Meet
Our Team

Brian Blessing joined Torus/StarStone in November 2010. Mr. Blessing started as a Business Development Manager for Torus’ Central Region from 2010-2013, before joining the ESCAPE/eCommerce division to build and lead the eCommerce Distribution team. In March 2018, Mr. Blessing took on the role of SVP, US Distribution for StarStone, and continues in that role today. Mr. Blessing started his insurance career in 1997, working for two global insurance companies and a global insurance broker before joining Torus. He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps Reserves where he served from 1990-1998, and graduated from Purdue University with a BA in Organizational Communication and Organizational Leadership & Supervision in 1996.

Cliff Bogh has served as Head of Workers’ Compensation at StarStone since November of 2018. He began his insurance career with Eagle Insurance Companies in 1997. In 1999, he left Eagle to join Montlake Holdings where he managed the underwriting operations of two self-insurance funds serving the oil & gas industry. While at Montlake, he held positions of increasing responsibility including Senior Underwriter, AVP-Underwriting and ultimately Vice President-Underwriting. In 2007 he joined PointSure Insurance Services (a wholesale affiliate to SeaBright Insurance) and eventually became AVP of Underwriting Operations. He later transitioned to StarStone National Insurance with the title of VP-Underwriter for StarStone’s Workers’ Compensation product and held that position until his promotion to SVP. Cliff holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington State University.

Kardiner Cadet serves as Senior Vice President of the eCommerce division and has been with the company since May 2009. In this capacity Mr. Cadet is responsible for ongoing operations and evolving the division’s digital strategy primarily through the ESCAPE platform. He brings a multidisciplinary approach to the position well-suited for an industry where underwriting, technology, artificial intelligence, analytics, and customer experience continue to intersect. He has over 25 years of experience in Property & Casualty Commercial Lines with a focus on digitizing products. His product digitization experience spans Excess Casualty, Healthcare Professional Liability, E&O, Lawyers Professional Liability, Underground Storage Tank Liability, and Medical Stop Loss Insurance.

Tim joined the Lancer Group in 2012. He has over 20 years of experience in insurance underwriting and marketing. He began his career in 1999 as an Assistant Broker with Besso Limited in London. In 2000, Tim joined AIG’s National Union (Executive Liability) in New York as an underwriter in the National Accounts Division. Over the next eight years he held several positions, including three years as National Accounts Regional Manager in San Francisco and, later, Assistant Vice President in the home office. In 2008, Tim joined Ironshore Insurance, eventually becoming Senior Vice President of Management Liability Products. Tim is a graduate of Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.

Todd Dixon has been part of the Excess Casualty team at StarStone since May 2009 serving as Regional Vice President for the South Region from May 2009 to September 2018. Since September 2018, Mr. Dixonhas served as Head of US Excess Casualty. Prior to joining StarStone, Mr. Dixon was Vice-President at Risk Placement Services from March 1998 to May 2009 and was part of the start-up of the Atlanta brokerage operation for RPS. Mr. Dixon served as a Casualty Underwriter for Great American Insurance from April 1995 to March 1998 after starting his insurance career as a binding authority Casualty Underwriter for Atlanta based MGA, Southern Insurance Underwriters and serving there from June 1992 to March 1995. Mr. Dixon graduated from The University of Georgia receiving a BBA in Risk Management & Insurance in May 1992.

Gerald Dupre is Senior Vice President, Head of Excess and Surplus Lines, for Core Specialty, a role he assumed upon the acquisition of Hallmark’s Specialty Insurance, where he was President and Chief Underwriting Officer. Gerald is a veteran insurance executive, with prior leadership positions at StarStone, Axis, and Allianz. Gerald is a member of the WSIA Board of Directors and sits on the WSIA Diversity Foundation Board. He Co-Chairs the WSIA National Internship Program for WSIA as well.

Kevin Eagen joined Core Specialty in August of 2021 as President of the Equine Division. Previously, he served as the Vice President of Equine & Bloodstock at HDI Global Insurance Company after leading a team of underwriters at the Equine Division of Great American Insurance Group. Mr. Eagen is a lifelong horseman, owner & breeder, who grew up on a working cattle & crop farm. He has his AFIS designation and is a member of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association, United States Equestrian Federation, American Saddlebred Horse Association, and American Morgan Horse Association.

