CRAIG LANDI
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Craig Landi is the founding Chief Executive Officer and President of Falcon Risk Holdings. He brings over 30 years of specialty insurance underwriting experience and a long track record of managing profitable underwriting franchises. Most recently, Craig served as President of Argo Pro, one of the largest business units within Argo Group Ltd., focusing on its financial and professional lines of business. During his time at Argo, he expanded the insurance suite of products and created a programs division. He significantly grew the business’ gross premium writings and expanded the Argo Pro team on a national basis.
Prior to joining the Argo Group Ltd., Craig established Freedom Specialty Insurance Company (“Freedom”) within Scottsdale Group, now a subsidiary of Nationwide Insurance in 2007. He grew Freedom significantly through late 2015 with a product portfolio consisting of financial and professional lines, surety, transactional risk and other related programs. During his time at Freedom, Craig employed a unique approach to analyzing both individual risk as well as portfolio risk construction.
Prior to Freedom, Craig held a variety of senior level positions at AIG, CNA, and Arch.
Craig received his BS in Economics and Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.
Fun Fact: Craig is a collector of fine wines from around the world. His favorite cuisine to pair with a nice red is Italian.
DAVID LYNDERS
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, MANAGEMENT LIABILITY
David is responsible for Falcon's Management Liability business. Prior to joining Falcon, David held several leadership positions, in underwriting and as an insurance broker, during a 25-year career serving financial institutions clients. During that time, he's had differing scopes of responsibility that have included leading the North American financial institutions business at a major insurer, oversight of a Lloyd's box, a Latin American portfolio, and the experience of stepping back from his role for a year to lead an IT transformation project.
David earned a BS in mathematics/actuarial science from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from New York University. David is an ally and supporter of diversity and inclusion and is a member of the board, and former executive committee member and treasurer of The Bridge.
Fun Fact: David enjoys tackling an occasional art project and recently published his first book, The ABCs of NYC: Life Lessons in City Streets.
JOHN MERCHANT
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CYBER AND TECH E&O
John has been in the insurance industry for over 18 years, primarily focused on Cyber and Technology Risk. Prior to joining Falcon, John held various underwriting, product development and business development roles at Optio Insurance Services, Nationwide E&S/S, and The Hartford. He also spent over two years at a predictive analytics and cyber modeling start-up where he learned what a “zero-inflated negative binomial” was and how to use it in conversations.
Fun Fact: John played rugby in college with Dave Lynders. John was better.
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MARTIN SCHNABEL
CHIEF CLAIMS OFFICER
Marty has over 30 years of claims experience. Most recently he was the chief claim officer for Nationwide E&S/S. His introduction to Nationwide was as the founding claim leader of Freedom Specialty. He is an attorney and proud alumni of New York Law School and SUNY at Buffalo.
Fun Fact: Marty was a member of Buffalo's Division I baseball team, and today manages Hoboken's senior baseball All-Star Team.
ANDREW MENGER
HEAD OF COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT LIABILITY
Andrew has over 25 years in the insurance industry and has held multiple leadership positions with a focus on commercial management liability. He was most recently Vice President and Management Liability Team Lead for the East Region at Berkshire Hathaway. He is admitted to the NY State Bar and graduated from Fordham University (Master of Business Administration), St. John's University (Juris Doctor), and Fordham University (Bachelor of Science Business Administration).
Andrew is a native of Queens but now resides in Garden City, Long Island. When Andrew is not underwriting, he spends time with his wife and kids or can be found boating off Fire Island during the warm months.
Fun Fact: Andrew is a lifelong Rangers Fan, but roots for all New York sports teams, EXCEPT the Islanders.
TIM BARRY
HEAD OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Tim leads the Financial Institutions business for Falcon Risk Services. He brings 8 years of underwriting experience and 5 years of equity trading experience. Prior to joining Falcon, Tim led the Asset Management practice at Everest Insurance. He began his insurance career at Zurich after a 5-year trading career with Cowen & Co. and Dahlman Rose.
Tim graduated from Franklin and Marshall College, where he started 4 years as safety on the football team. He was born and raised in New Jersey, and currently lives there with his wife and 3 children.
