Headquarters:
1410 Rocky Ridge Dr. #335, Roseville, CA 95661
Year founded:
2008
Number of employees:
14
Phone:
844 513 5990
Email:
access.daisinquiry@amwins.com
Website:
directaccessins.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/orion180
“We prioritise embracing cutting-edge technologies, creative problem solving and continuous improvement to enhance our premium funding solutions and provide exceptional value to our clients”
Brett Bastow, IQumulate Premium FundinG
Sandi Smith
Senior Operations Manager
Joe Stankowich
Senior Vice President
Phyllis Hayes
Vice President
Leadership
Sandi Smith has worked in the insurance industry for over 25 years, holding various management positions in operations and accounting. Smith has worked with DAIS agency partners since 2009 and now leads our operations team of five, whose responsibilities include carrier code management, credentialing, commission accounting, and policy document management. Smith is a key resource for DAIS agency partners on many fronts.
Senior Operations Manager
Sandi Smith
Joe Stankowich began his insurance career 25 years ago and has held many different roles in the carrier, wholesale, and MGA space, providing products and solutions to support the independent retail agency. He began working with the DAIS program in 2015 and assumed leadership of the network in 2021. The deep industry relationships he has built over the years help the DAIS team bring true value to its agency partners.
Senior Vice President
Joe Stankowich
Phyllis Hayes brings more than 30 years of industry experience to the DAIS team. Aside from owning her agency for 10 years, she has held multiple marketing and corporate management roles with carriers and wholesalers. Hayes has a unique understanding of the needs of an independent insurance agency, which has allowed her to support DAIS agency partners in a truly meaningful way for the past 10 years.
Vice President
Phyllis Hayes
Chris DiMartino
Chief Underwriting Officer
As chief underwriting officer of Orion180, Chris DiMartino oversees all aspects of underwriting, product development, and product management. He joined Orion180 in January 2025, bringing 27 years of experience in P&C insurance, with expertise in both commercial and personal lines.
DiMartino has spent most of his career at The Hartford, where he held roles in actuarial and product management. Notably, he led The Hartford’s $3B personal lines business as head of product. DiMartino graduated from Bryant University and the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS), a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), and a licensed attorney.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Chris DiMartino
Yiguang Qiu
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Yiguang Qiu is senior vice president of marketing at Orion180. He leads an integrated organization spanning brand strategy, performance marketing, communications, partnerships, events, and philanthropy. Since joining Orion180 in 2023, he and his team have elevated Orion180’s prominence as a credible, trusted, and differentiated insurance brand. His leadership has supported a threefold increase in the number of policies in force and significantly expanded Orion180’s national presence.
Qiu brings more than two decades of experience in property and casualty and life insurance marketing, as well as annuity and mutual fund sales. Prior to joining Orion180, he served as Senior Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Amica, where he played a pivotal role in shaping the award-winning brand’s marketing strategy and operations.
Qiu holds an MS from the University of Minnesota and a PhD from the University of Massachusetts. He is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) and has earned a certification in Building and Leading Effective Teams from Columbia Business School Executive Education.
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Yiguang Qiu
Stevens & Associates Lawyers is a leading and trusted employment law firm based in Sydney known for delivering high-quality legal expertise in the area of employment law and industrial relations across Australia, alongside a proven track record of effectively and swiftly resolving a variety of workplace law issues.
In the past year, the firm’s growth has been notable. It has:
• experienced a 213% growth in the number of client matters, increasing from 149 client matters in the 2022 financial year to 390 client matters in the 2023 financial year
• improved its online visibility, leading to over 50 online enquiries each month and a conversion rate of client leads of up to 40%
• significantly expanded the breadth and type of matters that it advises on day to day, which has increased the firm’s skillsets, diversity and resilience
• expanded its community outreach by collaborating with local Sydney venues for client seminars and continuing active participation in a Sydney small/family business group
Stevens & Associates Lawyers has adapted to digital trends by implementing an effective strategy with SEO and web design, resulting in a structural shift that has seen increased representation of employees where the firm previously mainly advised employers.
The firm’s recognition as a “Fast Firm” attests to its momentum in the employment law space.
“IQumulate is on a technology journey, and we’re just getting started”
Wayne Tower,
IQumulate Premium Funding
Jim McKenney
Chief Digital Officer
Elizabeth Bounds
General Counsel
Nealy Farshadi
Principal, Strategic Client Relations
Pam Chhabra
Manager – Residential Strata
Jim McKenney joined RPS as chief digital officer in 2025, bringing more than 25 years of digital leadership experience across insurance, technology, product, underwriting, and finance. He previously spent more than two decades at Liberty Mutual Insurance and served as CEO of an insurtech startup focused on modernizing broker and carrier operations.
At RPS, McKenney leads the company’s digital strategy, using data analytics and innovation to identify growth opportunities and strengthen client solutions. He holds a BBA in accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Chief Digital Officer
Jim McKenney
Elizabeth Bounds oversees Brown & Riding’s legal, risk management, and claims departments. As the company’s chief legal resource, she reviews and negotiates corporate contracts and manages the firm’s litigation, internal legal resources, and relationships with outside counsel.
She also works closely with B&R’s senior management in developing overall risk management strategies for the firm and is directly accountable to the Board of Directors for implementing risk control measures and for the facilitation and oversight of corporate liability insurance placements. In the claims department, she takes an especially active role in policy interpretation and client claims advocacy.
