Reinsurance Rendezvous

Steven Asnicar is the Chief Executive Officer for Diversity Australia / New Zealand and an esteemed international keynote speaker specializing in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).

Steven has recently led the development of the new ISO International Standard in Human Resource Management - Diversity and Inclusion.

Additionally, Steven has spearheaded the development of Global Neuro Divergence Training and Assessments, Menopause at Work Programs, Respect at Work, and Psychological Safety at Work Laws and Legislation.

With extensive expertise in mental health first aid and learning program development, Steven has been pivotal in advancing initiatives that promote respect, safety, and inclusion in workplaces globally.

His engaging presentations and workshops provide organizations with actionable strategies to support neurodiverse employees and foster psychologically safe work environments.

Teni Berberian was admitted as a solicitor in 1998 with degree in Biomedical Science/Law with Hons and in 2002 obtained her Masters in Law from the University of Sydney. She was called to the NSW Bar in 2005 where she practises from the 13th floor Wentworth Selborne Chambers.

Teni’s main area of practise at the Bar is insurance, an area she practised in extensively as a solicitor. She practises in all aspect of insurance law and insurance litigation including life, TPD, income protection, professional indemnity, general liability and general commercial litigation. She has been briefed and appears on behalf of many local and international insurers in various Courts in NSW, ACT and Victoria.

Teni has been named in the “Best Lawyers in Australia” in insurance law for 2015, 2016 and most recently for 2017.

Teni has a special interest in medical law and is briefed regularly on behalf of medical indemnity insurers and the NSW Ministry of Health to appear on behalf of medical practitioners as well as public and private hospitals in defence of medical negligence claims and Coronial Inquests. Teni was involved in the landmark case of Tabet v Gett, now the leading High Court authority on causation in medical negligence cases. Since 2007, Teni has been a guest lecturer of legal principles at the University of Sydney School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatology.

Teni has extensive experience and expertise in Commonwealth crime matters and appears on behalf of the Crown on instructions from the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) in prosecution of serious Commonwealth crime matters. She has appeared in various complex trials before juries in matters involving people smuggling, tax fraud, insider trading, proceeds of crime, drugs, money laundering and criminal breaches of the Corporations Law. Teni has appeared for the Commonwealth in various Project Wickenby prosecutions for tax fraud, involving offshore tax havens as part of the joint initiative between the ATO and the AFP.

Teni is also briefed and appears in both the prosecution and defence of disciplinary proceedings involving solicitors. She was junior counsel briefed on behalf of the NSW Bar Association in the leading case on overcharging by barristers in New South Wales Bar Association v Meakes both at first instance and in the NSW Court of Appeal.

Andrew is the Equities Analyst at Macquarie Group for the Australian Insurance and Diversified Financials sectors.

Prior to this, Andrew worked at Aon for six years in their consulting division, advising insurers on M&A and strategic growth options across Asia Pacific.

Andrew is a CA and CFA charterholder.

John is the Chairman of the law firm Gilchrist Connell.

He has been working in reinsurance since he began his career in London in 1994. He emigrated in Australia in 1998 and has been involved in some of the leading cases and arbitrations in reinsurance law in England and in Australia. His practice covers both reinsurance litigation and advisory services.

Despite the combination of the words lawyer and insurance being an almost immediate barbecue stopper, he loves it.

John works part-time these days and spends a good deal of his time with his family. He lists his hobbies as travel, walking, snooker, tennis, poor golf, Chelsea FC, britpop and curry.

Ann Gi brings over 10 years of experience in insurance industry across Australia and Singapore. She currently leads ethical practices as the Risk & Compliance Manager for the Australia & Pacific operations at Canopius, while also championing inclusion and diversity as the Chair of the impactful APAC committee she established in 2020.

Ann Gi believes in the transformative power of kindness at work and creating a space that celebrates diverse perspectives and empowers all voices. She is a certified workplace Mental Health First Aider and holds a Bachelor of Business Management from Singapore Management University, Diploma in Insurance with Chartered Insurance Institute and is a Senior Associate with ANZIIF.

Steve Johnston was appointed Suncorp Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director in September 2019.

Steve joined Suncorp in 2006 and has held various executive positions. Prior to his appointment, Steve was the Group Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for financial reporting and management, legal and company secretariat, taxation, investor relations, corporate affairs and sustainability.

Steve’s previous roles include Deputy CFO and Executive General Manager Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs, and he has played a key role in the strategic and financial management of the Group including Suncorp’s rebuild following the global financial crisis.

Prior to joining Suncorp, Steve held senior positions at Telstra and the Queensland Government.

Dr Omid Karr is a data science and technology leader with more than 15 years of experience.

Omid has a proven track record of building and executing end to end data-driven software solutions including artificial intelligence, machine learning, mathematical & statistical modelling and optimisation to solve complex real-world problems, deriving actionable insights and supporting optimised decision making in a wide range of contexts.

With a PhD in machine learning, more than 8 years of executive-level consulting and 5 years of executive leadership experience, Omid is passionate about making real impact through scientifically proven, commercially driven and ethical application of data science.

Anja Linsmaier is a reinsurance professional with 15 years’ experience in general management, traditional and structured reinsurance, and corporate finance.

In her current role as Head of Non-Life for Australasia, Anja is responsible for setting the strategic direction of Munich Re's non-life business in Australia and New Zealand, including its New Markets and Climate Analytics functions.

