Faculty

The Fundamentals of ILS

course

Convenors & lecturers

Kirill Savrassov, MSc., LLB (hons.), Cert ILS

Course convenor & co-Lecturer

With almost 25 years of experience in the (re)insurance industry Kirill runs Phoenix CRetro, a specialised full cycle ILS company with a focus on emerging markets. He has extensive connections in CEE, Eurasia, London, Bermuda & the United States at both corporate and government pillars and regularly speaks at international industry events on the topics of Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS), sovereign catastrophe bonds and Alternative risk transfer (ART).Also, he reads Risk & Strategic Management courses at various educational institutions worldwide.

Toby Pughe FCII

Course convenor & co-Lecturer

Toby is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute (equivalent to an academic Degree in insurance) with a graduation thesis dedicated to ILS. He has written extensively about the use of Insurance-Linked Securities and how they can help bridge the gap between economic and insured losses. He has also written in depth about the opportunities for ILS in a post Covid world, and how climate change will impact financial markets and the industry as a whole. Toby currently works in the ILS team at a boutique hedge fund in London.

Each module ends with a session from a guest lecturer, allowing you to learn from the wisdom and experience of the leading experts in their fields, so “to feel the beat” of the ILS industry.

Market practitioners

industry leaders who were our

Experts & Contributors

Clive O'Connell

Head of insurance and reinsurance
mccarthy denning law firm

Clive is the Head of lnsurance and Reinsurance at law firm McCarthy Denning. Since qualifying as a Solicitor in 1982, he has specialised in the areas of reinsurance & risk transfer. Over the time, Clive has handled some of the largest and most complicated disputes in the area, many running into hundreds of millions of dollars in a variety of jurisdictions, which made him one of the world’s leading (re)insurance legal experts. A former General Counsel of International lnsurance Society and Board Member of the New York chapter of the CPCU, Clive is currently a Non-executive Director of one of the largest European ILS investment fund managers as well as non-executive chairman of an insurtech start up. In 2014, lnsurance Day named him as one of the 50 most influential people in the world of insurance; the only lawyer to appear on that list.

Oleg Kapinos, CAIA

senior investment product specialist
tokio marine asset management

Oleg is an investment professional and entrepreneur who spent a large part of his career in Asia. His expertise spans ILS, equities, hedge funds and venture capital. 5 years of his time in Tokyo were dedicated to conducting due diligence and promoting products of the leading ILS investment managers as well as other alternative asset classes at Japan Alternative Investment (now Mitsui & Co. Alternative Investments) where he raised over USD100 mln. for 2 highly successful products. Prior to that he was also working on CIS deal origination at Daiwa Securities SMBC (now Daiwa Capital Markets). He has authored articles in Japanese and European professional publications and is a regular presenter at investment conferences across Europe.

Dr. Urs Ramseier

Executive Chairman
Twelve Capital Holding AG

Urs Ramseier is the co-founder and executive chairman of Twelve Capital Holding AG, an insurance asset manager with $5bn in AuM that launched in 2010. He has more than 25 years of experience in the investment industry and holds a PhD in economic geography from the University of Berne. Urs began his career in 1995 with Credit Suisse in Zurich before moving to London in 1996 to work for Credit Suisse Financial Products, where he became responsible for managing insurance company credit risk. He was also a member of the Global Credit Committee at Credit Suisse First Boston in Hong Kong. From 1999 to 2001, Urs worked for Lombard Odier & Cie in Geneva as a sell-side Equity Analyst for insurance and real estate stocks. In 2001 he rejoined Credit Suisse First Boston in Zurich as a buy-side Analyst and Portfolio Manager, and assumed responsibility for all of Credit Suisse Asset Management's investments in European insurance stocks.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Braun

Director,Institute of Insurance Economics
of the University of St. Gallen (HSG)

Alexander Braun is Director at the Institute of Insurance Economics of the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland, where he also holds the Associate Professorship in Insurance and Capital Markets. During his doctoral and postdoctoral phase, Mr. Braun completed stays at the University of Michigan (US) and the University of Essex (UK). Later he held visiting scholar positions at the Wharton School (Penn) and Fox School of Business (Temple University) in the US. He started his professional career in the Capital Markets Division of Lehman Brothers in London. Natural Catastrophe Risk and Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) are one of the main focus areas of Mr. Braun. His research and teaching activities have been awarded, among others, by the American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA), the Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association (APRIA), the Geneva Association, the International Insurance Society (IIS), and the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS).