Fun Fact: Tim is an avid golfer and a fan of basically every sport.
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Lacey Pevey
Head of Technology and Operations
Lacey joined Falcon Risk Services as Head of Technology and Operations. She has over 20 years of insurance experience and has held a variety of positions in the industry including Chief Underwriting Officer of Financial Institutions at AIG, and her most recent position, VP of Underwriting Analytics at Friss. Lacey received her Bachelor in Science from Tulane University, as well as her MBA from Columbia University. She is a CFA charter holder and holds several additional certifications.
During her free time, Lacey enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with her two underwriters in training, who are aged 2 and 6.
Fun Fact: Lacey enjoys coffee so much that she owns her own coffee roasting business in her hometown Shreveport, Louisiana, where she relocated from NYC a few years ago.
Mark Tavel, CPA
Financial Controller
Mark has been a practicing CPA in the state of New York since 2014 and has specialized in the insurance industry since 2016. Prior to joining Falcon, he spent nine years at Mazars USA LLP, where he was an Audit Manager in their insurance group.
Mark has a Master's in Accounting and a Bachelor's in Finance and Accounting, with a minor in Mathematics, from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Fun Fact: Sports, board games, video games, cards, chess, darts, bar trivia, whatever... if it has rules, winners, and losers, Mark is ready to play.
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Ted Stefas
Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Ted Stefas serves as Executive Vice President, General Counsel on the Board of Directors for Falcon Risk Services. Ted most recently served as Chief Underwriting Counsel and Assistant General Counsel at Argo Group. He brings over 20 years of legal experience serving in multiple senior leadership roles and as counsel for Management and Professional Liability insurance groups. He reports to Craig Landi, Chief Executive Officer, and sits on the executive leadership team to help deliver best-in-class solutions for clients.
While Ted isn’t working at his day job, he is a proud husband to Georgia, who is also an attorney, and father to two girls, Effi, 15, and Annabelle 12 (future attorneys).
Fun Fact: Ted was Class AND All-School President throughout high school!
Mary Spicer
Vice President, Underwriter Cyber and Tech E&O
Mary has over 10 years of experience in the insurance industry, beginning her career on the broker side at Aon working on the lawyers' E&O team. She transitioned over to the underwriting side in 2015, writing cyber at Freedom Specialty under the tutelage of Craig Landi and John Merchant. From there she held multiple cyber underwriting positions, with her most recent being an AVP on the Sompo Cyber/Technology team. Mary studied Business Management at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Fun Fact: Mary was a member of the Gettysburg College Women's basketball team, which reached the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament in 2010. She currently ranks 5th in career assists on Gettysburg's all-time leader list, even while missing an entire season to a season-ending injury.
Mike O'Connor
Head of Central Zone
Mike is Head of Central Zone actively developing relationships and underwriting for the region. Prior to joining Falcon, he served as Vice President of Public Company Liability at Argo Pro. Mike has been working in the insurance industry for over 16 years and started his career on the brokerage side working for Alliant Insurance Services. After 7 years, he decided to make the switch to the carrier side and worked on the Public Company team at Travelers for several years before joining Argo’s Financial Institutions business unit. In 2020, Mike moved from New York to Houston to help build out Argo’s Management Liability presence in Texas.
When Mike isn’t working, he spends his time on the water boating with his family or in the backyard barbequing.
Fun Fact: Mike is a huge Matthew McConaughey fan. He will rigorously defend the finer points of Fools Gold and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
Danielle Cirillo
Head of Private Company Management Liability
Danielle serves as the Head of Private Company D&O at Falcon and brings over 12 years of private company underwriting experience. Prior to joining Falcon, Danielle oversaw the Private/Non-Profit Group for the Northeast and West Coast at Westchester, Chubb. Prior to Chubb, she was at AIG where she started her career. She brings experience with technical underwriting and provides solutions for out-of-the-box risks.
Danielle graduated from Manhattan College with a degree in Finance and Marketing. With two young children, Danielle does not have any free time, but she loves to dream about the day she will again. She was born and raised in New Jersey where she still lives with her husband and 2 children.
Fun Fact: Danielle has traveled to over 15 countries and has skydived in 2 of them.
