Clement Booth

Member of the Management Board, Allianz SE

Biography

Clement B. Booth has been a Member of the Board of Management at Allianz SE since January 1, 2006. Clem has Management Board responsibility for the global insurance lines (industrial, specialty, credit and reinsurance) and the regions UK, Ireland and Australia (until the end of 2009 also US and Mexico).

He is Chairman of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, Allianz Insurance plc, Euler Hermes SA (a company listed on the Paris stock exchange) and member of the boards of Allianz Australia and Allianz Irish Life Holdings plc.

Prior to joining Allianz SE, he was Chairman & CEO of Aon Re International, the global reinsurance broker, during the period 2003 until the end of 2005. Before joining Aon, Clem spent 18 years within the Munich RE Group, the last 5 as Member of the Board of Management in Munich, Germany.

David York

VP Business Engineering, Europe, CGI Group

Biography

Clement Booth

Member of the Management Board, Allianz SE

Biography

Clement B. Booth has been a Member of the Board of Management at Allianz SE since January 1, 2006. Clem has Management Board responsibility for the global insurance lines (industrial, specialty, credit and reinsurance) and the regions UK, Ireland and Australia (until the end of 2009 also US and Mexico).

He is Chairman of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, Allianz Insurance plc, Euler Hermes SA (a company listed on the Paris stock exchange) and member of the boards of Allianz Australia and Allianz Irish Life Holdings plc.

Prior to joining Allianz SE, he was Chairman & CEO of Aon Re International, the global reinsurance broker, during the period 2003 until the end of 2005. Before joining Aon, Clem spent 18 years within the Munich RE Group, the last 5 as Member of the Board of Management in Munich, Germany.

David York

VP Business Engineering, Europe, CGI Group

Biography

Keith Abercromby

Group Finance Director, LV=

Biography

Keith Abercromby joined LV= as Group Finance Director in July 2007 as part of the new management team brought in to rejuvenate the financial services group. This has proved an exciting time to be the FD of a group covering the broad gamut of personal lines insurance, life and pensions, asset management and banking.  And that is before starting on the credit crunch, aggregators revolutionising the GI market and Solvency II.

Prior to this he held a range of roles across financial services including  Finance Director of Norwich Union Life and its subsidiary life companies and Managing Director of Halifax’s Bancassurance businesses. Keith is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, having qualified at the start of his career with Bacon & Woodrow.

Ray Cox

Underwriting Director, Brit

Biography

Ray entered the industry in 1976 with Sun Alliance. At RSA for 30 years he carried out a wide range of underwriting and operational roles ultimately being responsible for underwriting and risk in the UK business. In 2006 he joined Brit Insurance with responsibility for underwriting for their UK business reporting directly to the UK CEO.

Robert Marshall

Chairman, Trident Insurance

Biography

Having spent all my working life in the Stock market and investment banking, entering Insurance was a major basis change.

My views may be contrarian but I believe they offer constructive criticism and solutions. To me life is too short not to voice concern because it doesn’t suit some folk.

Ray Cox

Underwriting Director, Brit

Biography

Ray entered the industry in 1976 with Sun Alliance. At RSA for 30 years he carried out a wide range of underwriting and operational roles ultimately being responsible for underwriting and risk in the UK business. In 2006 he joined Brit Insurance with responsibility for underwriting for their UK business reporting directly to the UK CEO.

Robert Marshall

Chairman, Trident Insurance

Biography

Having spent all my working life in the Stock market and investment banking, entering Insurance was a major basis change.

My views may be contrarian but I believe they offer constructive criticism and solutions. To me life is too short not to voice concern because it doesn’t suit some folk.

David Mathews

Chief Operating Officer, Confused.com

Biography

Robin Pegg

Head of Home, Car and Travel, AIG Direct

Biography

Robin has over 21 years Financial Services experience. After 10 years working for Barclays in the Retail Banking Sector, Robin has since worked in General Insurance for brands such as Commercial Union and Mondial Assistance. For the past 5 years Robin has been with AIG.

