Bios 

Richard J. Carbone
Executive Vice President
Chief Financial Officer
Prudential Financial

Carbone joined Prudential as CFO in July of 1997 and was elected executive vice president in 2008. Previously, he was the Global Controller of Salomon, Inc., and a Managing Director of Salomon Brothers.  He also served for a brief period as CFO of Salomon Brothers Europe, based in London.

Carbone was recruited by Salomon in May 1995 from Bankers Trust New York Corporation. At Bankers Trust, he was Senior Vice President and Controller from 1988 to 1993. In 1993, he joined the Bankers Trust Individual Services Group as Managing Director, supervising the Brokerage, Banking, Trust and Custody areas as well as Operations and Technology for the Private Banking Business.  

He began his career at Price Waterhouse & Co. in 1976, and left to join E.F. Hutton Group, Inc. in 1981, where he rose to Senior Vice President and Deputy Controller.

Carbone received an MBA from St. John’s University and is a Certified Public Accountant.  He served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 to 1972.

Carbone was a board member of The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE), where he served as Chairman from April 2005 to April 2007, and served as a member of the International Accounting Standards Board Insurance Working Group.  He’s also on the Board of Trustees for Mount Loretto Mission of  the Immaculate Virgin for Homeless & Destitute Children.

Stephen L. Deschenes
SVP & General Manager, Annuities Division
Sun Life Financial U.S.

Stephen L. Deschenes is Senior Vice President & General Manager for the
Annuities Division for Sun Life Financial’s U.S. Operations. He was named to
this position in June 2009. In this role, Mr. Deschenes will oversee Sun Life’s annuity business line,
working with the company’s marketing, actuarial and distribution units to
build best practices and create a diversified portfolio of competitive products
that meet advisor and customer retirement income needs.

Prior to joining Sun Life, Mr. Deschenes worked for MassMutual Financial
Group, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
for the Retirement Income Group. Before joining MassMutual, he served as
Executive Vice President for Fidelity Investments. Mr. Deschenes joined Fidelity
Investments in 2003 and led product development and marketing for the
defined contribution business. He also co-led the company's Retirement
Leadership Forum, an enterprise-wide initiative focused on building an overall
retirement strategy producing several major launches including the Fidelity
Retirement Institute and new retirement income products. He is also a founder
of the online financial advice site mPower (now part of Morningstar).

Mr. Deschenes graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University with a
BA in Psychology and Social Relations. He holds NASD Series 7 and 24
licenses.

Russ Diachok
President & CEO
Geneos Wealth Management

 A highly regarded leader in the Rocky Mountain region's securities brokerage and life insurance iundustries, Russ has been actively involved in the business for nearly three decades.  Prior to co-founding Geneos Wealth Management, Inc. in 2002, Russ was with Multi-Financial Securities Corporation, a full service broker/dealer from 1981-2002.  When it was acquired by ING, he was promoted to President and CEO, a position he held until 2002.  Under his leadership, the company grew from 350 to 720 independent registered representatives over a five year period.  Russ is a member of the Financial Services Institute (FSI) and the Financial Planners Association (FPA).  Additionally, he served as a board member of the FPA's Rocky Mountain Chapter from 1992 through 1997, including a period as President (1994-1996) and Chairman (1997) of the Board.  He also currently serves on FINRA's district business conduct committee for District 3.  Russ holds several securities licenses, including Series 7, 24, 65, 63, and commodities series 31, and is Life/Health licensed in all 50 states.  An avid skier and golfer, Russ enjoys traveling with his wife Dodie and spending time with their children and grandchildren.

Steven J. Goulart
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
MetLife, Inc.

Steven Goulart joined MetLife, Inc. as Senior Vice President – Corporate Development in June 2006. He is responsible for managing the corporate mergers & acquisitions department and for various other corporate development activities. During his tenure, MetLife has completed 15 strategic transactions, including the innovative tax-free split-off of RGA, acquisitions of SafeGuard, Afore Actinver, EverBank Reverse Mortgage, First Horizon Home Loans and Odonto A, and the sale of Texas Life. Prior to joining MetLife, he was a Senior Managing Director in Bear Stearns’ Financial Institutions Group. Prior to joining Bear Stearns in 2001 he headed US client coverage in Morgan Stanley’s Global Insurance Group. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 1998, he was Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group at Merrill Lynch, where he had been employed since 1984. He has led or participated in many significant transactions in the industry, including the demutualizations and IPOs of Allmerica Financial, John Hancock Financial and Phoenix Companies, the merger of Travelers and Primerica,  the formation and subsequent sale of Tempest Re, the sale of Enhance Financial, the IPOs of Hartford Life, Bristol West, Citizens Corp., IPC Holdings and Neuberger-Berman, and numerous strategic transactions and financings for many financial services companies. Steven received a B.S. in business administration from the University of Pacific, where he was elected to the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame and currently serves as a member of the Board of Regents, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Terry Jacobs
Americas and Global Director of Insurance Industry Tax Services
Ernst & Young

Located in Washington DC, Terry is involved with advising insurance clients in conjunction with many of the firm’s tax professionals. He also works with the Internal Revenue Service and Congress on matters involving insurance companies, including corporate restructurings, international tax, insurance product issues, consolidated returns, and other tax issues.

