Headquarters:
Petaluma, CA
Year founded:
1999
Number of employees:
50
Phone:
707 781 7381
Email:
info@tangramins.com
Website:
tangramins.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/tangram-insurance-services
“It’s our willingness to consider unique circumstances and offer innovative solutions where other carriers may not”
Christine Schneider,
Arch Insurance
Rekha Skantharaja
Chief Executive Officer and President
Tracy Bernard
Senior Vice President, Strategy
Krissy Kyjovsky
Senior Vice President, Underwriting
Leadership
Rekha Skantharaja joined Tangram in 2009 as a senior executive in sales, operations, and underwriting before being named president in 2013 and later chief executive officer. She began her career in 2001 in San Francisco at a brokerage focused on building management liability programs for Fortune 100 companies.
Later, Skantharaja would lead distribution and business development for a well-known insurance company, with nearly $500+ million under management ($300 million in the healthcare and long-term care space).
She is a graduate of Boston University, a member of the Young Presidents Organization, and a board director of the Bay Area’s largest non-profit performing arts center. She is also active in amplifying the voices and the upward mobility of women and minorities in the industry.
Skantharaja is the co-founder of Women of Influence, a member of the prestigious Insurance Supper Club, and a global chair of Insurance Business America’s Women in Insurance group.
Chief Executive Officer and President
Rekha Skantharaja
Tracy Bernard joined Tangram in 2018 as SVP of strategy and program development. She oversees the expansion of new and existing programs, captive management, and data and analytics.
She brings 20 years of industry experience, including the management of underwriting and operations at an MGA, the development of global reinsurance programs at a national broker, and the building of alternative risk structures.
Prior to joining Tangram, Bernard led underwriting, reinsurance, and strategy on a $200+ million book of program business for a large national MGA. She also coordinated strategic use of reinsurance to minimize the inherent volatility portfolio.
Bernard is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she earned a BS in business administration.
Senior Vice President, Strategy
Tracy Bernard
Krissy Kyjovsky joined Tangram in 2010 as an underwriter. She quickly learned the ropes working in every program and building specialization. She was promoted to underwriting manager and later vice president and SVP of underwriting. Since 2018, she has overseen all aspects of underwriting and program management.
She is responsible for the relationship management with all carrier partners and ensuring that all programs are profitable and operate within the Underwriting Guidelines established by Tangram and the carriers.
Kyjovsky began her career in 2004 on the brokerage side as an account manager and producer. She is a graduate of Dominican University, where she earned a degree in psychology.
Senior Vice President, Underwriting
Krissy Kyjovsky
“It’s our willingness to consider unique circumstances and offer innovative solutions where other carriers may not”
Christine Schneider, Arch Insurance
Leadership
“It’s our willingness to consider unique circumstances and offer innovative solutions where other carriers may not”
Christine Schneider,
Arch Insurance
Leadership
Heidi Wolf
Senior Vice President, Operations
Heidi Wolf joined Tangram after 20+ years of progressive experience in the industry. She started her career at Great American Insurance, where she started as an underwriter and later held various positions within the organization, including senior business developer.
In 2011, Wolf accepted a position with Norman Spencer, an MGA and a wholesale brokerage. She managed underwriting programs, product development, and operation as well as oversight of the offshore team. Through an acquisition in 2019, her role was elevated to lead operations for Constellation Affiliate Partners (CAP).
Through another acquisition in 2021, Wolf was asked to direct operations for Legacy CRC programs and CAP programs at Starwind Specialty. She attended the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business and holds a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation.
Senior Vice President, Operations
Heidi Wolf
Vincent Kellaher
Senior Vice President, Property and Casualty Claims
Vincent Kellaher currently serves as senior vice president of claims at Arch Insurance. He provides leadership and technical claim direction for property and casualty claim lines of business. Prior to joining Arch in August 2015, Kellaher served as chief claim officer for Carolina Casualty and Gemini Transportation Underwriters, a division of WR Berkley. Prior to WR Berkley, he worked for Zurich Insurance, serving in both domestic and international claim assignments. From 1996 to 2007, he directed and managed Zurich 36 Field claim offices in the US.
Senior Vice President, Property and Casualty Claims
Vincent Kellaher
Tangram is an independently owned managing general agency (MGA) led by president and CEO, Rekha Skantharaja.
The firm is an insurance industry outlier having a minority female leader, an all-female executive team and a diverse leadership team in gender, generations and backgrounds.
Tangram is proud of this vibrant and dynamic culture of learning, curiosity, acceptance and challenge.
Skantharaja says, “We are working hard to create a model that can be emulated through the rest of the industry.”