He helped establish AIG’s Direct to Consumer offering across Home, Motor and Travel and is responsible for the overall performance and profitability of the initiative.

Robin has specialised in Online distribution and prior to moving to AIG Direct was the Key Account Manager for Online Travel brands such as Lastminute.com, Expedia, Easyjet, Ebookers, and Flybe amongst others. Robin has obtained the IDM Diploma in Digital Marketing.

Ian Wardle

Partnerships Director, Fortis

Biography

Ian Wardle joined Fortis UK as Partnerships Director in February 2007. He is responsible for leading the company’s strategy to develop sustainable partnerships, utilising Fortis’ multi-distribution capabilities and award winning insurance solutions.

Ian has over 15 years experience in the insurance affinity arena. He joined Fortis from GMAC Insurance, a subsidiary of General Motors, where he held the position of Head of Business Development responsible for launching insurance programmes on a global basis.

Prior to joining GMAC, Ian also held positions as CEO of the Affinity Group Division at Marsh UK Limited and Managing Director of Glencairn Affinity Limited, a specialist consultancy in affinity insurance schemes formed by Ian in 2002.
Ian has significant experience of securing, developing and managing sustainable partnerships across the industry, including partners such as BMW, Eurotunnel, Ford, General Motors and Somerfield.

Ian is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing and holds a Diploma from the Finance Houses Association and the IDM.

David Mathews

Chief Operating Officer, Confused.com

Biography

Robin Pegg

Head of Home, Car and Travel, AIG Direct

Biography

Robin has over 21 years Financial Services experience. After 10 years working for Barclays in the Retail Banking Sector, Robin has since worked in General Insurance for brands such as Commercial Union and Mondial Assistance. For the past 5 years Robin has been with AIG.

He helped establish AIG’s Direct to Consumer offering across Home, Motor and Travel and is responsible for the overall performance and profitability of the initiative.

Robin has specialised in Online distribution and prior to moving to AIG Direct was the Key Account Manager for Online Travel brands such as Lastminute.com, Expedia, Easyjet, Ebookers, and Flybe amongst others. Robin has obtained the IDM Diploma in Digital Marketing.

Ian Wardle

Partnerships Director, Fortis

Biography

Ian Wardle joined Fortis UK as Partnerships Director in February 2007. He is responsible for leading the company’s strategy to develop sustainable partnerships, utilising Fortis’ multi-distribution capabilities and award winning insurance solutions.

Ian has over 15 years experience in the insurance affinity arena. He joined Fortis from GMAC Insurance, a subsidiary of General Motors, where he held the position of Head of Business Development responsible for launching insurance programmes on a global basis.

Prior to joining GMAC, Ian also held positions as CEO of the Affinity Group Division at Marsh UK Limited and Managing Director of Glencairn Affinity Limited, a specialist consultancy in affinity insurance schemes formed by Ian in 2002.
Ian has significant experience of securing, developing and managing sustainable partnerships across the industry, including partners such as BMW, Eurotunnel, Ford, General Motors and Somerfield.

Ian is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing and holds a Diploma from the Finance Houses Association and the IDM.

Martin Oliver

Chief Executive Officer, Allen & Allen Group

Biography

Martin trained as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young Martin also spent 2 years working in New Zealand as an Audit Manager.

Martin’s career has exclusively been involved in Financial Services, however he established a reputation for innovation at Kwik-Fit Insurance where he invested heavily in the well-being of his staff and was instrumental in turning the business around and making it a 'Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to work for'. A pioneer of proactive telemarketing to the Kwik Fit customer base and also an early adopter of internet and aggregator trading also marked his time there.

Martin took on the role of CEO of Barbon in late 2008.  He drove a ‘Devolution’ model for all 8 businesses in the Barbon Group, meaning more investment in each of the businesses and its 15 brands.  More local accountability is already leading to better employee and customer engagement. The Group made good progress under his leadership making 2 acquisitions and improving culture and governance control.

