ILS Bermuda Announce Second Panel Session
ILS [Bermuda] Ltd., the organisers of the Bermuda Convergence 2014 today announced the second panel session that will be held at this year’s event as ‘Relative value – how do opportunities in reinsurance funds compare to other asset classes.’
Moderated by Michael Millette [pictured] of Goldman Sachs, panellists will include John Brynjolfsson, of Armored Wolf, Jay Cohen of Bank of America – Merrill Lynch, Jonathan Malawer of K2 Advisers, and Todor Todorov of Towers Watson.
As the Global Head of Structured Finance at Goldman Sachs, Mike Millette has a unique perspective on how ILS compares to other asset classes and the panel discussion will examine the big story in Convergence in the last year – the drop in returns.
The panel of industry leaders will address issues that include: what asset classes are competing with ILS for capital; how demand for ILS can be affected by interest rates and the returns of other investments; and at what point will investors be deterred by the softening reinsurance market?
Jason Carne, Head of ILS & Managing Director at KPMG Audit Limited in Bermuda and ILS Bermuda committee member said, “We are fortunate to have panelists of this caliber sharing their insight and experience with us at the Convergence 2014 Networking Event. With US equity markets nearing all time highs and interest rates remaining at historic lows, we have seen the ILS market grow and mature into an attractive asset class for a wide range of investors. This panel session promises to expand our knowledge and understanding of the long-term potential of ILS as an asset class as traditional markets change over time.
Michael Millett, Goldman Sachs
Michael is the global head of the Structured Finance business in the Finance Group. He is also co- chairman of the Structured Finance Capital Committee and serves on the Investment Banking Division Client and Business Standards Committee and the Bank Capital Committee. Michael joined Goldman Sachs in 1994 in Fixed Income and moved to the Finance Group in 1997. He was named managing director in 2002 and partner in 2006.
Prior to joining the firm, Michael worked as an analyst at Citibank and a portfolio manager at John Hancock. Michael serves on the Board of Visitors for the School of Business and Economics of the Catholic University of America, the Board of Trustees of the Inner City Scholarship Fund, the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Boys and Girls State Foundation, the Publication Committee of the Manhattan Institute, the Finance Committee for The Ursuline School, and the Advisory Board of the Boston College Center for Asset Management. Michael earned an AB in History from Cornell University in 1987 and an MS in Finance from Boston College in 1994. He became a CFA charterholder in 1994.
About the panellists:
John Brynjolfsson is Armored Wolf’s CIO and is also a member of the Management and Investment Committees. As CIO, he is responsible for overseeing all investment activity at Armored Wolf. Mr. Brynjolfsson has 20 years of investment experience and a background in risk management. He is an expert in real assets and launched and grew PIMCO’s Real Return platform to approximately $80 billion before his departure in mid-2008. In this role, Mr. Brynjolfsson ran PIMCO’s 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest public funds which included the world’s largest commodities fund and two large inflation-linked bond funds. He is regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on inflation linked investing, having written several books on the topic and worked with the US Treasury to design the TIPS market in 1996.
Jay A. Cohen is a managing director in the Equity Research Department at Bank of America – Merrill Lynch and covers the property/casualty insurance industry and insurance brokers. He is the Insurance super-sector head for U.S. Equity Research. He has been with Merrill Lynch since August of 1995. Prior to joining Merrill, he was an analyst in equity research at Salomon Brothers, joining that firm in the summer of 1990. He also spent two years at Aetna Casualty & Surety as a surety and fidelity bond underwriter. Jay has a B.A. in Economics from Union College [1987] where he graduated magna cum laude and an MBA in Finance and Management from Columbia Business School [1991].
Jay was among the top-ranked non-life insurance analyst in the 2013 Institutional Investor All-Star Analyst poll. He has appeared in this poll in each of the past 15 years, ranking in the top three over the past 14. He has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as an All-Star analyst in both stock picking and estimate accuracy and has consistently been ranked among the top property/casualty insurance analysts by Greenwich Associates [#1 in 2013]. He also has been the top-ranked non-life insurance analyst among hedge funds [Alpha Magazine]. He has had articles published in National Underwriter, Best’s Review, and Global Reinsurance and has appeared on CNN and CNBC. Jay was guest lecturer at the KPMG Global Insurance Institute at Wharton. He is a board member and past president of the Association of Insurance and Financial Analyst as well as the United Way of Scarsdale/Edgemont.
Johnathan Malawer, Managing Director of K2 Advisers, began his investment career at Thomson Financial with their Capital Markets Consulting group. In 2004, Mr. Malawer worked at General Motors Asset Management as an analyst within their group dedicated to hedge fund investing, which managed over $4bn in hedge fund strategy AUM at the time of his departure. Mr. Malawer joined K2 Advisors, a Franklin Templeton Investments Company, in July 2007 and is a Senior Investment Analyst with strategy coverage including Insurance Linked Securities. Outside K2 Advisors, Mr. Malawer is a member of the Friends of Best Buddies New York committee and is a member of the Mentoring committee for the University of Maryland Smith School Of Business New York Alumni Chapter. Mr. Malawer received his CFA designation in 2006 and graduated from the University of Maryland in 2002 with a B.S. in Finance.
Todor Todorov is an Investment Consultant at Towers Watson and is a member of the hedge fund research team. He joined the firm [at the time Watson Wyatt] in September 2008 and was initially based in its London office before transferring to New York in July 2011. Todor’s work is focused on insurance linked securities strategies and other alternative investment strategies. Prior to joining Towers Watson, Todor worked for a year with a currency management shop and energy finance consultancy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Todor has a BSc degree in International Business Administration and MSc degree in Business Administration – Finance and Investments from RSM Erasmus University. He is a CFA charterholder.
The ILS Bermuda committee launched the inaugural Convergence networking event in November, 2013 at Pier 6 in Hamilton. The event was hailed a great success and attended by over 280 delegates from 13 different countries. This year the Bermuda Convergence 2014 event will take place on November 12th and 13th and attract leading industry professionals including investors, fund managers, global insurance and reinsurance companies and professional service partners.
The Bermuda Convergence 2014 event will showcase why Bermuda is the leading centre for global risk management and the jurisdiction of choice for ILS funds, collateralised reinsurance and the fastest growing domicile for catastrophe bond issuance.
Visit ilsbermuda.com for more information.
Well done ILS Committee – these are movers and shakers in the industry and you have done very well to get them signed up for this.