Tangram’s core values reflect who it wants its people to be:
Brian Kristiansen
Senior Vice President, Financial and Specialty Claims
Francine Minervini
Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Claims Officer
Dan Draper
Group Chief Underwriting Officer
Simon Williams
Chief Strategy & Distribution Officer, Arch Insurance International
and Active Underwriter, Syndicate 1955
Brian Kristiansen joined Arch in 2012 and currently oversees Arch’s executive assurance, healthcare, professional liability, cyber, surety, and warranty and lenders solutions claims groups. Prior to joining Arch, Kristiansen held various positions in the claims groups at two other insurance carriers. He began his insurance career at a New York City law firm, where he represented insurance carriers in connection with management liability coverages.
Senior Vice President, Financial and Specialty Claims
Brian Kristiansen
Francine Minervini is the chief technical claims officer. She joined Arch in 2007 as an assistant vice president in the casualty division and has held various roles of increasing responsibility in the claims department, ultimately being promoted to senior vice president in 2018. Prior to joining Arch, Minervini held several claims handling roles with AIG. She has her JD from the New England School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Seton Hall University. She is licensed to practice law in both New Jersey and New York.
Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Claims Officer
Francine Minervini
Dan Draper was appointed group chief underwriting officer in September 2022. He had previously served for more than two years as group head of underwriting at AXIS. Prior to that, he had been group chief risk and actuarial officer at VIBE. Before joining VIBE, Draper spent eight years with AXIS, holding a number of leadership roles that included group chief actuary, chief risk analytics officer, and insurance segment chief risk officer. Before that, he held managerial positions at the Financial Services Authority, XL Capital, and EY.
Group Chief Underwriting Officer
Dan Draper
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Dave Longbottom
Chief Technology Officer
Alex Ventura
Head of Marketing
Damian Palovick
Senior Vice President of Underwriting
AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America
Dr. Mary Lavoie
Head of Risk Management and Senior Vice President
AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America
Mark Bernacki
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ryan Armijo
Chief Operating Officer, Underwriting Division
Bob Petrilli
President, Underwriting Division
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Medal
Small business
Brokers’ Pick – Professional liability
Broker's Pick – Personal Accident and Illness Insurance
Turnaround time – claims
BDM support
Broker communication, training and development
Overall service level
BDM support
BDM support
Medal
Overall service level
Broker communication, training and development
BDM support
Turnaround time – claims
Broker's Pick – Personal Accident and Illness Insurance
Brokers’ Pick – Professional liability
Small business
Medal
Overall service level
Broker communication, training and development
BDM support
Turnaround time – claims
Broker's Pick – Personal Accident and Illness Insurance
Brokers’ Pick – Professional liability
Small business
“We value technical expertise, fact-based and data-driven analysis, communication, and collaboration”
Francine Minervini,
Arch Insurance
“We value technical expertise, fact-based and data-driven analysis, communication, and collaboration”
Francine Minervini,
Arch Insurance
“We value technical expertise, fact-based and data-driven analysis, communication, and collaboration”
Francine Minervini, Arch Insurance
Grow or die.
Embrace adversity with gusto.
Create a fan in every interaction.
Do what you say.
Own your mistakes and share credit.
“The independence allows us to operate with more freedom and creativity,” explains Skantharaja. “Financial success is not where we start. It’s the by-product of getting it right with your people and your culture.”
Transparency is a cornerstone of Skantharaja’s leadership style. This extends to Tangram’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) as she admits that it was happening by default and not by design, until the global racial reckoning in 2020.
“We decided to become much more deliberate around representation at every level in the company. And we examined our pay, performance, and hiring systems for areas of bias and opportunities to create more equality.”
The firm’s leaders are aware it’s a long-term journey, but are maintaining a culture of accountability and awareness surrounding DE&I.
Another area of focus is onboarding and training. It has a series of connection points to ensure employees are supported to deliver:
technical excellence
portfolio management
data analytics
focusing on communication
collaboration
These factors are actively and routinely reaffirmed by senior vice president and chief technical claims officer Francine Minervini.
She says, “We value technical expertise, fact-based and data-driven analysis, communication, and collaboration. Our process incorporates communication throughout the life of the claim and encourages communication with insureds, brokers, claims management, and our underwriters and actuaries.”
Eager to develop and become better, Arch has a raft of future plans to boost its offerings amid the rapid pace of technological change.
“We are in the midst of a system transformation that will modernize our claims system; we are also working with Strategic Analytics to introduce AI into the claims mail process,” shares Shiva Altadonna, senior vice president, claims shared services. “As a starting point, it will allow us to identify and route First Notice of Loss even faster to our claims professionals for handling and give quicker peace of mind to our customers that we are fanatical about responsiveness.”