In the summer of 2012 he joined the Allen and Allen Group as UK CEO.

Martin is 48 years old.  He currently lives in Glasgow with his wife Barbara and two children, John (12) and Lewis (8).

Julie Page

Head of Marsh UK, Commercial Practice, Marsh

Biography

Julie has worked in the insurance industry for 25 years.  The majority of that time has been spent with major brokers, the last 10 years of which have been with Marsh.

During the last 10 years Julie has worked across all customer segments (serving large multinationals, middle market, SMEs and HNW customers).   Julie has held various leadership positions and has more recently been deployed in managing an operational transformation plan which evolved into the leadership of the Commercial and Consumer Practice.

Recent developments include the launch of Marsh ProBroker, a proposition designed to provide independent brokers with certainty, stability and an opportunity to grow and compete in the changing broker market.

Julie has great ambitions for the Commercial and Consumer Practices in Marsh and is very excited about the opportunity to innovate and expand in what is still an extremely diverse market place.

Simon Ball

Chief Executive, Coverzones

Biography

Simon Ball is Chief Executive Officer at Coverzones, the business insurance comparison website. Simon has over 20 years experience within the IT and e-commerce sectors having worked with online retailers such as Lastminute.com at the height of the dot.com boom, as well as more established multichannel retailers subsequently. From 2002 onwards, prior to founding Coverzones, Simon worked in the commercial lines insurance marketplace advising major players on e-commerce and e-business best practice.

Martin Oliver

Chief Executive Officer, Allen & Allen Group

Biography

Martin trained as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young Martin also spent 2 years working in New Zealand as an Audit Manager.

Martin’s career has exclusively been involved in Financial Services, however he established a reputation for innovation at Kwik-Fit Insurance where he invested heavily in the well-being of his staff and was instrumental in turning the business around and making it a 'Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to work for'. A pioneer of proactive telemarketing to the Kwik Fit customer base and also an early adopter of internet and aggregator trading also marked his time there.

Martin took on the role of CEO of Barbon in late 2008.  He drove a ‘Devolution’ model for all 8 businesses in the Barbon Group, meaning more investment in each of the businesses and its 15 brands.  More local accountability is already leading to better employee and customer engagement. The Group made good progress under his leadership making 2 acquisitions and improving culture and governance control.

In the summer of 2012 he joined the Allen and Allen Group as UK CEO.

Martin is 48 years old.  He currently lives in Glasgow with his wife Barbara and two children, John (12) and Lewis (8).

Julie Page

Head of Marsh UK, Commercial Practice, Marsh

Biography

Julie has worked in the insurance industry for 25 years.  The majority of that time has been spent with major brokers, the last 10 years of which have been with Marsh.

During the last 10 years Julie has worked across all customer segments (serving large multinationals, middle market, SMEs and HNW customers).   Julie has held various leadership positions and has more recently been deployed in managing an operational transformation plan which evolved into the leadership of the Commercial and Consumer Practice.

Recent developments include the launch of Marsh ProBroker, a proposition designed to provide independent brokers with certainty, stability and an opportunity to grow and compete in the changing broker market.

Julie has great ambitions for the Commercial and Consumer Practices in Marsh and is very excited about the opportunity to innovate and expand in what is still an extremely diverse market place.

Simon Ball

Chief Executive, Coverzones

Biography

Simon Ball is Chief Executive Officer at Coverzones, the business insurance comparison website. Simon has over 20 years experience within the IT and e-commerce sectors having worked with online retailers such as Lastminute.com at the height of the dot.com boom, as well as more established multichannel retailers subsequently. From 2002 onwards, prior to founding Coverzones, Simon worked in the commercial lines insurance marketplace advising major players on e-commerce and e-business best practice.

Barry Smith

Chief Executive Officer, Ageas

Biography

Barry Smith took on the role of Chief Executive for Ageas UK in 2001, having spent his career in financial services.

