Committee Members

Jason Behrer, Starr Indemnity & Liability

Jason Behrer joined Starr Companies in May 2019 as the North America Construction Manager for Builder’s Risk. Prior to that, he had spent nearly 12 years with Liberty Mutual in offices around the world. He joined Liberty International Underwriters in May 2007 in the role of Construction Underwriter in San Francisco. After 4 years of managing the construction portfolio for Liberty in the Western U.S., he was invited to work with the London team to continue to develop his insurance and construction knowledge with a more global perspective. Whilst in London he worked on many +$1bn projects, including tunnels, bridges, refineries, and power generation facilities and was actively involved with the London Engineering Group (LEG). After 4 years in London as the lead Senior Underwriter for Liberty Specialty Markets, he returned to the US in 2015 to manage the Construction product line for LIU and reestablish LIU’s presence in the market.

Prior to entering the insurance industry, Jason worked for 5 years as an engineer and sales representative for PERI Formwork Systems, a German-based global concrete construction subcontractor. He started as a project engineer in the Boston office after university and then transferred to the Northern California office 3 years later. Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Steve Gregoire, J.S. Held

Steve Gregoire has specialized over the last decade in providing investigative and forensic accounting services to the insurance industry related to the review of claims involving financial damages including business interruption losses, extra expense claims and property damage claims. In addition, he has assisted in various litigation support assignments including consultant to attorneys in damage claim analysis, preparation for depositions and information requests for discovery.

His experience includes work performed throughout the world involving petro-chemical and refining, conventional and renewable power generation, heavy industrial manufacturing, agricultural industries, steel manufacturers, private universities, food and product manufacturers, hospitality, small and large retail businesses and various service industries.

Marc Giovannetti, Engle Martin

Marc Giovannetti recently joined Engle Martin as a Senior Executive General Adjuster primarily focused on Energy, and Complex Construction independent adjusting practice. Prior to joining Engle Martin, Marc spent 20 years in various carrier claim management roles, handling a variety of complex insurance products, with a special emphasis on large commercial insurance property claims. Marc’s resume includes leading various teams in the areas of Energy and Construction both domestically and internationally. He has handled a wide array of construction losses including the construction of power facilities, refineries, LNG production facilities, petro-chemical plants, tunnels, and roadway projects. Marc currently is on the executive board of PowerConference Inc. and the Builders Risk Construction Symposium. He holds a JD from Pace University School of Law, and a BA from Manhattanville College in Purchase New York.

Jonathon Held, J.S. Held

Jonathon C. Held has been with J.S. Held since 1977 and has been President and CEO since 1985. During that period, he has overseen the growth of the firm from a small regional two-man consulting company into an internationally respected organization with global reach.

Jon has consulted on many of the largest and most complex catastrophic insurance claims in history, including the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in NY, the litigation between Firestone Bridgestone and its insurers for damages sustained to the Harbel Rubber plantation during the Liberian Civil War, the AOL Time Warner Center fire in NY, The Amtrak Superstorm Sandy litigation, and many of the world’s most visible claims. He is widely considered the expert of choice in large complex “bet the farm” cases.

With an unparalleled reputation in the dispute resolution arena, Jon has been a panelist in hundreds of claims and was the party appointed appraiser in the four largest claims ever to be resolved in the appraisal process. Throughout his career, he has testified in numerous courts across the United States and has considerable experience as an arbitrator and umpire.

Anthony Scariano, Sedgwick

Anthony is a Senior Executive General Adjuster in Sedgwick’s New York Office Property Department. Anthony’s area of expertise includes Builders Risk/Construction claims in various sectors. Other areas of expertise include manufacturing losses in industries such as Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Telecommunications, Heavy Metal Working, Hospitality, Semiconductor, Food Processing, Real Estate, Aerospace, Data Processing, and Steel.

Having a degree in Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering, Anthony started his insurance career as a Loss Prevention Engineer for Industrial Risk Insurers in 1989 and moved into Property Claims in 1991. Anthony moved to VeriClaim in October 2000 as an Executive General Adjuster.

Philip Silverberg, Mound Cotton

Phil Silverberg has more than thirty years of experience in counseling insurers and reinsurers in a wide range of first-party coverage matters, including builder’s risk claims. Phil’s litigation practice has included arbitrations, trials, and appeals. He has litigated in state and federal courts throughout the United States and has served as national coordinating counsel for insurers on matters arising out of 9/11 and other catastrophes, including Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. He also has lectured nationally and authored articles on reinsurance and various coverage issues including issues arising out of builder’s risk insurance. Phil is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and is admitted to the New York and New Jersey bars. He has been recognized for his achievements as an attorney in the field of insurance coverage by, among other organizations, Chambers USA and New York Super Lawyers.

