JANET
BEAVER
Board Chair | The Surplus Line Association of California
Janet Beaver is an executive vice president at Aurenity, a leading insurance company that provides innovative solutions for complex risks. With over 20 years of management experience and an extensive underwriting background, Janet has earned an industry reputation as an energetic, reliable leader who uses her proven organizational and interpersonal skills to expertly complete technical, diverse projects.
Janet is proficient in profit-driven strategy development, marketing, and client engagement, and has broad multi-market relationships. She joined Aurenity in 2022, after leading the Excess Casualty Division at Tokio Marine HCC, where she increased profitability and cultivated a culture of communication and collaboration. At Aurenity, Janet provides vision and leadership to the insurance team, and drives the development, implementation, and continuous planning of all insurance programs. Janet holds the ASLI designation and passed the LLMIT, and is a recognized expert in excess casualty and underwriting.
BENJAMIN
MCKAY
CEO & Executive Director | The Surplus Line Association of California
Ben McKay joined the SLA in 2012 after a career in both the private and public sector. Most recently, Ben spent eight years with the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) as its Senior Vice President for Federal Government Relations. In that role, Ben was named one of Washington D.C.’s top lobbyists five times by The Hill, one of the city’s leading political newspapers. Prior to his time at PCI, Ben served as Chief of Staff to a member of United States Congress in Washington, D.C., and worked on financial services and international relations issues.
Other career highlights include eight years as staff to members of the Florida legislature, where he worked on insurance, economic development, banking, criminal justice, and other important issues. He served a tour as a regulator at the Florida Department of State, where he held the position of Deputy Secretary for International and Legislative Affairs. Later, he served as the youngest Chief of Staff in the history of the 750-employee department. Ben received his Juris Doctor from Catholic University, his Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, and his Bachelor of Science from Florida State University.
HANK
WATKINS
Regional Director & President, Americas | Lloyd’s
Hank Watkins is the Regional Director & President, Americas for Lloyd’s and is responsible for Lloyd’s market development activities in the US, Canada and Latin America. He has more than 35 years of experience in the insurance industry and has held a range of underwriting, client management and leadership positions in the United States and Europe.
Hank received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley and has completed an executive leadership program at The Wharton School. He is a member of the Board of Overseers at St. John’s University’s School of Risk Management and is on the boards of the Insurance Information Institute and Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (NY/Northeast Division).
MATTHEW
MOSHER
President & CEO | AM Best Rating Services
Matthew Mosher is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. Matt is responsible for A.M. Best’s rating operations globally, including data management, the development of rating methodology and models, the assignment of ratings and the management of all rating systems.He also serves on the board of A.M. Best Company, Inc. and A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc., including positions on its Methodology Advisory Committee and Risk Management Advisory Committee.
Matt has been employed at A.M. Best since 1995. Prior to assuming the responsibility for the entirety of A.M. Best’s rating operations in 2015, Matt was responsible for the rating analytics globally for A.M. Best since 2009. Matt led A.M. Best’s non-life rating analytics from 2001 through 2009, and prior to that, served in various managerial roles, as well as serving as A.M. Best’s non-life actuary.
Matt is a graduate of Lehigh University with a B.S. in Statistics. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst.
MIKHAIL
GORSHUNOV
Data Scientist | The Surplus Line Association of California
Mikhail Gorshunov is a Data Scientist at the Surplus Line Association of California, where he leads data science initiatives and works with cross-functional teams to solve business challenges. He researches socio-economic and climate risk impacts on the California insurance industry and synthesizes the findings in white papers.
Previously, Mikhail was an Assistant Professor of Management at Western Illinois University. He conducted corporate governance research and published findings in leading journals like the Journal of Corporate Finance. In addition, Mikhail taught Business Strategy and Organizational Behavior courses.
Mikhail holds a Ph.D. from Auburn University, along with an MBA and BA in Business and Finance from the University of Alaska Anchorage.