Bill Fischer is the President of Agriculture for Core Specialty, a role he has held for two years. Bill is a 25-year veteran of the crop insurance sector, with previous experience at Validus, James River, and Endurance Re. Bill holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from North Dakota State University.

Jeff joined Core Specialty in December of 2020 and serves as Head of the E&O Professional Liability Division. Prior to joining Core Specialty, Jeff was Vice President at Tokio Marine HCC which he joined in 2019 through the acquisition of NAS Insurance Services. For the three years at NAS and TM HCC, Jeff held various senior level management positions concentrating in areas from underwriting, product management, operations to sucessfully leading the NAS regional expansion. In his most recent role, Jeff was Vice President of the Professional Lines Division responsible for leading the strategic direction of the Lawyers’ Professional Liability Product along with acting in the capacity as Chief of Staff for the Division which encompassed four separate product verticals: Allied Healthcare/ Social Services, Architects & Engineers, Employment Practices, and Miscellaneous Professional Liability. Over Jeff’s 30-year career, he held various underwriting management and leadership roles for both insurance Carriers and National MGU operations. His underwriting experience has encompassed a multitude of Professional and Executive Liability products along with over 10 years experience managing commercial P&C specialty programs.

Jeff holds a B.B.A. degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Temple University along with an MBA in finance from Philadelphia University. He maintains an IL Property Casualty Producer license; IL Surplus Lines license and he received his RPLU designation from the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS).

Tim McAndrew has been Head of US Marine and Energy for StarStone since November, 2015. Prior to that he worked at Mutual Marine Office (1989-2010) which later became ProSight Specialty (2010-2015) where he was Executive Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer of the Marine and Energy Department. Prior to 1989, Mr. McAndrew worked with Navigators, Highlands and Allstate Insurance companies. He is a graduate of Lafayette College and attended Rutgers University Graduate School for Business. Mr. McAndrew attained Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate in Marine Insurance Management (AMIM) designations.

Stephen joined Core Specialty in January of 2021 and serves as Head of the D&O Management Professional Liability Division. Prior to joining Core Specialty, Stephen was Vice President at Hallmark Financial Services which he joined in 2017. For the three years at Hallmark, Stephen held a senior level management position concentrating in areas from underwriting, product management, operations to successfully leading the establishment and expansion, nationwide. In his most recent role, Stephen was Vice President of the Professional Lines Division responsible for leading the strategic direction of the Directors and Officers Liability Product along with Employment Practices Liability and Fiduciary Liability. Over Stephen’s near 30-year career, he held various underwriting management and leadership roles for both brokers and insurance Carriers. His underwriting experience has encompassed a multitude of Professional and Executive Liability products along with many years’ experience managing a commercial surety book. Stephen holds a B.A. degree in Business Administration and Management from Taylor University.

Adam Newman joined StarStone in January 2010 serving in various capacities for the Company until 2014 when he was named VP and Head of U.S. Program business. Prior to joining StarStone, Mr. Newman was Senior Vice President and Co-Founder of HSBC U.S. Intermediaries (2006 to 2009), a U.S. based MGA writing Oil & Gas business. Prior to HSBC, Mr. Newman was Senior Underwriting Manager at AIG’s Global Energy Middle Market (GEMM) Excess Casualty division (2002 to 2006). Between 1997 and 2001 Mr. Newman was an independent Agent and a Securities broker at Northwestern Mutual / Robert W. Baird Securities, and began his career in 1996 as a Broker Trainee at Smith Barney.

Alison Oliphant joined StarStone US as the President of Property Division in late June 2020. Prior to joining StarStone, Ms. Oliphant’s career over the last two decades has spanned both property wholesale brokerage and underwriting with CRC Insurance Services, Amwins, and Velocity Risk Underwriters (a subsidiary of Nephila) serving in many roles including production and leadership. From 2001-2008 Ms. Oliphant was with CRC Insurance Services and departed as Senior Vice President, Senior Property Broker. From 2008-2010 Ms. Oliphant was President of Amwins Special Risk Underwriters (SRU). As president of this group, she was responsible for the initial build of the business unit for Amwins. SRU is a proprietary property underwriting group exclusive to Amwins brokers underwriting on behalf of various Lloyds Syndicates and Domestic Carriers. From 2010-2015 she was instrumental in launching both the Birmingham and Satellite Beach branches of Amwins and led the Birmingham office along with having a brokerage book of business from 2010-2015 until her departure in late 2015. She then went on to build and launch the commercial lines division of Velocity Risk Underwriters (VRU) on behalf of Nephila fromthe end of 2015-2019. She graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in Speech.

