WBN is member-driven, and our Board of Directors is drawn from member firms from across the globe, representing both the commercial insurance and employee benefits disciplines within the network. The board plays an instrumental role in the long-term direction of the network.

ALEX GILMORE

WBN Chairman

Price Forbes, London, UK

Alex is an Executive Director of Price Forbes and Partners. He joined the business in 1999 and is one of the original shareholders. His previous experience included seven years in Germany working for both Gerling-Konzern Globale and Sedgwick.

Alex is also a Director of Sino Insurance Brokers, Hong Kong, which is partly owned by Price Forbes and is currently Chairman of the Worldwide Broker Network.

He is a graduate in mathematics at Sheffield University and an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Price Forbes is one of the largest independent London-based international speciality brokers with over 400 employees and premiums handled in excess of USD1Bn. Price Forbes is part of the Ardonagh family of companies which is a top five insurance broker in the UK and top 20 globally.

BRIAN HETHERINGTON

WBN Treasurer

ABD Insurance, San Mateo, California, U.S.

Brian is CEO and Co-Chairman of ABD, a specialty insurance and financial services firm serving global clients from their Northern California headquarters. Brian helped launch the ABD Team in 2012 to focus on providing the best advocacy while leveraging technology for the benefit of both clients and the firm. With 165 professionals located in San Francisco, San Mateo, San Jose, and Walnut Creek, the ABD practice areas include Employee Benefits, Retirement Services, Property & Casualty, Executive Protection, Private Client Services, and more.

DANIEL de SWAAN

WBN Corporate Secretary

Meijers Assurantien B.V., Amstelveen, the Netherlands

Daniel joined Meijers as CFO in 2005 and is responsible for all staff activities in Finance, IT, HR, Facilities and Legal & Compliance. In addition, he also heads up the private clients team, Meijers Assuradeuren, the in-house underwriting agent, and he serves as liaison between Meijers and Meijers Credit, the trade credit subsidiary. His prior experience was with Uni-Invest, a large real estate investment company in Amsterdam, and in London with J.P. Morgan Investment Bank’s Merger & Acquisitions team.

CRISTINA de URIARTE

Grupo Concentra, Madrid, Spain

Cristina joined Grupo Concentra in 2009 as director of financial lines (focusing on high net worth individuals, specialty corporate, and D&O coverages), which has led to Concentra’s recognition as a leader in serving Spanish mid-market and venture-capital funded enterprises. She also has served as director of Concentra’s international department since its inception in 2015, the year that Concentra became a member of WBN. Prior to entering the brokerage field, Cristina had an extensive career as corporate legal counsel with publicly traded firms, and as outside counsel with expertise in financial markets, M&A, and regulatory strategy.

GURPAL SINGH DHINGRA

Prudent Insurance Brokers, Mumbai, India.

Gurpal first joined his family’s brokerage firm, Prudent, to establish its Bangalore office. He quickly grew the business, making Prudent the second largest insurance broker in Bangalore, and eventually, India. Gurpal was instrumental in identifying new opportunities in the Indian market and helping them gain scale. As a sales and marketing lead, he undertook new business initiatives on various fronts including technology identification and deployment, human resources, consulting, international business, and relationship management. As one of the top EB professionals in India, he led market-leading initiatives that helped Prudent become the number two commercial lines broker in the country ahead of Aon, Willis, and JLT. With a keen understanding of international business and immense experience in the sphere, he is well versed with the ethos, philosophy, and members of the WBN network.

LISA HAWKER

Hylant, Toledo, Ohio USA

Lisa has over 23 years of experience in employee benefits, the past 15 years at Hylant, where she is responsible for the overall growth, retention, profitability, best practices, and strategic direction of the firm’s US$46 million EB operation, spanning 16 offices. Lisa created Hylant’s global benefits role, which today serves 139 clients, representing $16 million in revenue. Since 2017 she has been active on WBN’s Employee Benefits Steering Committee, and notes that “WBN is much more than a professional network; it is a partnership of friends sharing core values, mutual respect, and a desire to serve our clients, above all.” Lisa completed two terms on the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ (CIAB) Employee Benefits Executive Committee. She serves on numerous insurance carrier advisory committees and speaks nationally on issues related to health, employer-sponsored health plans, and health plan innovation. She is a proud graduate of Hanover College and the recipient of its alumni achievement award.