Terry is responsible for maintaining a strong worldwide network of experienced insurance tax professionals.  In addition,  he is responsible for ensuring that the right resources are available that tax and business knowledge are shared to better serve the needs of global clients.

Terry started with Ernst & Young in Des Moines and has served insurance organizations for the past 25 years except for a two year period while he was at the Department Of Treasury.  As the global leader of the Ernst & Young Insurance Tax sector and a member of the Global Insurance Network.

Terry has a B.B.A., a Masters in Accounting, and a J.D. from the University of Iowa.  He also has an M.L.T. from Georgetown University.  Terry is also a member of the Federal Bar Association, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Donna Kinnaird
President
Swiss Re Life & Health America Inc.

Donna Kinnaird is President of Swiss Re Life & Health America Inc. and she joined Swiss Re in 2002.

Kinnaird started in public accounting and eventually held CFO and COO Positions with primary insurance companies, acquiring an extensive background in primary life insurance and life acquisitions.

She is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accounts.

Ms. Kinnaird earned a Bachelors degree in Accounting from Indiana State University and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Butler University.

Donald E. Lippencott
MSFS, President & Owner
Lippencott Financial Group

He is a native of Port Jefferson, New York, married, and has six children and four grandchildren. Donald joined New York Life Insurance Company in 1983, after attending Gordon College in Wenham, MA. Shortly thereafter, he joined his father's agency Lippencott Associates. During his fifteen years with his father's agency, his competence in the financial services industry steadily grew, and in 1996, he earned a Masters degree in Financial Services (MSFS) from  the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA. While a member of Lippencott Associates, his principal activity was to sell, service and manage the insurance and financial products recommended to the firms' clients to meet various short and long term objectives. These included Life Insurance, Mutual Funds*, Pension and Profit Sharing Plans, Business Succession and Continuation Planning, Individual Retirement and Estate Planning.

Since establishing Lippencott Financial Group in July of 1997, his focus has been on helping successful business owners and their families plan for business succession, estate distribution and retirement planning. In addition, he continues to maintain over 2,700 growing clients developed during the last 24 years.

Donald's Credentials Include:

• Lifetime Member of the Million Dollar Round Table
• Member of Top of the Table
• Member Suffolk County Life Underwriters Association.
• Member of the National Association Of Life Underwriters
• Equity and Board Member of NYLARC (New York Life Agent owned Reinsurance Co.)
• Member of the Nautilus Group^ since 1994.
• Board Member of NYL PAC

Some Industry and Company Awards presented to Donald in the past several years include:

• National Sales Achievement Award
• National Quality Award
• Agent of the Year
• North East Agencies Second Vice President

He consistently earns the New York Life's highest production level awards. Chairman's Council for the past 18 consecutive years and Chairman's Cabinet for past 11 consecutive years.  Donald is one of only 9 agents, company wide to reach this milestone.

The Honorable Carolyn B. Maloney
Congresswoman
United States House of Representatives
Member
Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Spo0nsored Enterprises for the House Financial Services Committee

Mark Puccia
Managing Director
Standard & Poor’s

Mark Puccia is a managing director in Standard & Poor’s Financial Institutions Ratings. As Chief Criteria Officer of Insurance Ratings worldwide, Mark is responsible for establishing insurance rating criteria for property\casualty insurance, reinsurance, life\health insurance, bond insurance, mortgage insurance, and various international insurance company ratings. He established Standard & Poor’s initial ratings of life/health insurers and property/casualty insurers in the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Mark is also a member of Standard & Poor’s Analytics Policy Board, which oversees the criteria and analytical policies of Ratings Services.

Mark’s prior work experience includes several years with Chase Manhattan Bank’s insurance lending group arranging multi-million dollar credit facilities for several large insurers. He arranged the first foreign financing for the country’s largest stock-owned diversified financial services institution. He previously served as a senior management analyst with Connecticut General Corp.’s group pension operations. Mark holds a B.A. in economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Pennsylvania.

Roger A. Sevigny
Commissioner
New Hampshire Insurance Department

Commissioner Sevigny leads a staff of 81 employees, and is a very active member of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). He currently serves as the President of the NAIC, Chair of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Internal Administration (EX1) Subcommittee, Chair of the NAIC Legislative Liaison Committee, Chair of the Government Relations Leadership Council Task Force, and member of the NIPR (National Insurance Producer Registry) Board of Directors. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner he held the position of Assistant Commissioner of New Hampshire’s Insurance Department. Before joining the Insurance Department, he was an employee of Travelers Insurance for more than 30 years, serving in a variety of technical and management positions.