He has overseen significant growth across the company by delivering on its multi-distribution strategy.

This includes:

• the increasing take up of products by brokers across Personal and Commercial lines
• successful diversification into the Protection market
• new insurance partnerships with trusted brands such as John Lewis and Tesco
• and acquisitions such as Kwik Fit Insurance Services and Castle Cover. 

Under his leadership, Ageas has scooped a record 33 awards in 2011, picking up the General Insurer of the Year Award, Personal Lines Insurer of the Year Award and the Gold Standard Award. Barry himself was recently awarded:

• The prestigious Insurance Times “Chief Executives’ Chief Executive” Award
• Deloitte’s Director of the Year for outstanding and inspirational leadership.
• Voted as the “Most Likeable Person in General Insurance”. 

Barry is a member of Ageas Group’s Management Committee reporting directly to Ageas Group CEO, Bart De Smet.

He is jointly responsible for defining and implementing corporate strategy, business plans, budgets and operational activities across Ageas's global companies in both the Life and Non-Life markets.

Barry is the immediate past President of the CII, chairing the Task Force that launched the influential Aldermanbury Declaration.

He remains active in both the central CII and the local branch in Southampton, where he also previously held the position of President. 

Barry is Chairman of the Association of British Insurers’ Property Committee, where he is currently involved in discussions with Government on how the insurance industry can continue to support the nation’s flood strategy. He is also a member of the ABI GIC Management Committee and previously was Chair of the Motor Committee.

Married to Gillian with two children, Barry is a keen Tottenham Hotspur and rugby fan.

Peter Vipond

Director of Financial Regulation & Taxation, Association of British Insurers

Biography

Peter Vipond is Director of Financial Regulation and Taxation at the Association of British Insurers (ABI).  He represents the UK insurance industry on these matters in discussions with the regulators, government and EU authorities as well as the Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA).  In addition he co-ordinates the business planning activities of the ABI.  Previously he worked at the British Bankers Association (BBA) dealing with market risk (CAD) and credit risk (Basel 2), as well as risk-based supervision.  Initially he was a university professor in political economy, then in financial services strategy and regulation.

Dr Alexander Scott

Chief Executive Officer, Chartered Insurance Institute

Biography

Sandy Scott graduated in medicine and surgery from Aberdeen University and spent his first ten years in the Royal Army Medical Corps achieving the rank of Major. He then joined the Department of Health where his responsibilities included regulating the pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom. In 1989 he joined the medical insurer PPP and in 1995 became Deputy Managing Director. During this period he was also Chairman of the ABI's Medical Insurance Committee.

In 1997 he joined Ingram Micro, a US based technology distribution company, as its Managing Director.

Sandy has recently joined the FSA’s Professional Standards Advisory Group. He is a member of the QAA’s Board Committee on University Degree Awarding Powers, and also the Advisory Board of CASS Business School as well as being on the External Advisory Committee of the Faculty of Actuarial Science & Statistics. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Insurance Times. In 2006 he joined The Prince’s Trust Insurance Leadership Group.

He is a Past Chairman of the Institute for Global Insurance Education (IGIE), a Director of the Personal Finance Society, an Honorary Secretary of the Insurance Charities, a former International Governor of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (AICPCU) and Immediate Past President of the London Phoenix Orchestra. He is a Past Chairman of the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA).

Martin Membery

Partner and Insurance Sector Head, Pinsent Masons

Biography

Martin is a Partner in the Insurance & Reinsurance Group and Head of the firm's Insurance Sector.

He advises on insurance distribution agreements (with particular emphasis on Corporate Partnerships), insurance and reinsurance wordings and on regulatory issues.  He is also involved in mergers and acquisitions of insurance entities and a wide variety of commercial insurance projects.

He is identified as a leader in the field of insurance law in all the key independent directories including: Chambers; Legal 500; and "Legal Experts"/ Legal Business.  Martin is "praised by clients for his business understanding and prompt advice" and is described as an "exemplary insurance practitioner – he displays commercial sensibility, finely attuned to the needs of the client" (Chambers).