Patrick Kelleher, Meaden & Moore

Patrick has nearly two decades of experience working in the area of forensic and investigative accounting field. He has extensive experience in the commercial insurance claims area, evaluating claims of financial damages, including builder’s risk, business income, property and fidelity matters ranging from $50,000 to $150 million in damages.

Patrick’s engagements included a variety of different industries including agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality and construction. As a result of his experience, Patrick has also been involved in a number of litigation support and arbitration engagements where he has provided support and expert testimony.

Education: Providence College, Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Cum Laude; Boston College, Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Monica Christopher, J.S. Held

Monica Christopher serves as the Builder’s Risk & Construction Symposium’s Event Chair. In her role, she oversees all aspects of the organization and event from start to finish. Monica is a highly organized and forward-thinking marketing and business development professional with 20 years of experience in developing integrated marketing strategies that support and align with sales and revenue goals.

She also currently holds the position of Chief Marketing Officer at J.S. Held LLC, Monica manages all marketing, digital, branding, and business development efforts for the organization. She also helps lead corporate development initiatives including communications, employee engagement, and training and development.

Monica is active in her community and serves on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Dream Fund, a not-for-profit agency dedicated to making dreams come true for children with a life-threatening illness. She was also a founding partner of the Tampa Bay Chapter of Social Venture Partners.

She holds a MBA degree from the University at Buffalo where she studied Marketing and Management.

Casey Gallagher, Engle Martin

Casey Gallagher serves as the Builder’s Risk & Construction Symposium’s event support member. In her role, she directly supports Monica and the committee members with marketing communications, website updates, LinkedIn advertising, event logistics, and secureing event sponsorships.

Casey earned her position with the Builder’s Risk & Construction Committee by working alongside Monica during her time as a marketing and business development manager at J.S. Held. In 2022, she retained an opportunity to with Engle Martin as Senior National Account Executive. She has over 10 years of experience in the insurance industry and 4 years of business development experience.

Casey currently holds an Associate of Arts in Business Administration and is working towards her Bachelor’s in Corporate Communications with a minor in Marketing.

Eugene Choi, HDI Global

Eugene Choi leads the US Engineering Lines and Construction team for HDI Global Insurance Company and is based in Chicago, IL.  He is responsible for the construction builders risk, renewable energy, contractors equipment, and civil engineering completed risks portfolios in the US .  Before joining HDI, he was previously with Zurich, served clients in the insurance, oil and gas and construction industries at AT Kearney and began his career working on construction disputes.

He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Eric Davis, AON

Eric is a senior member of the national team within Aon’s Construction & Infrastructure practice. In this role he is responsible for the design, placement, and servicing of first-party property insurance programs for large, complex construction projects across a variety of industry segments.

Prior to joining Aon in 2022, Eric most recently served as a builder’s risk underwriter at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance focusing on major energy, industrial, and heavy civil infrastructure construction projects.

Eric began his career in 2002 with Zurich where he ultimately held senior builder’s risk underwriting roles in their Dallas and London offices. While working in London, Eric was also involved with the London Engineering Group as both a company delegate and a member of the LEG Executive Committee. Following his time at Zurich, Eric worked in the risk management group at KBR, and was also a partner at Wortham Insurance in Houston where he focused on broking for a variety of builder’s risk and operational energy property placements.

Eric earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002.

Mark Gadaire, Chubb

Mark has more than 30 years of experience as a loss control representative, underwriter and underwriting manager concentrating on construction exposures.

Mark currently manages the New York Major Accounts Inland Marine Region and serves as Major Accounts Builders Risk Product Practice Leader for the United States.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Lowell, MA and has completed the advanced training courses offered by Swiss and Munich Re.

Natalie Kenny, WTW

Natalie Kenny serves as a Senior Construction Property Broker for the Willis Towers Watson North American Builder’s Risk Broking Team and is based in New York, NY. In this role, Natalie is responsible for leading the placement design, marketing and implementation of large and complex construction property programs including Master Builder’s Risk, Project Builder’s Risk and Contractor’s Block. Additionally, Natalie nationally manages key carrier partner relationships in the construction property space.

Natalie joined WTW in 2022 but has served clients in the construction industry for 20 years delivering strategic builder’s risk property placement solutions for both contractors and owners. Prior to joining WTW, Natalie worked at Marsh where she led the construction builder’s risk center of excellence for the Northeast. She was responsible for working with clients from a wide range of industries including
contractors, real estate/developers, homebuilding, manufacturing, hospitality, and public authorities.

Mark Katz, Ryan Specialty Group

Mark Katz is General Counsel of Ryan Specialty Group, a leading specialty insurance services organization providing wholesale brokerage, binding authority and managed underwriting services to retail brokers and insurers. Mark has the responsibility for leading the company’s Legal, Compliance and Regulatory functions.

