management (AMIM) designation that same year. A long and interesting career in Marine and Inland Marine, as well as E&S Property insurance ensued, with John leading teams in developing and underwriting portfolios of property, cargo, hull, marine liabilities, and all Inland Marine classes of business. John has served on Marine panels at industry events, as well as presented marine-centric Continuing Education courses in multiple states.
John earned a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Phoenix in 2017. A lifelong learner, he began pursuit of the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation in 2021. He is licensed as a resident retail insurance agent in Tennessee. John is the Founder and Director of Instruction for River Tree Consulting, LLC, an insurance continuing education provider based in Nashville. Working with The Risk and Education Alliance, John is presenting RUBLE Advanced Topic Courses. John has served as an adjunct faculty member for the Insurance Professional School, presented in conjunction with the Council of Insurance and Brokers (CIAB) and the University of Georgia. He is presently partnering with Fisk University in Nashville as part of their newly launched Risk Management and Insurance concentration.
John recently retired as a Vice President with Zurich North America as part of their Wholesale Property practice. He is presently serving on the Board for the Mid Tennessee CPCU Chapter, having previously served as Chapter President (2024) and Treasurer (2022 and 2023). Additionally, John is a member of the Underwriting Interest Group for the CPCU Society, and presented on “Building Codes and Hurricane Damage” to the Interest Group at the 2024 In2Risk Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

David Paul is a principal at ALIRT Insurance Research, a firm specializing in the analysis of insurance company financial performance trends.  ALIRT’s quarterly insight into the underlying financial strength of life, property & casualty and health insurers allows distributors and buyers of insurance products to better understand macro financial trends in U.S. insurance markets as well as anticipate financial stress and/or rating downgrades of insurance partners before they occur.  ALIRT also provides in-depth intelligence on carrier financial performance to insurers and asset managers.

David was a founding member of ALIRT Insurance Research (1999), building out the company’s life, property/casualty, health, and international analytical models/services.  David co-directs the company’s research staff, manages internal IT initiatives and product development, pens a number of the firm’s insurance industry research pieces, and is actively engaged in client service and business development.

David has over 25 years of experience in insurance research and financial analysis and is active in the industry as an author and public speaker.

Celebrated keynoter, facilitator, author and ICF-certified workplace productivity and business leader coach, Marsha Egan is devoted to energizing people to make the best use of their time so that they can lead their lives and achieve great stuff.

Focused on enabling growth through people, she applies her experience and skills to helping her clients achieve their personal, professional, and organizational goals.

Marsha Egan, CPCU, CSP, PCC, is CEO of the professional coaching firm, The Egan Group, Inc, which she started. She is an ATHENA Foundation Award recipient, one of PA's 50 Best Women in Business, and past president of the CPCU Society. A 25-yr. veteran of corporate & volunteer America, Ms. Egan intuitively reinvents leadership, by igniting leaders and entrepreneurs with positive change, interpersonal impact and innovation.

Joseph Junfola has spent over 40 years as an insurance claims professional. He has specialized in long-term exposure, or continuous property damage/bodily injury/toxic tort claims on a national basis for close to 30 years. He has specialized in construction defect, product liability, and design professional liability claims, including construction accident claims, particularly third-party-over actions in New York.

In his early days, he handled automobile bodily injury claims, both on a primary and umbrella basis, in the State of New Jersey. He first qualified as an expert in the evaluation of automobile bodily injury claims in Federal Court in the early 1990's.

He has since formed Junfola Claim Consulting Services to provide coverage and claim analysis, policy language review, litigation support, and more. He has also joined the Insurance Risk Management Institute as an Expert Commentator.

A staunch believer in continuous learning and improvement, Joe has earned the following professional designations: CPCU, RPLU, RPLU+, SCLA, AIC, ASLI, ARe, AU, ARM, CRIS, AIS, MLIS, AIC-M, and AIDA. His continual drive for education has seen him earn these additional certificates: Executive Certificate in Negotiations from the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, the Home Inspection Certificate through Rutgers University and the National Institute of Building Inspectors, and the Certificate in Law and Legal Process from Southern New Hampshire University.

He has published several articles and an eBook, Construction Defect Claims, A Handbook for Insurance, Risk Management, Construction, & Design Professionals.

When he started as an insurance agent with a direct writer in 1976, Casey never contemplated arriving where he is today.

Since that time he has worked as a personal lines producer and sales manager, commercial producer and sales manager, insurance consultant, continuing education teacher, and provider as well as a sales and sales management trainer, consultant, and expert witness.

In 2010 Casey formed Laurus (lorus) Insurance Consulting.  His company’s name was chosen with specific intent and purpose.  The name “Laurus” is derived from Latin words meaning “victory” or “success”.

The main purpose of Laurus Insurance Consulting is to help insurance professionals reach their goals and sales potential; ie, to achieve Their Desired Personal & Business Success. 

His history includes various stints as a leader on a local and state basis within the Independent Insurance agency business model.  He has achieved his various industry designations over a number of years and is contemplating his next one.

His continuing education efforts include teaching topics on a national level as varied as: insurance agents/brokers errors and omissions, workers’ compensation, agency management, all personal lines topics, farm property & liability, excess & umbrella, risk management, agency operations, and multiple commercial lines topics.   

Casey’s other passions include a seldom improving golf game and officiating boys and girls high school basketball in the greater Sacramento region.

He resides in Lincoln, California with his wife, Elaine MacKay, and their two dogs, Buddy & Bear.

Tom Wetzel, industry journalist and digital marketing consultant for independent agents, started with the Insurance Information Institute and later then headed a state association of insurers. He worked for several major public relations agencies, developing campaigns for companies and associations, including the Society of CPCU. He is a frequent contributor to major insurance publications, served as the social media columnist for Rough Notes and now writes a column for agents in the Insurance Journal called “Tech Talk.”   His consulting firm has helped hundreds of agencies with websites, blogging, and social media services.  He also stays in touch with agents and companies through his workshops and presentations, his blog “The Good Risk,” as a participant through many social media groups, as moderator of “Social Media Management for Insurance Industry” on Facebook and as a member of the Insurance Marketing & Communications Association (IMCA).   He has presented hundreds of presentations over the years to national and state agent associations and clusters.

E. Stuart Powell, Jr., MA, CPCU, CIC, CLU, ChFC, ARM, AMIM, AAI, ARe, CRIS
Vice President of Insurance Operations and Technical Affairs
Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina, Inc.
North Carolina Association of Insurance Agents, Inc.

Stuart has been personally involved in the insurance business for over 35 years. He joined the staff of IIANC as Director of Education in 1995. In 2004 Stuart assumed the supervision of IIANC’s insurance operations. He currently manages the designated insurance agency for the State of North Carolina placing all coverages which the State does not self insure, is administrator of the IIANC Errors and Omissions Insurance program of agents and manages the insurance benefits operations for members of the Association. Stuart continues to teach occasionally, is a frequent speaker on insurance matters and is a technical resource for the membership of IIANC.

Prior to joining the IIANC staff, Stuart was the owner of The Powell Agency, Inc. of Reidsville, NC, a family agency whose roots can be traced back to the 1890’s. He has been a frequent instructor of insurance courses. Stuart is on the National Faculty for the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors. He has taught in various CIC Institutes and Graduate Seminars. He is the author of numerous articles on insurance and related matters. He is also a past president of the Piedmont North Carolina Chapter and a past board member for the Eastern North Carolina Chapter of the Society of CPCU. Stuart served on the National Producer Advisory Council for Commercial Union Insurance Company from 1979-1981. In 1991 he was presented the Ernest F. Young Education Award by IIANC. Stuart is a member of the Business Advisory Council for the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business at Catawba College.

Stuart graduated from Catawba College in Salisbury, NC with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Philosophy. He received a Master of Arts degree from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC where he was the recipient of a Graduate Scholarship and Fellowship. Stuart’s graduate studies involved a group of Oxford University writers and scholars known as the “Inklings” which included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis among others. He has written articles and lectured on The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia.

Stuart is married with two children and four grandchildren. His current hobbies include weightlifting and studying classical languages.

Abi Potter Clough, CPCU, MBA, is an author, keynote speaker, and freelance insurance writer. She writes and speaks about insurance, risk, leadership, and change. Abi is the author of Life After Leaping In and Top 10 Lists For Relocation. Connect with her on social media or at Abi1Leads@gmail.com.