David Williams

Chair CII Underwriting Faculty, MD Claims & Underwriting, AXA

Biography

David has over 20 Years experience in General Insurance, roles including Chief Commercial Underwriter at one of AXA’s largest branches, Reinsurance Manager, Casualty Insurance Manager, before moving to claims in 2003.

He was heavily involved in the government and ABI responses to the ‘Liability Crisis’ in his previous role as Casualty Manager, and continues his lobbying work as the insurance industry looks to remove unnecessary costs and delay from the current adversarial compensation process.

David is a non Executive Director of AXA Assistance UK, a Board Member of the CII / CILA Faculty of Claims, and was a Director of Thatcham, the Insurance Industry Motor Vehicle Research Institute for four years.

He is a member of the AXA Group Claims Board and has represented the UK on Asbestos, Health, Pollution and Fraud issues. He speaks regularly at conferences and other events in the UK and Europe on a variety of subjects including most recently improving customer satisfaction, flooding and climate change.

David has also appeared on BBC Breakfast TV, BBC and Channel 4 News, as well as Radio 4’s ‘Today’ Programme, being interviewed on topics varying from Compensation Culture to Business Crime.

David originally hails from Bristol but now lives in Suffolk with his wife Catherine and 2 young sons Evan & Ryan.

Imam Hoque

Chief Technology Officer, Detica NetReveal

Biography

Imam is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer for Detica NetReveal^® and is a specialist in the exploitation of network analytics to optimise insurance claims validation. He architected the Detica NetReveal^® systems which are run by the UK's Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), many insurance companies as well as several global banks.

Prior to joining Detica, Imam was the CTO for Rubus and before that held senior technical positions with Cap Gemini and Accenture.  He has a BSc in Engineering from Brunel University and an MSc in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from NorthWestern in the USA.

John Beadle

Chairman, IFB

Biography

John Beadle completed a successful career in the Metropolitan Police in 1996. Since 2000 John has been the Counter Fraud Manager at RSA.

John was also at the forefront in developing the collaborative approach to the industry’s fraud problem, the Insurance Fraud Bureau and since launch in July 2006 holds the position of Chairman.

Allan Clare

Director of Financial Crime, RBS Insurance

Biography

As Director of Financial Crime at RBS Insurance, whose brands include Direct Line, Churchill Insurance and NIG, Allan has strategic and operational responsibility for financial crime risk management, anti money laundering and information security.

Allan is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and Associate of the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters where he was instrumental in forming the Institute's Fraud Special Interest Group and was its inaugural Chairman. Allan is a member of the Association of British Insurers Financial Crime Committee, a member of the IFB Board and past Deputy Chairman of the Insurance Fraud Investigators Group.

Scott Clayton

Claims Fraud & Investigations Manager, Zurich Insurance Group

Biography

Scott Clayton manages Zurich’s Claims Investigation Unit, a 30-strong team of professionals, including field and telephone investigators, intelligence team, legal adviser and support staff. This specialist Unit is dedicated to protecting both the Customers’ and the Company’s interests, using a variety of tools and techniques to ensure that all suspicious activity is properly and thoroughly investigated.

During his 23 years with Zurich, Scott has dealt with claims across all lines of business and all distribution channels and, in a previous role, headed up the Complaints Team, managing the Company's relationship with the Financial Ombudsman Service. This involved making technical decisions, ensuring compliance with regulatory rules and protecting the Company's reputation and brand. No stranger to speaking at Industry events, Scott was previously a member of the ABI Complaint Steering Group and a co-author of the ABI's Complaint Handling Guide.

These days, as Claims Fraud & Investigations Manager at Zurich, Scott is responsible for the identification and investigation of all suspect claims across the General Business in the UK. He represents Zurich on the ABI Anti Fraud Committee and is a Board Member of the Insurance Fraud Bureau.