Prior to joining Ryan Specialty, Mark was with Manhattan law firm Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass for 25 years, 18 as a partner, where he analyzed and litigated complex insurance coverage disputes with a special emphasis on commercial first-party property coverage litigation.

Kanen Matthews, AXA XL

Kanen Matthews is currently a Senior Claims Specialist with AXA XL. Kanen is based in the Philadelphia area and has over 10 years’ experience in the insurance industry. Kanen began her career at Hartford Steam Boiler as a staff adjuster handling commercial and residential reinsurance Equipment Breakdown claims. After 3 years in a specialty adjuster and business development role, Kanen moved to Mutual Boiler Re (FM Global) to continue handling claims and working on the partner company relationship. Kanen left the reinsurance world and joined AXA XL as a Claims Specialist in 2017, handling complex commercial property losses in Equipment Breakdown, Energy and Construction lines. Since joining AXA XL, Kanen has assumed responsibility for oversight of the Builder’s Risk book of business. Kanen has experience with losses involving contractor’s extra expense, delay in completion, subcontractor/general contractor disputes, and owner insurable interest. Projects insured by AXA XL range from $10M – $1B in value and vary from apartment renovation work to bridge completion.

Kanen is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a Bachelor’s in Music Management and holds a CPCU designation.

Patrick McBride, Zurich

Patrick McBride is Head of Construction Property for U.S. National Accounts at Zurich North America. He is responsible for leading Zurich North America’s national construction property efforts. He works closely with key brokers and agents to design, develop and deliver innovative and comprehensive first-party risk transfer solutions. McBride is supported in his role by Zurich’s regional Construction Property underwriting managers, team leaders, underwriters and underwriting assistants.

His underwriting experience is complemented by his prior broking experience. McBride rejoined Zurich in 2018 from Willis Towers Watson, where he was the Middle Market Broking Leader for the Mid-Atlantic Region, providing leadership and oversight across all lines and industries in the Middle Market space. Prior to his current role as Head of Construction Property for Zurich North America, McBride served as the Construction Property Leader Zurich’s South region. He started his career as an underwriter and served in capacities of increasing responsibility within the Construction Property team at Zurich.

He is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.

Michael Pignataro, Marsh U.S

Michael Pignataro is Marsh U.S.’s Contractor Builders Risk Leader and has been with Marsh since April 2022. He serves as a broking leader managing a team of brokers specializing in first-party construction insurance as it relates to contractor clients. Immediately prior to Marsh he served as the Regional Head of Energy & Construction for Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty where he was responsible for managing a team of underwriting managers in the United States and Canada for operational energy, operational power generation, operational mining, and construction property. Michael Pignataro specializes in construction property insurance, with US and international underwriting experience through roles at Allianz, AIG, Talbot and XL Catlin.

William Rivera, Swiss Re

Will Rivera is responsible for managing Swiss Re’s United States Facultative and Treaty Engineering portfolio that includes Builder’s Risks, Civil Engineering Completed Risks, Machinery Breakdown, Contractors Plant and Equipment and Inherent Defect Insurance. Within this role, Will works directly with ceding companies as well as reinsurance brokers to deliver solutions to meet Swiss Re’s client’s needs. Will Rivera joined Swiss in 2011 with an initial focus of Treaty underwriting. Prior to Swiss Re, he worked as a Business Analyst for Hiscox Insurance and UBS Investment Bank. Before joining the Service industry, Will Rivera served as a Research and Development Scientist for Johnson & Johnson and a Project Engineer at Cargill.

Will received his B.S. in Industrial and Management Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

Robert Tricamo, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

Rob Tricamo is Senior Vice President and Head of Construction Property for North America at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI), where he started-up the Builders Risk operation in January 2014.

Rob has been in the insurance industry for 29 years, starting his career as a risk control consultant for IRI and since then, he has been underwriting energy, technical property, large commercial property and engineered risk lines of business.

Rob has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

At BHSI, Rob targets a wide range of builders risk business ranging from energy and process industry projects to heavy civil works and four-wall building construction.

Joe Vierling, AXA XL

Joe Vierling manages the Construction Property Group from New York for the North America Region. Prior to joining AXA XL, Joe was the Product Line Manager at Arch Insurance Company and his responsibilities included the development and monitoring of underwriting standards and guidelines, underwriting administration, and assignment of underwriting authority to the field.

Joe’s prior experience includes the role of Product Line Manager in the Engineered Risk Department of Swiss Re America. He was responsible for the underwriting, product development and marketing within the Eastern Region for all traditional engineering business including civil works. Joe began his career as a Fire Protection Engineer with Industrial Risk Insurers. He also held positions as an Underwriter and the Global Property Underwriting Manager for the New York City Region for Kemper Insurance Companies.