Faculty Biographies

Keith Bartz (Risk Placement Services - Chief Operating Officer)
Keith Bartz, CPA, is the CFO and Chief Operating Officer for Risk Placement Services, the nation's largest MGA/Underwriting Manager and Wholesale Broker.  He received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from Indiana University, and his MBA from Northwestern University with a concentration in Marketing & Finance.  Keith joined RPS in 2008 as the Divisional Controller and was promoted to CFO in 2010.  In 2013 he added the role of Chief Operating Officer, with the responsibility of increasing the efficiency of the organization across branch operations, the accounting and finance area, professional standards and service center.  Prior to RPS, Keith spent 14 years at CNA Insurance, with a focus in financial operations supporting the field network.  He began his career in 1986 with the Public Accounting firm of Grand Thornton, later working in finance at a consumer electronics company and healthcare company.

Dan Brown (Dentons - Partner)
Dan Brown's practice focuses on representing insurance companies, agents and brokers, as well as other clients in all aspects of the admitted and surplus lines insurance markets in the United States.  This includes advising alien or foreign insurers on how to comply with various state laws in placing business; advising producers on licensing, placement and premium tax issues; and advising insureds on coverage and placement issues.  In particular, Dan practices in Denton's San Francisco and London offices, advising participants in the London market (both Lloyd's and the company market) on how to comply with US insurance laws.  Dan represents clients with a wide variety of licensing and compliance issues in the US, London and elsewhere.  This includes entity formation and licensure, mergers and acquisitions, resolutions of broker compensation and disclosure issues, name changes and approval, preparation of licensing applications, preparation of applications for certificates of authority and negotiations with departments of insurance regarding licensing and certification issues.  Prior to joining Dentons, Dan was with the law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae LLP in London, San Francisco and Portland, OR.  Earlier, he was with Bays, Deaver, Lung and Rose in Honolulu.  Dan graduated from Portland State University Summa Cum laude and received a law degree from Stanford Law School.

Andrew Forstenzer (Preferred Mutual - General Counsel)
Andrew Forstenzer, recently became General Counsel of Preferred mutual Insurance Company (PMIC), a Property & Casualty Insurer operating in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  For the three years prior to joining PMIC, Andy served as Of Counsel to Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP, a full service national law firm.  He joined Wilson Elser after having served as Executive Vice President & General Counsel for Crump Group, Inc., holding company for Crump Commercial Insurance Services, Inc., Crump Life Insurance Services, Inc. and Ascensus, Inc.  
Together, prior to a 2012 sale of the Life and P&C businesses, the P&C and Life units combined to be the largest wholesale insurance distributor in the United States.  Ascensus continues to be one of the leading U.S. providers of record keeping and support services to company-sponsored retirement plans.  Before joining Crump on January 1, 2006, Andy spent 17 years at Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., a publicly held global leader in insurance services.  In various roles, most recently as Vice President - Senior Litigation Counsel, he was responsible for handling corporate and overseeing litigation legal matters for various Marsh affiliates.  From 1980-1987, Andy worked for Damson Oil Corporation, an American Stock Exchange company, most recently as Senior Vice Presiden & Assistant General Counsel in charge of public and private limited partnership syndications and legal compliance for an NASD member broker-dealer.  Earlier, he served as in-house counsel for a regional investment securities firm and as staff attorney for the U.S. Department of Transportation.  Mr. Forstenzer received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a Juris Doctorate from Villanova University Law School, and an LLM in Corporation Law from New York University School of Law.  He is a frequent lecturer on Errors & Omission prevention and involved with various industry associations such as NAPSLO, ACC, CLM, PLUS and CIAB

Randall D. Jones (NAPSLO - Education Director)
Randy is currently the Education Director for NAPSLO.  He also conducts strategic consulting and executive coaching for a select number of clients in the reinsurance and surplus lines marketplace.  This includes serving as a director on boards for privately-held companies.  Randy has been in the insurance business for 40 years.  The great majority of his experience has been in the surplus lines market, after starting his career as a claims adjuster with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.  Specific surplus lines experience includes time spent as a wholesale broker and on the carrier side in underwriting, product management and executive positions.  The bulk of this carrier experience was with Northland Insurance Companies, including four years as President/CEO before the sale of the company in 1998 and a subsequent departure in 2000.  Randy was the President/CEO of Maxum Indemnity from 2002 until 2008 and led the company from its launch through the first five years of its development.  He has served on various industry board roles including associations such as NAPSLO, PCI and the MN Insurance Federation.  He holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Southern Illinois University, a M.Ed. in Adult Learning & Curriculum from Central Michigan University, and completed the Wharton School Insurance Executive Program, a certification in online instructional design, along with other insurance specific programs. 