Jon Laubinger
Vice President of Analytics and Predictive Modeling
Jon is Vice President of Analytics and Predictive Modeling, working closely with the underwriters to meet their data and analytics needs.
Prior to joining Falcon, he held several actuarial and predictive analytics roles, including managing a team of actuaries at a Fortune 100 mutual insurer.
Jon received his B.A. in Philosophy from UMass-Amherst, where he was nominated for the Rhodes Scholarship. He also hold his J.D./MBA from Boston College.
Fun Fact: Jon has won two trivia gameshows. When he is not busy taking Ken Jennings' money on national television, he enjoys spending time with his wife and Dachshund-Yorkie mix rescue dog, Peanut.
Nell Baird
Head of Business Support Services
Nell is the Head of Business Support Services, working closely with the Underwriting Assistants to support operations across all lines of coverage. Prior to joining Falcon, Nell held various positions within Financial Institutions teams at AXIS and AIG. Nell has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and is happy to draw from her liberal arts background and love of working with people.
Nell is passionate about healthcare advocacy and volunteers with Community Health Advocates to help New Yorkers navigate their health insurance benefits.
Fun Fact: Nell ran the New York City Marathon 7 times, but these days she prefers to skip running and go straight to brunch.
Rich Pluschau
Chief Information Officer
Rich Pluschau is the Chief Information Officer of Falcon Risk Services. Rich brings over 35 years of expertise in numerous disciplines of insurance across Actuarial, Underwriting, Claims, Finance, Operations, Environmental, MGA Programs, Information Technology and Data Management. Most recently, Rich was the Global Head of Information Management, Governance and Architecture at AIG.
Rich completed his BS in Mathematics, Business and Statistics at the University at Albany and his MBA in Risk Management and Actuarial Science at the Saint John’s University College of Insurance.
Rich was also elected for multiple terms to the Shoreham Wading River Central School District Board of Education, where he served as Vice President, and is currently on the board of directors of the Insurance Data Management Association.
On a more personal note, Rich and his family love animals and currently have 2 dogs and 2 cats (but you never know when another will show up). He also has one favorite hobby, and that is finding more hobbies.
Fun Fact: Rich regularly attends many concerts and has a particular love for progressive rock music; he has seen the band “RUSH” 41 times in multiple countries over the years.
Melissa d. Rinard
Vice President of Operations
Melissa is the Vice President of Operations at Falcon Risk Services. She joins us from Argo Group where she spent eight years in Internal Audit, Business Process Engineering. Most recently, she was the Director of Operations for the Argo Pro business unit where she had underwriting support, audit, and reporting management responsibilities.
Melissa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is certified in Change Management, Agile, and Six Sigma.
Fun Fact: Melissa is an avid outdoorsy person. She currently resides in New Braunfels, TX, where she keeps very busy with her family and dog, Oscar, while exploring new hiking trails in the Hill Country whenever she gets a chance.
Gopika Shah
Technology Officer
Gopika is the Technology Officer at Falcon Risk Services. Her work focuses on strategic development and data architecture in support of our data warehouse, analytics, and predictive modeling capabilities.
Prior to joining Falcon, Gopika worked for over 9 years in the insurance industry, holding several data management and data architecture responsibilities at AIG, where she focused on strengthening their Data Governance and Reference Data Management capabilities. Most recently, she was the product owner for the global reference data management strategy. Alongside this, she also established the New Jersey chapter of the Global Women in Technology council at AIG in 2015 to much success. Prior to joining AIG, Gopika worked at Daniel B. Stephens (a water resources and environmental consulting firm) for 8 years, where she held several data analysis and data visualization positions.
Gopika holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Application as well as an Associate degree in Networking Technology.
Fun Fact: Gopika likes to get competitive when playing Monopoly, poker and Catan.
MOHAMMAD DEEB
Staff Accountant
Mohammad joins Falcon as the staff accountant. Growing up, he always loved math and was highly organized and introverted. Naturally, he pursued a career in accounting. In 2018, Mohammad graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Montclair State University. Prior to Falcon, Mohammad worked at his first job post college at a local wielding company as an accountant for 3 years.