Stanislav Kim

OiC Team Leader for the Climate Change & Disaster Resilience, UNDP Istanbul Hub

Stanislav is an Officer in Charge Team Leader for the Climate Change and Disaster Resilience Team in the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub and supporting 18 countries in Europe and Central Asia in building resilience to natural disasters and introducing of risk informed development. He has over 20 years of working experience in development, DRR, energy and environment programs in the region of Europe and CIS. Prior to current assignment, in 2010-2014 Stanislav worked as a Head of energy and environment unit in UNDP Kazakhstan Country Office. Between 2003-2010, he served as a National coordinator of GEF Small Grants Program. In 2001-2003, Stanislav coordinated development and implementation of 12 GEF UNDP full-size projects in climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and POPs. Prior to UNDP he worked for several national and regional NGOs. Mr.Kim holds a BSc in Geography and MSc in Environmental management.

Armen Grigoryan

RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE FOR NORTH MACEDONIA
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (UNDP)

Mr. Grigoryan was appointed as UNDP Resident Representative for the Republic of North Macedonia on October 11, 2021. Prior to this appointment, Armen was Regional Cluster Leader for Climate Change/Disaster Resilience and Global Energy Policy Advisor for Europe and Central Asia in UNDP at Istanbul Regional Hub since January 2015. He also served as Risk/Resilience advisor in UNDP New York, Programme officer in UNDP Geneva, Programme Manager for Crisis and Recovery in UNDP Armenia, covering Disaster Risk Reduction and Mine Action, DRR Advisor in UNDP Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Programme Manager for Disaster Management Training Programme in UNDP/UNOCHA Armenia, as a UNV Programme Officer in UNDP Armenia and in UNDPI Armenia. Armen has also worked in the World Bank, the United States Department of Treasury, US Peace Corps, etc. Armen holds a MA degree in International Relations and European Studies from the Central European University and BA in Pedagogy, History and English Language.

Philippe Trahan

Director, ILS
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan

Philippe Trahan is responsible for Ontario Teachers' Insurance-Linked Securities program which was established in 2006 with OTTPP being one of the largest institutional investors worldwide. His team invests in insurance and reinsurance risks globally, primarily through partnerships across life & health, property-catastrophe, specialty, and run-off markets. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers' in 2007, Philippe worked at Aon in its reinsurance division. Philippe has more than 25 years of industry experience across many classes and geographies, having been based in Luxemburg and London over his career. Philippe holds a B.Sc. from Laval University. He is a fellow of both Canadian Institute of Actuaries as well as of the Casualty Actuarial Society and has ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Dr. Timothy Nielander, Cert ILS

Founder & President
GP3 Institute

Dr. Timothy Nielander’s area of expertise is advising public private cooperation initiatives and their financing mechanisms. He was General Counsel for GAVI the Vaccine Alliance and has served numerous global health, disaster risk management, agricultural and financial inclusion development initiatives for international organizations including UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank. Tim currently serves as General Counsel for ARC Ltd and as Legal Advisor for the CCRIF Central American segregated portfolio and for the PCRIC, the Pacific-based sovereign risk pool. He also serves on an advisory team for Asian Development Bank programs relating to the development of risk pools for cities in the Philippines and for a sovereign risk program in the CAREC region. He also advises the Concept Foundation’s AIM project (Accelerating Innovation for Mothers) to accelerate the availability of medicines for the prevention and treatment of pregnancy-specific conditions especially in vulnerable groups within low-and middle-income countries. Tim holds an LL.M. from the University of Houston, a Ph.D. in International Law and Global Development from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and is a Member of the UK’s CIARB Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is licensed to practice law in the U.S. and as a solicitor in England and Wales. In addition, He is a published author on Global Development PPP’s supporting the Sustainable Development Goals.

Phillip Pettersen, Cert ILS

BOARD MEMBER
AFRICAN RISK CAPACITY

Phillip is a professional Board member and a Chartered Director. He currently serves on the Board of Africa Reinsurance Corporation South Africa Ltd, Regis Holdings Limited (listed on the Mauritius Stock Exchange (SEM), International Assurance PCC Limited (Mauritius) and Ivory Holdings (Pty) which includes firstEquity Insurance Group and SATIB to name a few. Phillip has been in the financial Services for 46 years and worked in RSA, London, Switzerland and Bermuda. During this period he worked for Alexander Forbes (MD Forbes Re) and was transferred to London as MD of Nelson Hurst Reinsurance (now Lockton’s) and thereafter became the Head of “New Solutions” at Partner Re in Switzerland where he developed his passion for catastrophe bonds, International Loss warranties (ILW’s), Mortgage Indemnity, Credit Default Swap Reinsurance, etc. This experience was further enhanced working as a Lloyds broker with Benfield Greig’s as part of the ReMetrics Division. In 2006 he moved to Bermuda as MD Towers Perrin Re. During his career he has held the titles of Chartered Insurance Practitioner, Chartered Broker and Chartered Risk Manager.

Richard Griffith, Cert ILS

Managing Director
Meridian Human Capital

Richard has over twenty five years’ experience specialising in executive recruitment within the (re)insurance and alternative risk transfer arenas. Prior to founding his own consultancy Meridian Human Capital in 2013, Richard has held senior management roles within leading international (re)insurance sector focussed executive recruitment consultancies including Hays Plc, Eames Consulting LLP and Darwin Rhodes Group. Working across the EMEA, North American, Latin American and Asian markets, Richard has been directly involved in the placement of thousands of senior executives during his career and has been at the forefront of cutting edge executive hiring strategies including permanent recruitment outsourcing as well as supporting organisations in building internal talent acquisition teams. Prior to a career in executive recruitment, Richard worked in insurance affinity distribution and corporate underwriting.

Dr. Kirill Ilinski

Founding CIO
Fusion Asset Management Group

Kirill Ilinski is a founding partner and Chief Investment Officer at Fusion Kirill obtained a PhD in Mathematical Physics from the Mathematical Institute of Academy of Sciences of Russia in 1994. He pursued an academic career as a Physics Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. Kirill published more than 40 research papers with a particular focus on the application of theoretical physics to financial modeling. Kirill developed the gauge theory approach to non-equilibrium asset pricing, as outlined in his book “Physics of Finance: Gauge Modeling in Non-Equilibrium Pricing” (Wiley & Sons, 2001). His second book "In Reflection of Supermodels", published in 2021, got a second prize as "Russian Business Book of the Year" (PwC, 2021). Kirill joined Chase Manhattan Bank in 2000. In 2003, with his experience in proprietary modeling, risk management and options trading, Kirill was asked to develop better ways of hedging the global convertible bonds book of JP Morgan. This work resulted in the creation of a new approach to debt-equity trading – the Credit Risk Reversal model. This development was the backbone of JP Morgan Debt-Equity Relative Value Group and was mentioned as one of JP Morgan’s achievements as Derivatives House of the Year in 2003. In the wake of the global financial crisis, Kirill pioneered a new compensation structure, The Shock Absorber Fees, which forces investment managers to behave fairly and responsibly towards their investors, removes part of the systemic risks and stimulates economic growth. This structure attracted wide attention in the investment community and was analyzed in a number of publications including the Financial Times and Investment & Pensions Europe.

Experienced Education

support

team

Nicholas Cobb

founder, cec communications

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