Bill joined the company in October 2022, with the acquisition of Hallmark Specialty. Prior to Hallmark, he worked with Markel in various underwriting and business development capacities, including Underwriting VP Western Region in Scottsdale and Managing Director of Delegated Authority with Markel International in London. Earlier positions included VP of Underwriting for Nationwide’s Western Heritage Insurance Company. He also held leadership positions in MGA operations earlier in his career. Virtually all of Bill’s career has been devoted to specialty lines and binding authority business. He holds a Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and the CPCU designation.

With over 27 years of litigation and claim management experience John Reitwiesner leads the Core Specialty Claims Department and is responsible for the management and oversight of all Claims.

Prior to joining Core Specialty, Mr. Reitwiesner has litigated for both the plaintiffs’ bar as well as the defense bar specializing in general liability, trucking, labor law, environmental, liquor liability, premises liability, program business, medical malpractice, workers’ compensation and various other Excess and Surplus lines of business. He has developed coverage analyses for domestic and international excess and reinsurance providers in diverse industries. He has conducted auditing services, analyzed risk exposure, insurance reserves, claims administration, underwriting and efficacy of defense counsel on both a domestic and international basis. Mr. Reitwiesner has experience in multi-jurisdictional litigation and in negotiating favorable settlements for high exposure claims and effectuating constructive resolution of cases with institutional and individuals clients. John has a full working knowledge of insurance industry standards and practices, as it relates to his ability to successfully manage claims. He graduated from St. John’ University with a BA in Criminal Justice in 1993, and received his JD from Quinnipiac University in 1998.

Scott joined Core Specialty in March 2022 as the President of the Fronted Programs Division. Prior to joining Core Specialty he worked in corporate development and finance roles at Ambac Financial Group, Inc., Acrisure, LLC and Core Specialty’s predecessor company, StarStone. His career has spanned multiple facets of the insurance industry, beginning in insurance investment banking. He graduated from Washington and Lee University with a BSc. in Accounting and Business Administration with a second major in Politics.

Ryan Young was appointed the Head of US Healthcare in January 2017. He joined StarStone as one of the original Healthcare team members in May 2010. Having been with Torus/StarStone for over ten years, Mr. Young has been engaged in all facets of the underwriting and re-underwriting of the Healthcare portfolio. His skills include but are not limited to marketing, actuarial pricing, reserving, policy form drafting, reinsurance, and the development and deployment of an Escape Portal product. Mr. Young has extensive experience in small and large account pricing across a wide variety of healthcare trade sectors. Prior to joining the Torus/StarStone, Mr. Young held underwriting positions at AIG and Zurich located in NYC.

Mr. Consolino is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Core Specialty. 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 Core Specialty Board, Mr. Consolino is currently a director of Amwins Group, Inc. and Beat Capital Ltd. and has served on the board of directors for AFG, 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

Ed was previously Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO of Validus Holdings and has over 40 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry. He served as Chairman and CEO of Validus from its formation in 2005 until its acquisition by AIG in 2018, guiding the company through multiple phases of expansion and diversification while managing capital and retaining a core focus on shareholder value. Mr. Noonan has served as Chairman of StarStone in 2019. Prior to Validus, Mr. Noonan was acting CEO of United American Indemnity from February 2005 through October 2005, and a member of the Board from December 2003 through May 2007. He previously served as President and CEO of American Re-Insurance Company from 1997 to 2002, having joined American Re in 1983, and was Chairman of Inter-Ocean Reinsurance Holdings from 1997 to 2002. Prior to joining American Re, Mr. Noonan worked at Swiss Reinsurance from 1979 to 1983. Mr. Noonan received a B.S. in Finance from St. John’s University in 1979. He is also a Director of Central Mutual Insurance Company and All American Insurance Company, both of which are property and casualty companies based in Ohio.

Dom Addesso is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. He brings more than 41 years of experience in the (re)insurance market. His most recent role was as President and CEO of Everest Re Group since January 2014 before retiring at the end of 2019. Starting in June of 2011 he assumed the duties as President of Everest Re Group, leading group operations, after serving as CFO since 2009. Prior to Everest he held various roles at Munich Re America beginning in 1997 including President of US Treaty. Addesso first began his insurance career in 1978 at Selective Insurance after attaining his CPA designation while at KPMG.