Garry Simmons

Head of Property & Liability Claims, Sterling Insurance Group

Biography

Garry has over 20 years claims experience and is Head of Property & Liability Claims at Sterling Insurance Group, one of the UK’s leading specialist insurers. He is responsible for philosophy, customer service and technical claims handling for high net worth and commercial claims.

Scott Horwitz

Senior Director, FICO

Biography

Scott Horwitz has nearly 20 years experience in analytics and decision management at Fair Isaac. Scott has worked across the organization in delivery, product management, R&D and sales roles focused on Fair Isaac’s decision management capabilities. Most of that time has been spent working with companies to generate analytic and decision science solutions for the financial services and insurance industries. During the 1990's, Scott led the research for the first pooled property and casualty insurance underwriting risk scores using credit data. Scott has worked with insurance companies in the UK, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Brazil, as well as the US. Currently, he is focused on bringing the full capabilities of decision management to the Insurance industry. Scott has a B.S. in Mathematical Sciences and a M.S. in Operations Research from Stanford University.

Andrew Marchington

Managing Director, Castle Cover

Biography

Andrew Marchington is the Managing Director of Castle Cover, the over 50’s insurance specialist.  Started in mid 2006, the business has organically grown to over 250,000 customers and is the UK’s fastest growing home insurer.

He was previously the Managing Director of RIAS.  His early career was spent in marketing and general management roles with HFC Bank and Black and Decker.

Michael Gould

Chief Operating Officer, Hiscox

Biography

Michael joined Hiscox as Chief Operating Officer in 2008. His accountabilities include driving a disciplined approach to process and change management, IT and all operational aspects of the Group. He joined following five years at Aon, where his last role was Chief Operating Officer of the Corporate division. In this role he was responsible for improving customer satisfaction by introducing consistent and cost effective customer management processes. Michael also spent 14 years at American Express where he led the service strategy for European cardholders and created a new business division offering outsourcing services to third party institutions. Michael holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Edinburgh University and an MBA from City University, London.

Gavin Long

Sourcing Manager, General Insurance, LV=

Biography

Gavin Long is currently the Group General Insurance Sourcing Manager at LV=. He has over 20 years experience in the Insurance Claims Industry and is experienced in procurement, supply chain and supplier management with organisations that include Cunningham Lindsey. Gavin has a track record of defining and managing the implementation of Procurement strategies which have realised significant cost reduction and process improvement benefits. This included the management of an Insurer “buying group” for Suppliers relating to Household claims.

Pete Tart

Europe Claims Vendor Management Director, Zurich

Biography

Peter has spent 22 years in the Insurance market specialising in UK Claims and European Claims Vendor Management. Peter joined Zurich Financial Services in 2003 having spent the previous 16 years in Claims & Vendor Management with another Global Insurer having worked through a number of different Claims roles.

Peter now heads up Zurich's European Claims Vendor Management team that manages all Claims Vendors across Zurich’s 13 European business units.

Peter is also a member of the Global Claims Vendor management team that is focussed on developing internal claims supply chain management best practices, procurement and process synergies and global sourcing opportunities.

Gavin Long

Sourcing Manager, General Insurance, LV=

Biography

Gavin Long is currently the Group General Insurance Sourcing Manager at LV=. He has over 20 years experience in the Insurance Claims Industry and is experienced in procurement, supply chain and supplier management with organisations that include Cunningham Lindsey. Gavin has a track record of defining and managing the implementation of Procurement strategies which have realised significant cost reduction and process improvement benefits. This included the management of an Insurer “buying group” for Suppliers relating to Household claims.

Pete Tart

Europe Claims Vendor Management Director, Zurich

Biography

Peter has spent 22 years in the Insurance market specialising in UK Claims and European Claims Vendor Management. Peter joined Zurich Financial Services in 2003 having spent the previous 16 years in Claims & Vendor Management with another Global Insurer having worked through a number of different Claims roles.

Peter now heads up Zurich's European Claims Vendor Management team that manages all Claims Vendors across Zurich’s 13 European business units.