She is passionate about the purpose of the (re)insurance industry and building inclusive and diverse teams where every individual can realise their full potential.

Anja has been with Munich Re since 2008 and held several positions within the Munich Re Group in Milan, New York, Munich and Sydney. Before moving to Sydney, she served as Client Executive within Munich Re’s Global Clients division leading the Client Management function for selected global insurers and various multi-nationals based in Bermuda and the US.

Born in Germany, Anja holds a degree in Insurance Management from the Cologne University of Applied Science.

Karl is the Head of Advisory and Analytics, APAC at Howden Re, having joined in early 2024.

Prior to this, Karl was the Group Chief Actuary of QBE. Before joining QBE, Karl lead Quantium’s Insurance Analytics and Consulting Practice and was an Appointed Actuary for a number of insurers in both Australia and New Zealand.

Karl’s areas of expertise include reserving, capital management and strategy, reinsurance analysis & strategy, financial modelling & strategic planning, risk management and pricing strategy. Karl advises QBE’s board and senior management across a wide range of actuarial and strategic matters.

Rade Musulin is a Principal at Finity Consulting in Sydney, Australia, focusing on extreme events and climate risk. Previously he served as the Chief Executive Officer of FBAlliance Insurance, Chief Operating Officer of Aon Benfield Analytics Asia Pacific, and Vice President Operations, Public Affairs, and Reinsurance for the Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Companies.

Rade serves Chair of the International Actuarial Association’s Resource and Environment Virtual Forum. He recently was Chair of the Actuaries Institute’s Climate and Sustainability Working Group and was Vice President – Casualty for the American Academy of Actuaries from 2016 – 2018. He was named as co-winner of the Actuaries Institute’s Actuary of the Year award in 2023.

His main areas of interest include how changing population demographics affect catastrophe exposure, climate change adaptation, applications of catastrophe models for disaster planning in developing countries, building code development, and community resilience. He represented the International Actuarial Association at COP 27 in Egypt in 2022 and at COP 28 in Dubai in 2023.

Callan is an experienced junior counsel and principally practises in the areas of insurance and reinsurance law, common law and commercial law. He appears in disciplinary proceedings, employment and industrial proceedings, product and professional liability disputes and work health & safety prosecutions.

Callan has appeared in a number of leading cases (including in appellate courts and in the High Court) and regularly appears in the Federal Court, Supreme and District Courts of NSW and in interstate Courts.

Callan also appears in coronial inquests, public commissions of inquiry and tribunals across Australia. He holds a Master’s degree in law with a major in Alternative Dispute Resolution which is a particular focus of his practice.

Callan was elected to serve as a Councillor of the NSW Bar Association (2019 to date) and the Judiciary Panel for NSW Rugby Union (2018 to date). He has also chaired and appeared at various sporting integrity tribunals including in cricket, tennis, rugby league and hockey.

Callan is a Committee Member for the Council of Law Reporting NSW (2014 to date) and a member of the Australia and New Zealand Sports Lawyers Association.

Prior to joining the Bar, Callan practised as a solicitor at Clayton Utz and Wotton & Kearney. Callan was called to the Bar in 2012.

Alex is the Global Head of Emerging Technology of QBE Ventures, the venture investment and development arm of QBE Insurance. Alex and the team invest in, build alongside and partner with early-stage technology companies that have the potential to reshape the insurance industry.

Alex is an innovation and disruption specialist and futurist, helping established companies to see where the threats lie, and how they can play in the same field and with the same tools as the disrupters – and has spoken before a wide range of audiences on the Horizon 1 to Horizon 3 innovation and disruption journey, and how to navigate the bridge between.

As the technology lead on a number of AI/ML investments in VC and CVC environments, Alex has lived the challenge of applying machine learning and related technologies in highly regulated environments - from visual and voice analytics, customer sentiment platforms and IoT to the challenges of vehicular automation.

Before joining QBE, Alex was the Director of Emerging and Innovation Technology and also Entrepreneur in Residence at IAG.

Steph has been an advisor and thought leader in the workplace mental health sector for over 10 years, previously working at The Black Dog Institute where she led and supported workplaces in creating mentally healthy work environments.

Steph has experience in strategically designing, implementing and evaluating workplace wellbeing initiatives in complex corporate environments including seven years with Bupa ANZ.

Steph started her career in mental health service delivery and she holds a Bachelor of Social Work and Masters in Human Resource Management.

Laura Wood is the Head of Reinsurance at Youi Insurance, based in Sydney. Laura brings 18 years of expertise towards her new role on the Reinsurance Faculty Advisory Board, having worked within re/insurance and broking across most of the industry’s key markets around the globe and across many lines of business.

She joined Youi Insurance in 2023 from global reinsurer Swiss Re, after an eight-year tenure with the firm. In her most recent role at Swiss Re, she served as Key Account Manager, and prior to that she was a Senior Client Manager within property & casualty (P&C) for Australia & New Zealand. Prior to joining Swiss Re, Laura has also held roles at Aon, where she held the role of Senior Actuary, Analytics, Reinsurance for Australia & New Zealand, as well as  Head of Actuarial at Odyssey Re’s London branch.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with Finance, is a Fellow of the Institue of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries Australia, and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary.