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Don Brink worked in the life insurance underwriting area of Northwestern Mutual for 32 years before coming to Fasano Associates in May of 2019. He’s held various roles with the most recent being Senior Director of Technical Underwriting responsible for large case underwriting, reinsurance operations and technical oversight of 150 underwriters. Don owns a real estate business providing housing for the mentally ill.
Tafoya brings more than 25 years of insurance, underwriting, and automation experience to Predictive Resources. He is a recognized leader in the insurance industry, and is known for innovative solutions, especially related to updating and integrating new data sources to existing rules engines and predictive models. Prior to joining Predictive Resources, Tafoya was Head of Underwriting New Business and Underwriting R&D for MassMutual, where he led ongoing development of algorithmic underwriting, and partnered with clinicians, data scientists, vendors, underwriters and claims professionals to use digital health data to improve mortality, morbidity and longevity accuracy for both pricing and risk assessment.
Mr. Kirby has an extensive background in the Life Settlement industry dating back to 1997. Having begun his career with a Viatical Settlement broker in Florida, he helped pioneer the company’s entrance into the Life Settlement marketplace and completed some of the industry’s very first transactions. In 2004, Scott co-founded Abacus Settlements where he oversees business development and has helped the company grow to one of the leading Life Settlement Providers in the industry. Scott frequently speaks to a variety of financial services professionals including members of a number of National Insurance Marketing Organizations, Broker General Agencies, Broker Dealers and study groups. Scott is also a former Board member of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) where he helped craft language found in a number of the NAIC and NCOIL model acts in use today. He is a graduate of the University of Central Florida and resides in Windermere, FL.
Duarte has over 10 years of experience in sourcing and purchasing policies for Life Settlement Funds. She is responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with prospective and existing insurance agents, increasing policy origination through general agencies, financial advisors, estate planning and attorneys; and enhancing and expanding relationships with life settlements funders who are looking to seller their existing portfolios and to buy new policies. She also establishes and maintains relationships with a prospective and active investor base for policy origination and servicing.
Thomas R. Weinberger focuses his practice on asset-backed securities and corporate finance, with an emphasis on insurance and risk-linked securities and specialty finance companies. He has expertise in life settlements, reserve funding transactions, premium finance, longevity and pension risk transfer, alternative risk transfer and marketplace lending and other non-bank finance products. He advises clients on the formation of domestic and offshore funds that invest in the life settlement and premium finance asset classes.
Tom lectures on matters relating to the mortality and longevity markets, and he writes on topics involving life settlements and securities, as well as the financial aspects of alternative energy and climate change disclosures. He earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Note Editor of the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law. He earned his B.S., magna cum laude, from Yeshiva University.
Brian Casey, partner at Locke Lord LLP, serves as Co-Leader of Locke Lord’s Regulatory and Transactional Insurance Practice Group, and is a member of the Firm’s Corporate, Capital Markets and Health Care Practice Groups. Brian focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and structured finance and other transactional and regulatory matters for clients in the insurance, financial services and health care industries. His clients include insurance companies, insurance holding companies, managing general agents and insurance agencies, third party and claims administrators, banks and other financial institutions, investment banks and reinsurance companies.
Chris brings 30+ years of hands-on operational experience, extensive industry contacts and a focused vision to the firm. He has spent the majority of his career as a senior executive and principal of five life settlement companies playing key managerial roles in each of these businesses. Chris’s background includes spearheading efforts to develop scalable systems, designing, developing and refining workflows, recruiting and training key personnel, and positioning and marketing life settlement companies. Chris’s role at ISC is to develop new business, manage client relationships and promote the firm’s growth strategy.
Steven Sklaver is a partner and member of the Executive Committee at the litigation boutique Susman Godfrey LLP. Mr. Sklaver has recovered over $225 million in benefits in cost of insurance (COI) class actions for original and secondary policyowners, including COI increase and mandatory COI decrease cases. Mr. Sklaver is currently lead counsel in or filed COI class actions against AXA, PHL Variable, John Hancock, Security Life of Denver, ReliaStar, North American, First-Penn Pacific, Lincoln, and VOYA. Mr. Sklaver graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College, magna cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law, and clerked for the Honorable David Ebel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Mr. Shapiro founded Q Capital Strategies, LLC (“Q Capital”) in 2004 and has served as its President and CEO since that time. Since 2013, Mr. Shapiro has also served as President and CEO of Life Settlement Solutions LLC (“LSS”). Both Q Capital and LSS are full service life settlement companies, offering policy origination, servicing, independent policy valuation analysis, and consulting and advisory services. Previously, Mr. Shapiro was the President of MARK Partners LLC, a merchant banking boutique he founded in 2001. Mr. Shapiro has extensive experience in strategic consulting, investment banking advisory services, and private equity investing. Mr. Shapiro has held positions with several private equity and investment banking partnerships, including The Blackstone Group, LP and Centre Partners Management LLC. Mr. Shapiro holds a B.A. degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. in finance and entrepreneurial management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Nat Shapo, former Illinois Director of Insurance and head of Katten’s Insurance Capital Markets practice, litigates, argues and briefs cases in federal and state appellate and district courts throughout the country for a variety of clients. He represents insurers, licensees and insurance trade associations in regulatory and public policy matters in dozens of states and with federal agencies and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
During his four years as Illinois insurance commissioner, Nat was elected to the NAIC Executive Committee four times, twice as a national officer. He chaired several NAIC committees and was the lead US regulatory negotiator of a historic $275 million settlement with the German government and insurance companies for unpaid Holocaust-era policies. He consulted with Congress and federal bank regulators on the drafting and implementation of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (Financial Services Modernization) Act and helped draft the NAIC Statement of Intent for the Future of Insurance Regulation.
As director, Nat promulgated rules and regulations to implement Illinois’ Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act. He also sought and obtained passage of laws that eliminate the use of race as a factor in life insurance rating practices; ensured greater accountability in the corporate governance of insurance companies; and, monitored and provided civil redress against organized insurance fraud.