DAMIEN HONAN

Honan Insurance Group, Victoria, Australia

Damien started at Honan Insurance Group in 1984, helping to place Heavy Motor Insurance policies in Melbourne. With a vision to be a global insurance broker, in 1993, Damien purchased the business and continued to diversify Honan Insurance Group from life, general and heavy motor insurance broking to include corporate and business insurance broking. In 2001, Damien’s vision of becoming a global insurance broker became a reality when the company became a member of the Worldwide Broker Network, which enabled the business to place insurance for international companies expanding to Sydney and to the Gold Coast in 2007, Brisbane in 2008, New Zealand in 2009 and Singapore, Asia’s financial and insurance hub, in 2010. Today, the firm employs over 100 people in three countries. A former Chairman of WBN, Damien is now Director-Asia Pacific.

FLORIAN KARLE

Südvers Gruppe, Au bei Freiburg, Germany

Florian has been CEO and Managing Director of the Südvers Gruppe, one of the leading privately owned insurance brokers and sixth-ranked overall in Germany, since 2000. The Group generates about 300 million euros in premium and employs about 380 insurance experts in 6 branch offices around the country and 6 locations in Austria. Südvers was one of the founding members of WBN and Florian has served on the board since 2003 and was chairman in 2012–14.

MARKHAM McKNIGHT

BancorpSouth, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.

Markham was chairman of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in 2008. He has been a leading commercial insurance executive for three decades, serving as executive vice president of Wright & Percy Insurance, one of Louisiana’s oldest and largest insurance agencies, from 1982–1994, and president and CEO of Wright & Percy Insurance from 1994 to 2005. BancorpSouth Bank, a subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc., acquired Wright & Percy in 2003. He has served as President of BancorpSouth Insurance since 2005. He has an MBA from Louisiana State University, serves as treasurer of the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (by appointment of the Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance), and is a member of the board of directors of the American Bankers Insurance Association.

SUSAN MURPHY

HUB International, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Susan is President of the Ontario region at HUB International, coming from the role of President and CEO of HUB’s Totten Insurance Group, where she was responsible for providing leadership and direction and for managing the profitability of Totten as well as its partner insurance carriers. Susan started her career in the life insurance industry with Sun Life Assurance Company before moving to property and casualty sector, holding executive leadership positions with CNA Canada, GCAN Insurance (an OTPP company) and RSA Canada. Areas of specialty include product and program development, distribution management and market relationships. In 2012, Susan moved to the broker side of the business.Susan is a graduate of Harvard Business School.She has written and contributed to many industry articles in national insurance publications.

WALID NEHME

Associated Insurance Consultants, Dubai/Abu Dhabi, UAE & Cairo, Egypt
Daman Insurance Services, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

CEO of AIC, which also operates as Daman Insurance Services , Walid has held positions with both insurance companies and insurance brokerage firms, as well as memberships in the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS) – USA; the International Employee Benefits Association – Belgium; and Association Internationale du Droit des Assurances (AIDA). In 1995, he was appointed by the Lebanese Ministry of Justice to a committee charged with updating the country’s Insurance Law. Fluent in French, English and Arabic, he received a diploma in Insurance from Beirut’s St-Joseph University in 1991, followed by a degree in Advanced Mathematics from Lebanese University.

NEIL RAYMOND

Pacific Prime, Hong Kong

Neil Raymond was born and educated in the UK. He attended the Universities of Warwick and Cambridge and in 1997 attend INSEAD business school in France to complete an MBA. In 1999 he moved to Hong Kong and founded Pacific Prime, an insurance distribution company focused on employee benefits. The company has grown to become a leading global advisor with offices in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Dubai, UK, USA and Mexico. Today the company employs more than 500 staff and works with over +3,000 SMEs and Corporate clients around the world. A WBN member firm since 2017, Pacific Prime is very focused on supporting its clients with bespoke and innovate software solution.

GABRIEL RICO

Fidex, Mexico

Gabriel is Partner and Commercial Director of Fidex, which he founded in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002. He has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry specializing in business development, risk management, and employee benefits. Fidex joined WBN as a member firm in 2009, and since then has continued to grow its multinational presence across all insurance lines. His prior experience was in risk management at Femsa, a large Mexican multinational, and in corporate sales at a leading insurance company. Gabriel received his undergraduate degree in engineering and his MBA from Tec de Monterrey. He is also an IPADE Business School graduate.

MATTEO SCAGLIARINI

Andrea Scagliarini, Bologna, Italy

Matteo is CEO of Andrea Scagliarini SpA, the brokerage founded by his uncle, Andrea. Matteo joined the firm as a director in 1999, after working as a reinsurance broker in Paris. The fourth generation of his family to pursue a career in insurance brokerage, he has been in the CEO role since 2004 and has led the firm to become a prominent broker for multinational clients in the Italian marketplace. A graduate of the University of Bologna, Matteo has been chairman of the WBN European Steering Committee and board member of the Italian Brokers Association.