Peter is also a member of the Global Claims Vendor management team that is focussed on developing internal claims supply chain management best practices, procurement and process synergies and global sourcing opportunities.

Steve Jackson

National Fraud Controller, Zurich Municipal

Biography

Steve Jackson has been employed as National Fraud Controller with Zurich Insurance since September 2004. His responsibilities include developing national fraud strategy and training to combat fraud within the public sector business and liability claims.

He formerly served as a police officer specialising in Road Accident Reconstruction and Fraud in the Road Haulage Industry. As a Special Investigator he spent more than four years investigating fraudulent claims within all lines of business; together with the investigation of suppliers and Claims Management Companies. He is currently responsible for developing solutions in relation to Fraud Risk Management and Customer training.

Steve has a passion for raising fraud awareness as a means to combat fraud within the general community and is the current Chair of the North West Fraud Forum.

Darren Cornish

Head of Customer Intelligence, AXA

Biography

Darren is a dynamic figure often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. He has been known to remodel train stations on his lunch breaks making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. He translates ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, writes award-winning operas and occasionally treads water for three days in a row.

He woo's women with sensuous trombone playing. He can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed. Is an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, Darren once single handedly defended a small village in the Amazon basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. When bored, he builds large suspension bridges in his garden.

He is an abstract artist, a concrete analyst and a ruthless bookie.

Darren once read ‘Paradise lost’, ‘Moby Dick’ and ‘David Copperfield’ in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. He has performed several covert operations for the CIA.

On weekends, to let off steam, Darren participates in full contact origami. Years ago he discovered the meaning of life, but got drunk and forgot to write it down.

He has won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and chess tournaments at the Kremlin. He has played Hamlet, performed open-heart surgery, and spoken with Elvis. Oh, and to be honest, he recently joined AXA as their Head of Customer Intelligence and is tasked with helping further the recent improvements to customer experience while producing value to the business.

Bala Muralidharan

Head of Insurance Practice, Tata Consultancy Services

Biography

Bala is the Head of Insurance Practice at TCS. In his current position, he has responsibility for managing the delivery of Insurance business expertise throughout TCS and to its customers. He is also responsible for positioning domain and solution offerings to Insurance customers across the globe. Bala works closely with Insurance sector analysts to conceptualise innovative offerings to meet both current and future market trends.

Bala has over 17 years of experience in IT and Consulting. He has been working with major UK Insurance customers for over a decade managing the customer relationship with several large insurers and has been instrumental in winning a number of major outsourcing deals.

His personal interests include travel and photography.

Jem Eskenazi

Chief Information Officer, Groupama

Biography

As the CIO of Groupama Insurances since 2007, Jem has been contributing to the success of the company through the development of Internet based distribution channels, the introduction of a service oriented architecture, and unified communications.

Jem has 25 years of IT management experience, more than half of which as CIO in a number of industries.  He has held executive level positions in medium to large corporations including Air Liquide, Philips Medical Systems, Business Objects, with a particular emphasis on linking IT to business strategy and competitiveness.

Most recently he was CIO of iTouch plc, a global leader in mobile media and entertainment, until the sale of the company to a significant player in the mobile industry from Japan.  During his career he has gained experience in running large scale global restructuring projects, high availability high volume large systems, structuring and centralising global teams, and cost rationalisation.  He has a particular interest in new developments in the web and mobile industries, and their applications for business strategy.

Jem has a M.Eng. degree from McGill University, Montreal, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Graham Johnson

Transformation Director, Ecclesiastical Insurance

Biography

Graham Johnson is a skilled business executive with over 20 years’ experience leading change programmes for UK and international businesses. He has successfully launched innovative new businesses, integrated worldwide business functions and introduced change across organisations. He has worked with a range of companies in various sectors including British Telecom, National Westminster Bank and Premier Farnell.

Graham is currently Transformation Director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, a leading specialist insurer. He is responsible for driving and managing change and strengthening culture across the business.