Jason Kunert, MBA, SCLA (Scottsdale Insurance Company - Associate Vice President, Casualty Claims)
Jason has 22 years of P&C experience, all in claims.  He is the Associate Vice President of Casualty Claims at Nationwide E&S/Specialty where he is accountable for casualty (General Liability and Transportation) claim results for Contract business written throughout the country.  Since joining Scottsdale in February 2000, Jason has held several management positions including Manager of Total Loss, Transportation Manager, multi-line Manager in Southeast/Southwest Region (managing Transportation, Property and General Liability claims), Director of Recovery/SIU, Director of Brokerage Claims and his current role as Associate Vice President of Casualty Claims.  Jason started his career with Allied Group in Des Moines in 1994 before moving to Phoenix in 1997 and joining Midland Risk (a Progressive company).  Jason holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Grandview University in Des Moines, IA., a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix, and the Senior Claim Law Associate (SCLA) designation from the American Educational Institute.

Marcus Payne (All Risks, Ltd. - Managing Director)
Marcus Payne is Managing Director of All Risks Ltd. of Hunt Valley, Maryland.  He began with All Risks as a consultant in January 2003 and joined the company as Managing Director later that year.  He is in charge of the All Risk University and Intern programs as well as duties in other areas of the company.  Marcus retired as Educational Coordinator of NAPSLO at the end of 2011.  He became Coordinator in 2000 and has served as an instructor in the NAPSLO schools since 1990.  He continues to serve as an instructor in the Marcus Payne Advanced E&S Program.  He previously served as President and COO of Crump Insurance Services until his retirement in June 2000.  He remained with the company until the end of 2002 as a consultant.  He serves as a consultant to senior management of Insurance House, Marietta, Georgia and is a past trustee of the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation.  In 1996 he received NAPSLO’s highest award, the Industry Award for Outstanding Achievement.  Marcus is a graduate of Austin College in Sherman, Texas and is Past President of the National Alumni Association and presently serves on the Senior Board of Trustees.  He received the Austin College Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1994 and in 1998 was presented the Distinguished Student Award from Sherman High School.  He was a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps attaining the rank of Captain. After leaving the Marine Corps he joined the Unigard Insurance Group, serving in various positions and locations until leaving the company as Senior Vice President of Field Operations to join Crump.  Marcus and his wife, Betty, reside in Waxahachie, Texas. They have two children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. 

Executive Panel Biographies

Scott R. Barraclough (Admiral Insurance Group - President & CEO)
Scott Barraclough is currently CEO and President of Admiral Insurance Group, a W.R. Berkley Company.  Scott has been with Admiral for over 20 years in various roles including Chief Financial Officer, Regional Vice President and Executive Vice President.  He joined Admiral as Controller in 1996 after six years at KPMG in Philadelphia, PA.  Scott has demonstrated the ability to lead with a strategic visioin along with delivering consistent financial growth and profitable results throughout his careet.

In order to escape the stress of work life, Scott is an avid golfer and hiker who has hiked in most of the nation's National Parks.

Scott received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Finance from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA in 1990. 

Suzanne A. Jensen (Brown & Riding - Sr. Vice President/Casualty-Life Sciences Practice Group)
Suzanne began her career more than 35 years ago and is currently a Sr. Vice President for Life Sciences Practice Leader for Brown & Riding Company.  Her career began in the marketing department of a Chicago regional property and casualty agency where she began working with E&S brokers in her marketing efforts and joined her first Wholesale Brokerage firm in 1981. Two years later, she was hired as all-lines broker with the start-up operation of Travis-Pedersen & Associates which merged into the Brown & Riding family in 2013.

As the firm grew, she turned to primary and excess casualty which included large SIR accounts and layered and quota share excess placements.  The industry changes throughout the years led her to her current sub-specialty of Life Sciences Casualty which is the very definition of Excess & Surplus insurance with its unique Claims Made coverage forms and complicated loss exposures.  Suzanne finds new challenges daily with her ever changing coverage enhancements and exposures in the Life Sciences field. 

Lana Parks (Parks Group, Inc. - President)
After graduating from North Texas State University with a Bachelor of Arts, Lana immediately began her insurance career.  After having worked on the both the general agency and the company side, she joined the Gainsco Companies in 1986 where she was the Assistant Vice President of Marketing. While at The Gainsco Companies, Lana obtained the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation in 1987 and the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 1993.

Lana currently serves on the National Association of Surplus Lines Office (NAPSLO) Board of Directors.  Additionally, she is the Co-Chair of the NAPSLO Legislative Committee where she has served for the past seven years. Lana was appointed by the Texas Insurance Commissioner to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors for the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas, where she served as Chairman in 2012.  Lana is past President of The Fort Worth Chapter of CPCU Society. She is also a member of the Federation of Insurance Women of Texas and the Independent Insurance Agents of Tarrant County and Dallas.