General Counsel
Elizabeth Bounds
Nealy Farshadi is instrumental in helping strengthen and grow Brown & Riding’s client relationships. She maintains and improves quality procedures, oversees B&R’s ISO certification, and manages the firm’s client feedback program. Her contributions enable the executive management team to act on client input effectively. As a result, B&R’s client feedback scores greatly exceed the average and continue to improve each year.
Farshadi also supports and furthers the growth of B&R and its employees by contributing to professional development within the organization and being a resource to staff.
Principal, Strategic Client Relations
Nealy Farshadi
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
One culmination of these efforts has been the real-world, needs-based IQEdge solution. A one-stop online quoting tool designed for both the Australian and New Zealand markets, IQEdge delivers quotes in under 60 seconds. Plus, the solution offers quote comparison and quote versioning capabilities, enabling users to review vital historical and financial data in a single page view.
IQEdge can streamline and automate application processing, underwriting document verification and payment collection, cutting the need for manual labour and minimising processing errors. A digital “self-service” platform, IQEdge, reduces the need for customer and administrative support. Meanwhile, borrowers can access their accounts, make payments and manage their policies independently and through sales and support teams, which are always available for further assistance.
“We’ve created a quality platform that simplifies the quoting process yet amplifies the customer experience,” says Gordon. “It’s a real game changer.” IQumulate offers an online digital quoting tool to clients. The best-in-market solution enables IQumulate to tailor funding offerings to brokers that align with their prefered distribution channel.
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What does IQumulate have in mind for the future?
“IQumulate is on a technology journey, and we’re just getting started,” says Wayne Tower, CEO. “Through continuous engagement with our clients, partners, marketplace and industry, we will listen to the needs as they arise and position our business to be agile and respond to changes as they occur.
“Faster decision-making innovations such as AI-powered decision support systems can expedite the underwriting and approval process, leading to quicker responses to clients. This can improve client satisfaction and potentially attract more business, with the potential to allow IQumulate to capture a larger market share, whilst continuing to deliver service excellence to clients.”
“As forward-thinkers with a digital and ‘do it better’ mindset, we collectively and proactively look to learn and improve on our customer experience for our clients, paving the way for successful business outcomes for our clients and our business in the coming years ahead.
“We’re excited for the future and look forward to what’s on the horizon.”
Adam Basaldella
Manager – Claims
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Product Manager
Claire Watson
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
“When I took over leadership in 2021, I wanted the organization to be more than a market access platform. I wanted to build a community where members of the DAIS network truly view us as partners in their business”
Joe Stankowich,
Direct Access Insurance Services (DAIS)
“The core value proposition of DAIS has always been providing our agency partners with broad direct market access to preferred P&C carriers while leveraging the collective strength of the group to maximize agency revenue”
Joe Stankowich,
Direct Access Insurance Services (DAIS)
Ivan Verescuk
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Shaun O’Brien
Head of Underwriting
Emily Walker
Head of Strata and Development
Rex Oakman
Head of Operations and Risk
Sandy Newton
Head of Underwriting
Andrew Mitchell
Manager – NSW
Michael Prokopis
Manager – Southern Region
Pam Chhabra
Manager – Residential Strata
Jeffrey Valdivia
Manager – Commercial Strata
Adam Basaldella
Manager – Claims
How DAIS stands out among insurance agency networks
For independent insurance agencies evaluating insurance agency networks, aggregators, agency clusters, and agency alliances, carrier access is only part of the equation. The terms of entry, level of support, and long-term value often matter just as much. Direct Access Insurance Services (DAIS) has built its reputation as a leading insurance market access provider by removing many of the barriers agencies commonly encounter and delivering meaningful value from day one.
Access from day one
DAIS supports more than 140 independent retail insurance agencies across the United States, providing direct access to over 40 leading national insurance carriers. Through the DAIS insurance agency network, partners can quote, bind, and service both commercial and personal lines business while maintaining ownership of their client relationships.
Unlike many insurance aggregators and agency networks, DAIS partners earn 100% of their commissions and are eligible for profit sharing from their very first dollar of premium. In most cases, there are no carrier-specific production requirements that must be met before agencies gain access to markets or participate in contingent income opportunities.
DAIS also avoids long-term contractual commitments, allowing agencies to remain part of the network because of the value they receive rather than obligation. Many agency partner relationships have lasted more than a decade, reflecting a culture of trust, transparency, and shared success.
These distinctions helped earn DAIS recognition in IBA’s 2026 5-Star Networks and Alliances Report, where brokers directly evaluated and rated participating insurance agency networks and alliances.
Built around partnership
The DAIS approach reflects a deliberate vision of what an insurance agency network should be. Senior vice president Joe Stankowich has been involved with DAIS since 2015 and assumed leadership in 2021. Since 2015, the network has grown from 13 retail agency partners to more than 140 independent insurance agencies nationwide.
“The core value proposition of DAIS has always been providing our agency partners with broad direct market access to preferred P&C carriers while leveraging the collective strength of the group to maximize agency revenue,” Stankowich says.
“When I took over leadership in 2021, I wanted the organization to be more than a market access platform. I wanted to build a community where members of the DAIS network truly view us as partners in their business.”
A high-touch model at scale
Despite its growth, DAIS maintains a high-touch approach. Every partner has direct access to senior leadership, which serves as a trusted advisor on operations, strategy, and growth.
The network continues to expand carrier relationships, technology resources, and business solutions that help agencies compete and grow. Through educational webinars, agency roundtables, and an annual conference, DAIS has created a collaborative community that extends beyond market access.
For agencies seeking direct carrier access, profit-sharing opportunities, and true partnership, DAIS offers a compelling alternative to traditional insurance aggregators, agency clusters, and insurance agency alliances.
