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Join us for a panel discussion with some leading experts in Microinsurance for a general overview of the sector and learn about the different types of Microinsurance products and the different delivery models. This panel will discuss the opportunities and challenges of linking Microfinance and Microinsurance. 

Panelists:

Tom Brunner, General Counsel, LeapFrog Financial Inclusion Fund

Tom is widely recognized as one of "America's Leading Business Lawyers" (Chambers USA; Best Lawyers in America; Lawdragon; Who's Who) and one of "the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers" (Legal Media Group; International Who's Who of Business Lawyers). He also serves as Chair of the Insurance Practice at Wiley Rein LLC. Over 25 years, Tom has been counsel to numerous insurers and insurance industry organizations - including on mergers and acquisitions, professional liability, and reinsurance - and overseen due diligences and regulatory compliance in international insurance PE transactions. He was lead US counsel for Winterthur Insurance in its successful "baseball arbitration" concerning its sale of two insurers, a $800 million award. Tom has been founding counsel for several industry groups. He holds a J.D. from Yale and an A.B. cum laude from Columbia University.
 

Casey Gheen, Co-Founder and CEO of Avana Microinsurance

Before founding Avana, Casey conducted business development activities for AIG’s Microinsurance practice.  She has completed consulting and volunteer assignments for number of anti-poverty and microfinance organizations, including the Millennium Village Project, Acumen Fund, Globalhood, Habitat for Humanity, and Upwardly Global. Casey is a former Vice President at Goldman Sachs where she participated in the issuance of more than $5 billion in bond transactions for governmental clients.  She has a BS in economics from the University of Wisconsin and received a Master in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Prof. Jean Kwon, Faculty Chair of the School of Risk Management, St. John’s University

Prof. Kwon is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and a Fulbright Senior Specialist. Prior to joining the School in 2002, he worked as an educator with Georgia State University and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), as an insurance regulator with Monetary Authority of Singapore and as an industry specialist with the American Institute for CPCU/IIA. In summer, he visits overseas universities, including recently National Chengchi University (Taiwan), Hitotsubashi University (Japan) and Meiji University (Japan). He helped to establish Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association (APRIA) in 1997. He played a role in the creation in 2005 of and organizing in 2005 and 2010 the First and Second World Risk and Insurance Economics Congress (WRIEC), a once-in-five year academic forum jointly organized by APRIA, American Risk and Insurance Association, European Group of Risk and Insurance Economists and The Geneva Association.

He has authored several books. Of which,, Risk Management and Insurance: Perspectives in a Global Economy (Wiley/Blackwell, Boston & London) won the 2009 Kulp-Wright Book Award and is being used by professors in about 15 countries. He continues to publish papers in academic and professional journals, present research findings at various conferences, and offer services to several academic journals. He offers research and consulting services for inter-government organizations, government agencies and firms in the private sector in the US and abroad. He specializes in country and insurance market analysis, insurer financial and operation analysis, insurance regulation and niche markets. He promotes risk management and insurance in developing and lesser known economies. Professor Kwon studied risk management and insurance at The College of Insurance (now the School of Risk Management) (MBA) and Georgia State University (Ph.D.)

Hallie Harenski, Vice President, Emerging Consumer - Microinsurance, Zurich Financial Services

Ms. Harenski is currently Vice President of Emerging Consumer-Microinsurance, focused on building end-to-end service-focused distribution and processes partnering with both commercial and public-private entities, and product innovation tailored to serve the needs of underserved customer segment for Zurich Financial Services. 

Before joining Zurich, she was responsible for International Direct Marketing (DM) at Metlife, overseeing DM operations in over 16 countries representing $700M in production focused on Life, Accident, Savings and Credit products. Prior to Metlife, Ms. Harenski held various positions within AIG including Regional Direct Marketing Manager for Latin America, Life and Non-Life; General Manager for AIG Marketing Europe, Rome, Italy; and, as the Manager for Direct Marketing in American Home Assurance, Seoul, South Korea.  She earned her MBA from George Washington University in International Business and Marketing in Washington, DC, and her Bachelors of Arts in International Service and Masters in TESOL from American University also in Washington, DC.

Moderator:

William Finkelstein, Co-Treasurer, Microfinance Club of New York

William Finkelstein has served on the Board of the Microfinance Club of New York since 2006.  He is an Associate in Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Consumer & Retail investment banking group. He previously was a Portfolio Research Associate at HIP Investor. William's microfinance experience includes internships at the United Nations Capital Development Fund and Grameen Bank. He is interested in microinsurance and increasing access to capital markets for microfinance institutions. William holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a B.A. from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.

Note: This event is is co-sponsored by MFCNY and ACCION USA Microfinance Council and is free for the active members of either group.