Commissioner Sevigny holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from St. Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire. He is also a commissioned officer in the United States Army, having retired at the rank of Colonel.

John Sheils
Senior Vice President
The Lewin Group

Since Mr. Sheils joined the firm in 1980, he has worked to establish The Lewin Group as one of the few independent sources of non-partisan analyses of the financial impacts of public coverage expansions and other health reform initiatives.  He has assisted several members of Congress in specifying health reform proposals designed to expand coverage and reduce costs.  Mr. Sheils has testified before various Congressional committees and has delivered policy briefings to state task forces, federal commissions, private associations and industry representatives on national health policy.  

Mr. Sheils has specialized in financial analyses of the impact of health reform proposals at the state and national levels. He authored the Lewin Group analysis of the cost and coverage impacts of the 2008 presidential candidate’s health reform proposals, which was widely quoted in the press. He recently directed a Lewin Group analysis of the coverage and cost containment provisions of the health reform proposal developed by the Commonwealth Fund. He also directed a recent study of ten health reform proposals introduced in the US Congress. Mr. Sheils has also assisted several private clients in developing their health reform proposals.

Mr. Sheils specializes in the use of microeconomic databases and micro-simulation techniques to analyze health, retirement, tax and income maintenance policy issues. He is the architect of the Lewin Group Health Benefits Simulation Model (HBSM). 

Michael E. Sproule
EVP & CFO
New York Life Insurance Company

Michael E. Sproule is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for New York Life Insurance Company overseeing:  the Office of the Chief Actuary; the Controller’s Department; Mergers & Acquisitions; Financial Planning Analysis and Budgets; Rating Agency relationships; the Office of Risk Management; the Tax Department; and, the Treasury Department.   He became a member of the Executive Management Committee in May 2002.

With 38 years of industry experience, Mr. Sproule joined New York Life in 1999 as Senior Vice President in charge of Mergers & Acquisitions.  Before joining New York Life, Mr. Sproule was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of AmerUs Group in Des Moines, Iowa.  Prior to that, he was a consultant with Tillinghast and spent his first 17 years in the insurance business at MetLife in a variety of operating and financial positions in the individual, group, pension and property casualty businesses.

Mr. Sproule received a bachelor’s degree in math and physics and an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Toronto.  In addition, he is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Chris C. Stroup
Chairman & CEO
Wilton Re
Senior Advisor
Stone Point Capital

Chris is Chairman and CEO of Wilton Re and Senior Advisor of Stone Point Capital.  Previously, Mr. Stroup was with Swiss Re Life & Health America Inc. ("Swiss Re") where he held the position of chief executive officer.  Prior to joining Swiss Re, Mr. Stroup was a partner at Ernst & Young LLP.  Mr. Stroup is currently a board of director of Insurance Solutions Holdings, Inc. and Treasurer of UMIX, Inc.  Mr. Stroup holds a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a M.B.A. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Steven N. Weisbart, Ph.D., CLU
SVP & Chief Economist
Insurance Information Institute

Steven N. Weisbart is senior vice president and chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute. Dr. Weisbart oversees the Institute’s program of economic research and analysis, preparing studies in support of the organization’s communications mission, speaking to media and conducting briefings for member companies, industry organizations and public policymakers. A specialist in annuities, pensions, and life, disability and long-term care insurance, Dr. Weisbart frequently also makes presentations on property/casualty issues to industry audiences as well as legislative forums.

Since joining the I.I.I. in 2005, Dr. Weisbart has authored several significant research papers and articles on a variety of insurance issues, including the threat of an avian flu pandemic and the effect of the aging U.S. population on the property/casualty insurance industry.

Before joining the I.I.I., Dr. Weisbart served as vice president at Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) in New York, where he was responsible for reports and informational publications for customers and others on insurance, pensions and related financial topics. Prior to joining TIAA-CREF he was associate professor of Insurance in the Department of Risk Management and Insurance in the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. Dr. Weisbart is a member of the American Risk and Insurance Association and the Society of Financial Service Professionals.

Dr. Weisbart received his Ph.D. and Master of Arts degrees in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an S.S. Huebner Foundation Fellow. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Cornell University. Dr. Weisbart also holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) credential.

Dr. Weisbart has authored and co-authored four books as well as papers that have appeared in numerous publications, including the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the Journal of Financial Service Professionals (where he was previously an Associate Editor), the CPCU Journal and Best’s Review. Currently he serves on the editorial board of the Risk Management and Insurance Review. He has been quoted in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek.

Dr. Weisbart is an adjunct professor at the School of Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science in the Tobin College of Business at St. John's University.