“It’s our willingness to consider unique circumstances and offer innovative solutions where other carriers may not,” says Christine Schneider, senior vice president, casualty claims. “Also, strategically executing on opportunities based on market conditions has continuously supported Arch’s growth.”
Leadership encourages all segments of the business to be bold, take calculated risks, celebrate accomplishments, and learn from mistakes. The focus is placed on the goals of each initiative, along with the necessary specific strategies.
A key factor in Arch’s success has been the implementation of a new claims system that interlinks with the firm’s ‘North Star’ of placing employees in a position where they can add value on a daily basis.
Senior vice president, financial and specialty claims Brian Kristiansen says, “We segment claims by line of business and hire employees with experience in those lines. We provide them with additional training and mentoring to ensure the continued development of expertise in those lines.”
Another driver of Arch’s market-leading performance is its investment in data analytics and data transformation, increasing its ability to utilize business intelligence to improve product offerings and the abilities of its claims department, with a strong emphasis on claims handling and claims excellence.
In addition, the firm continuously seeks feedback from the broker community on any areas where they would like to see potential improvement, particularly in claims service. Arch Claims specifically has done considerable work around communication with brokers over the past year, including an extensive survey to solicit feedback on the claims experience.
Schneider says, “Through their commentary, we strive to be able to build even more trusting, respectful, and responsive relationships with all of our partners.”
The claims department underscores the importance of:
one-on-one check-ins (weekly for new employees, bi-weekly for tenured employees)
bi-weekly team meetings
quarterly performance reviews (feedback is given to the employee and received by the manager)
Skantharaja adds, “It is a continuous challenge and opportunity. Training is a living and breathing process.”
Staff satisfaction is a high priority and there is an annual vision meeting, where Tangram shares the 10-year vision to ensure everyone is aligned around the initiatives that must happen with urgency in the near term to realize that vision.
On top of this, annual culture and DE&I surveys are conducted, while there are regular 360 reviews for the leadership team.
“This is to encourage accountability from the top down and ensure that all employees have the ability to provide feedback throughout all aspects of the organization,” shares Skantharaja.
Conscious leadership is practiced at Tangram, aimed at being the best people possible and then bringing that higher awareness to work, in order to build a structure that is different, extraordinary, and meaningful.
Tangram is committed to revolutionizing the face of insurance by driving diversity, responsibility, and independence and having incredible financial success.
Skantharaja says, “To do this, our goals are to stay focused on the people to help drive the important initiatives in our program, retail, and reinsurance businesses. We fully believe that if you take care of the people, they will take care of the business.”
“It’s our willingness to consider unique circumstances and offer innovative solutions where other carriers may not,” says Christine Schneider, senior vice president, casualty claims. “Also, strategically executing on opportunities based on market conditions has continuously supported Arch’s growth.”
Leadership encourages all segments of the business to be bold, take calculated risks, celebrate accomplishments, and learn from mistakes. The focus is placed on the goals of each initiative, along with the necessary specific strategies.
A key factor in Arch’s success has been the implementation of a new claims system that interlinks with the firm’s ‘North Star’ of placing employees in a position where they can add value on a daily basis.
Senior vice president, financial and specialty claims Brian Kristiansen says, “We segment claims by line of business and hire employees with experience in those lines. We provide them with additional training and mentoring to ensure the continued development of expertise in those lines.”
Another driver of Arch’s market-leading performance is its investment in data analytics and data transformation, increasing its ability to utilize business intelligence to improve product offerings and the abilities of its claims department, with a strong emphasis on claims handling and claims excellence.
In addition, the firm continuously seeks feedback from the broker community on any areas where they would like to see potential improvement, particularly in claims service. Arch Claims specifically has done considerable work around communication with brokers over the past year, including an extensive survey to solicit feedback on the claims experience.
Schneider says, “Through their commentary, we strive to be able to build even more trusting, respectful, and responsive relationships with all of our partners.”
The claims department underscores the importance of:
technical excellence
portfolio management
data analytics
focusing on communication
collaboration
These factors are actively and routinely reaffirmed by senior vice president and chief technical claims officer Francine Minervini.
She says, “We value technical expertise, fact-based and data-driven analysis, communication, and collaboration. Our process incorporates communication throughout the life of the claim and encourages communication with insureds, brokers, claims management, and our underwriters and actuaries.”
Eager to develop and become better, Arch has a raft of future plans to boost its offerings amid the rapid pace of technological change.
“We are in the midst of a system transformation that will modernize our claims system; we are also working with Strategic Analytics to introduce AI into the claims mail process,” shares Shiva Altadonna, senior vice president, claims shared services. “As a starting point, it will allow us to identify and route First Notice of Loss even faster to our claims professionals for handling and give quicker peace of mind to our customers that we are fanatical about responsiveness.”