M. Steven DeCarlo is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. He serves as executive chairman of Amwins Group, Inc. Previously, he served as chief executive officer of Amwins for 17 years, leading the business through the merger of several specialty wholesalers. He has served on the Amwins Board of Directors since he joined Amwins in December 2000. Mr. DeCarlo began his career with Crum & Forster and later joined The London Agency (today part of Chubb) as its chief financial officer.He was a founding partner of Royal Specialty Underwriting (RSUI), serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer, later becoming senior vice president of what was then RSUI’s parent company, Royal & SunAlliance USA. In 2009, Mr. DeCarlo was the winner of Ernst & Young LLC’s prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year® award in the Carolinas for the financial services category. He is active in the insurance community and was named the National Insurance Industry Council’s Spirit of Life honoree, raising more than $2.7 million for the City of Hope to support research for life-threatening diseases. A graduate of East Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, he serves as a member of the ETSU Board of Trustees, is a member of the ETSU Foundation, and is also affiliated with the Distinguished President’s Trust.

Mr. Delaney is a Director of Core Specialty. He has been the CEO of Lancer Financial Group since he co-founded the company in 1985. Mr. Delaney’s background includes 44 years of insurance and reinsurance experience with American International Group, American Re-Insurance Company, American Risk Management (Reiss Group), Delaney Intermediaries, Inc. and Lancer Financial Group. He is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, and has received that institution’s Outstanding Professional Achievement Award.

Matt Ebbel is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. He established SkyKnight Capital in 2015. He is a current member of the Board of Directors of Amwins, MedVet, Watco, WhiteWater Express, and AeroCare. Prior to founding SkyKnight, he was a Managing Director at New Mountain Capital (2003-2015), where he helped the firm grow from a first time, $770 million private equity fund to a $15 billion alternative asset manager. Mr. Ebbel began his career at McKinsey & Company (2001-2003) as a business analyst in corporate finance and strategy. He graduated from Harvard College (class of 2001), Magna Cum Laude, with a B.A. in Economics and is a CFA charterholder.

Don Larson is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. Mr. Larson is a CPCU / CPA (inactive) and is the retired President and Chief Operating Officer of Great American Insurance Company, where he worked for more than 40 years. Mr. Larson has considerable experience in the property & casualty insurance business including specialty lines. He is also a Director of Skyward Specialty Insurance.

David Ni is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. Mr. Ni currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of Enstar Group since May 2022 and was previously the Executive Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions since joining Enstar in 2019. Prior to joining Enstar, Mr. Ni spent his career as an investment banker working in the U.S. and in Asia, and was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank with responsibility for leading M&A in financial services. Prior to that, he was with Goldman Sachs for more than 10 years covering the financial services sector. Mr. Ni graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard.

Paul J. O’Shea is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. He has been a director of Enstar since the Company’s formation in 2001 and is a company co-founder. Mr. O’Shea was named President of Enstar Group in December 2016. Prior to this, he served as Executive Vice President and Joint Chief Operating Officer of Enstar Group Limited from 2001, and as a director and Executive Vice President of Castlewood Limited, which is now a subsidiary of Enstar Group Limited, from 1995 until 2001. From 1985 until 1994, he served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and a director of Belvedere.

Marc Stad is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. He is the founder and portfolio manager of Dragoneer Investment Group, based in San Francisco. Prior to founding Dragoneer, Mr. Stad 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. He has served as a director of Amwins since 2015. Mr. Stad received his AB in Government from Harvard University and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Chris Watson is a non-Executive Director of Core Specialty. He is a Partner and co-head of the insurance team at Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm investing exclusively in the financial services sector in industries such as insurance, financial technology and services, investment management and markets, banking and credit, and healthcare. The firm is based in New York and has an office in London. Prior to joining Aquiline in 2005, Mr. Watson served in a variety of executive roles within the property and casualty insurance businesses of Citigroup and its predecessor entities. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Insurance Group and served on the Risk Committee and Planning Group for Travelers’ insurance operations. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and then President of Commercial Insurance Resources, Inc., a specialty lines insurance company subsidiary of Commercial Credit/Citigroup. Earlier in his career, he held various management positions at American International Group (NYSE:AIG). Mr. Watson is a member of the Boards of Directors of ERS, a Lloyd’s syndicate; Wellington Insurance Group; Armour Group Ltd.; Aspirion Health Resources; CoAdvantage; Utilant, LLC; and the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science at St. John’s University. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the City University of New York.