Our Team
Meet the team behind your comprehensive turnkey solutions and learn about their focused expertise.
Chris Ellis
Head of Turnkey Solutions, Senior Vice President
Chris has the honor of leading the fabulous Turnkey team and is responsible for the growth, profit and loss. He most recently was the Chief Marketing Officer responsible for omni-channel distribution (carriers, agents, MGA’s, Program Administrators, quoting platform aggregators, InsurTech, embedded), brand marketing, social media, CX/UX, and product innovations.
Chris earned Master’s degree’s from Harvard University (Finance) and Washington University in St. Louis (International Affairs). Prior to Berkley Re Solutions, he held leadership roles at Hartford Steam Boiler (Munich Re) and Mutual Boiler Re (FM Global).
Kevin Novak
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operations Officer
Kevin Novak is SVP, CFO & COO where he is primarily responsible for Finance / Accounting, Operations, and Compliance / Regulatory. He has been in the insurance industry since 1999 where he has held various Finance and Operations positions. Kevin assumed his role with Berkley Re Solutions in 2019 but has held the role of CFO since 2012 and COO since 2017.
Kevin holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing and MBA in Finance both from North Central College and has been with Berkley since 2002. Prior experience includes 3 years with Allstate Insurance where he held various finance and planning positions.
Spencer Coyle
Senior Vice President & Chief Actuary
Spencer Coyle oversees the pricing, reserving and financial reporting activities. He has over 30 years experience in the Actuarial field covering personal and commercial lines with roles for both insurance and reinsurance companies.
He has been a part of the Berkley organization since 2003. Spencer earned his B.S. in Mathematics from Penn State University and is also an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society.
Jeff Cron
Senior Vice President, Cyber & Product Development/Innovation
Jeff oversees the turnkey suite of products. His responsibilities include developing and managing Custom Turnkey Solutions, product underwriting, and tailoring the solutions developed to meet specific customer needs. Jeff also provides support for customer implementation and product management strategies.
Jeff earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from St. Joseph’s University and an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business in Finance and Strategy. Before joining Berkley Re Solutions, Jeff focused on financial lines for a national carrier.
Joe Piekarski
Vice President, Chief Claims Officer
Joseph Piekarski brings over 25 years of insurance claims experience to Berkley Re Solutions. Over his career, Mr. Piekarski has managed exposures that span both commercial and personal insurance across multiple product lines for global corporate, captive, middle market, and small business customers. He also has project management experience through various leadership roles on innovation and process improvement projects.
Since joining Berkley Re Solutions in November of 2017, Mr. Piekarski has provided his claims experience, leadership, and insights to our program administrators through his management and oversight of our TPA partners and the implementation of our in-house claims team. Mr. Piekarski is responsible for managing all aspects of our claims from strategic direction to operational excellence, quality management, and analytics. Mr. Piekarski holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Western Illinois University where he graduated with honors.
Lee Fincher
Chief Marketing & Client Strategy Officer
Lee Fincher is responsible for developing and implementing business development, marketing and client engagement strategies that differentiate our brand in the Turnkey marketplace. In collaboration with Berkley Re Solutions Programs and Traditional Reinsurance he leads key initiatives focused on carriers, program administrators, managing general agents, Insurtechs and reinsurance brokers.
Lee holds a Bachelors of Business Administration (Risk Management & Insurance) from the Terry College of Business and a Masters of Business Administration (Risk Management & Insurance, Corporate Finance, Sales Management) from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Georgia. He joined Berkley Re Turnkey Solutions in 2024, bringing over 30 years of experience in reinsurance with General Re, Intere, Willis Re and HSB.
Dave Bartone
Senior Vice President, Account Executive
Dave Bartone is responsible for the production, underwriting, enhancement and management of casualty treaty, program and Custom Turnkey Solutions for New England and New York. He’s been in the insurance and reinsurance business since 1987 successfully managing diverse books of business for clients located throughout the United States.
Dave earned his BS at Northeastern University, Boston, MA. He began his career as a casualty underwriter and has since held various senior positions.
Steve Gabor
Vice President, Account Executive
Steve Gabor is responsible for the production, underwriting, enhancement and client management of Custom Turnkey Solutions for the Midwest. He’s been in the insurance industry since 1995 with an exposure to a broad scope of diverse coverages with a focus on program business since joining Berkley Re Solutions in 2005.
Steve earned his Bachelor of Science in Business and Administration from Bradley University in 1995 and his CPCU designation in 2012.
Michael Kitchens
Vice President, Account Executive
Mike Kitchens is responsible for the production, underwriting, enhancement and management of casualty treaty, program and Custom Turnkey Solutions for the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. He has a diverse casualty background both from the reinsurance and primary program perspective. Mike earned his degree in Risk Management and Insurance from the University of Georgia and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation from The Institutes®. He has spent his career in the Southeast working for both national reinsurers and primary carriers.
Prior to joining Berkley Re Solutions, Mike was a regional manager for a major carrier writing a large book of MGA produced specialty programs.
Ron Mitchell
Vice President, Account Executive
Ron Mitchell is responsible for managing overall treaty relationships, bringing the full Power of Berkley to our reinsured partners. He oversees the production, underwriting, and management of reinsured Turnkey Solutions in the Midwest and West regions. With over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, Ron has led underwriting teams and most recently served two insurance organizations as Chief Underwriting Officer. He has managed diverse portfolios, including personal, commercial, and agricultural lines of business.
Ron holds a BA from the University of Northern Iowa and several professional designations, including CPCU, CIC, and CRM, among others.
Michelle Dicks
AVP Product Development & Solutions Leader
Michelle is a member of the Products Team. She manages product development initiatives aimed at enhancing the company’s traditional marketplace offerings and expanding into new product areas.
Michelle earned a B.A. from Stanford and is a licensed surplus lines broker. Before joining Berkley Re Solutions, Michelle gained valuable skills working at an MGA and at two Japanese insurance companies.
Lynn Bryant
Director, Project Management & Innovation
Lynn Bryant is responsible for marketing, product & project management. She finds creative solutions by developing software-based tools that enhance internal and external efficiencies.
Lynn’s insurance career is diverse, having worked in the 1980’s for a third-party workers compensation claims handling company. Lynn has been with Berkley Re Solutions since January 2003 and has an Arts Degree from Georgia State University.
Heath Clark
Assistant Vice President, Claims
Heath brings nearly 20 years of technical claims and management experience to our claim’s organization. A graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University, Heath started his career in Florida as a field adjuster handling all levels of property loss exposures. During his career Heath has managed teams of large loss field adjusters, CAT operations, and assisted his claims departments with data review and analysis.
Heath’s focus is on working with the BRS teams’ turnkey solutions (Cyber and Workplace Violence) as well as assisting the entire claims organization where needed.
Careers at Berkley Re Turnkey Solutions
Thriving on collaboration, innovation, and fast decision-making, we believe in empowering our people to make an impact, working hard and having fun along the way. Are you ready to join a workplace that invests in your career?