Ramani was Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer, The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (“The Hartford”), a (re)insurance company (February 1997-October 2009)  He is a current member, and former Chairman, of the board of the Hartford Healthcare Corporation.  He is also Vice Chairman of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform.  Additionally he is a Director of The Cape Cod Foundation.  He was formerly Chairman of the American Insurance Association, the Property & Casualty CEO Roundtable and the Insurance Services Office, former Chairman of the Hartford Hospital and former member of the board of Maharishi University of Management.  During his 36-year career with The Hartford, Mr. Ayer held progressively senior roles. Mr. Ayer’s long tenure as the Chairman of the board and CEO of The Hartford, during which time he built the company into a recognized leader in P&C insurance, provides him a wealth of experience with respect to the varied and complex issues that confront large (re)insurers. 

Bob is a senior Insurance Company Executive with 30+ years of experience. His primary expertise is in the specialty program business working with Managing General Agents and Managing General Underwriters.  His experience includes creating program departments within Insurance Companies and a start-up Insurance Company writing program business.  Bob has extensive knowledge of specialty insurance, excess & surplus lines and reinsurance.  Access to his broad network of relationships with senior insurance industry and finance executives is an asset to Pheasant Hill Advisors. His education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from The University of Hartford ∙ Hartford, Connecticut.  He is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and a member of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society ∙ Malvern, Pennsylvania

Jukka Lipponen is President of Independent Insurance Analysts LLC (IIA), which provides independent investment analysis, credit research and investment banking services on insurance companies to institutional investors, buyers and distributors of insurance company products, regulators and other stakeholders. Previously, Jukka was Senior Vice President and a senior life insurance research analyst covering domestic and Canadian insurance companies with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), an investment banking and broker/dealer firm specializing in the financial services sector. Jukka was recognized by Wall Street Journal as a “Best on the Street” analyst in the life sector for three consecutive years. Before joining KBW in 2002, Jukka was President & Managing Director of The Townsend & Schupp Company (T&S), where he was in charge of the company’s research, consulting and investment banking activities. In 1999-2001, Jukka was an investment banking consultant to the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance in the Prudential demutualization. He was an advisor to the Connecticut Insurance Department in the mergers of Connecticut Mutual Life with Massachusetts Mutual Life in 1996 and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Connecticut with Anthem in 1997. He was an advisor to the Connecticut Development Authority on a number of transactions involving insurance companies and insurance businesses. Jukka is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a past Director and President of the CFA Society – Hartford and serves currently on its Advisory Council. He is also an active member of the CFA Institute. Jukka holds an MBA with Finance concentration and a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.

Mr. Lyman joined Parker Benjamin in 2010 as its managing broker of real estate services. Shortly thereafter, he opened Parker Benjamin’s Charleston, SC office. The Company’s real estate advisory practice focuses on zoning & environmental compliance, design & construction management, and directed Web based marketing initiatives, with a specialty niche in the adaptive reuse and restoration of 19th century historic buildings.  The CT Main Street Center awarded Mr. Lyman its 2017 Keystone Award of Excellence for his Upson Market Place restoration project of the c1860 mill buildings situated on the Farmington River in Downtown Unionville, CT. UCONN’s CT Brownfield Initiative has invited Mr. Lyman to speak as a guest lecturer at its environmental engineering school at the Storrs, CT campus.  Mr. Lyman holds Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Florida real estate broker licenses. He is a United States Coast Guard licensed captain, a FAA licensed pilot holding private pilot, complex, & hi-performance certificates, and has received a Federal Government security clearance TWIC.

Michael Pariano serves as Managing Principal of the Highland Capital Brokerage–New England office. He entered the life insurance brokerage business in 1981 and works with independent producers in the design, implementation, and administration of their clients’ estate, retirement, and business plan needs. He specializes in helping representatives of other disciplines such as property and casualty agents, employee benefits producers, stockbrokers, banks, and CPAs to diversify their practices by selling life insurance products to help fulfill their clients’ objectives. Michael graduated in 1981 with a BA degree from Kenyon College and has earned the Chartered Life Underwriter® designation. He is the past President of the Connecticut Estate and Tax Planning Council, past Chair of the Board of Trustees of Westminster Presbyterian Church, and past President of The Country Club of Farmington, Connecticut.

As a Managing Partner at Emerald Creek Capital, Mr. Penna focuses on risk management, banking and client relations. He serves as Co–Chairman of the firm’s investment committee.  Prior to launching Emerald Creek in 2009, Mr. Penna spent eight years at Neuberger Berman, where he worked on a portfolio management team with both institutional and high net worth clients. In this role, Mr. Penna designed and implemented a variety of investment strategies including both credit and real estate investments. He began his career at a boutique asset management firm founded by former Goldman Sachs executives that focused on opportunistic equity and debt transactions.  Mr. Penna has worked with institutional endowments, foundations and family offices, advising them on fixed income opportunities that are appropriate for their respective risk tolerance. Mr. Penna has extensive experience in such key aspects of financial risk management as market, credit and operational risks, as well as risk based capital and performance measurement practices. In total, Mr. Penna has advised clients on well over $1 billion worth of investment opportunities. Mr. Penna is a CFA Charterholder with more than 20 years of finance experience. Mr. Penna earned his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University with an A.B. in Economics.

Andrew Terry oversees North America Insurance Asset Management at Schroders.  He is focused on the US insurance General Account and retail markets and is responsible for developing new business solutions and maintaining existing relationships with the firm’s insurance clients. Additionally, Mr. Terry advises insurance companies on asset allocation, long term investment strategies, and insurance policy issues. Prior to joining Schroders, Andrew worked in business development and relationship management at both AllianceBernstein and BlackRock. Prior to BlackRock, Mr. Terry was a senior research associate covering the property and casualty insurance industry at Macquarie Securities and Fox-Pitt, Kelton, respectively. He also worked for Oliver Wyman as a consultant supporting the Hedge Fund Working Group (HFWG). Mr. Terry began his career at Willis Capital Markets.  Mr. Terry serves as a Board Member and Treasurer to the National Arts Club, a non-profit organization in New York City, is a Board Member of the Darien Nature Center in Darien, CT, and studied Economics at Hamilton College.