Outside of work, Mohammad enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, often engaging in outdoor activities and sports. He cherishes moments with his family and loves being a father.
Fun Fact: Mohammad is a big foodie and recently turned baker, as he used some time at the beginning of the pandemic to learn how to bake. Nowadays, he enjoys experimenting and trying out new recipes. Furthermore, he can easily down 5 ice cream cones, with a side of an entire large pizza and some wings, in one sitting.
ADAM ZWIBEL
Senior Product Counsel
Adams serves as Senior Product Counsel within the Legal and Compliance team. Prior to joining Falcon, he was Claims Consultant of Management Liability & Specialty at Nationwide Insurance Company, where he handled claims from various business lines including Directors & Officers, Cyber, and Crime.
He holds an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York Binghamton. Additionally, he received his J.D. from St. John's University School of Law.
Fun Fact: Adam's favorite TV show is Seinfeld, despite it being a show about nothing. He is always on the lookout for Seinfeld bar trivia nights in NYC.
Duncan Phelps
Business Analyst
Duncan joins the Falcon team as our business analyst. Although this is his first experience in the insurance industry, he has previously worked for various clients like the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Information & Technology space.
Duncan received his Bachelor's in Psychology from Louisiana Sate University in Shreveport.
Most of his free time is spent playing with and caring for his dogs, playing games, or exploring outside.
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Aya Yoshizawa
Marketing & Producer Management Coordinator
Aya is the Marketing Coordinator at Falcon Risk Services and supports the Head of Marketing with all marketing and communication initiatives. Although this is her first post-grad role, she has prior marketing and communications experience in the sustainability sector, as well as in healthcare and education. She is now eager to learn more about the insurance industry.
Aya graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor's in Economics. During her time in college, she was a proud member of the Women's Squash Team, which she started playing when she was only 11 years old.
Fun Fact: Aya is able to speak four languages: Japanese, French, Spanish, and English, from having grown up in a multi-cultural environment.
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Edward Perrine
Vice President, Underwriter Cyber and Tech E&O
Edward has over 10 years of experience across both the Management and Professional Liability lines of business, with a focus on E&O and Cyber. Prior to joining Falcon Risk Services, Edward held several roles at Markel Corporation, Argo Group, and most recently, Canopius Group. He received his BA in History and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and an MBA in Finance and Global Business from Rutgers Business School.
Fun Fact: Edward grew up spending summers in Sweden on his grandfather's farm where he developed his passions for gardening and woodworking.
Rob Hernandez
Senior Underwriter, Cyber and Tech E&O
Rob is a certified Management Liability Insurance Specialist with over ten years of combined experience in underwriting management and analysis, cybersecurity and insurance claims and investigations. He was a Bank Examination Technician at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (U.S. Treasury Department) for several years where he specialized in Cyber Security Risk Assessments at International Financial Institutions. Robert is leveraging his regulatory and leadership experience for the benefit of Falcon Risk Services and our stakeholders.
Fun Fact: Rob is active in several organizations that benefit veterans. He is also a former US Army paratrooper and combat veteran.
Brian Loughran
Senior Underwriter, Commercial Management Liability
Brian is an experienced commercial underwriter with nearly six years of insurance experience. His background is focused on underwriting Private and Public D&O, EPL, Fiduciary, and Private Equity GPL. Prior to joining Falcon Risk Services, he held roles at Axis Capital, Argo Group, and Zurich North America. Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Farmingdale State College.
Fun Fact: The biggest risk Brian ever took was skydiving, but he vows to never jump out of a perfectly good plane again.
John Werner
Senior Underwriter, Commercial Management Liability
John is a senior underwriter at Falcon Risk Services focusing on underwriting various coverages in the commercial management liability lines of business. He joined the industry in 2017 and was most recently a Senior Underwriter at Zurich, where he also focused on Public and large Private D&O, EPL, Fiduciary, and Transactional Reps & Warranties.
John holds his Master's degree in Management-International Business from Durham University (United Kingdom) and a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Marywood University. Every year, John and his siblings organize an annual charity event to benefit the Melanoma Research Foundation in their late mother's honor.
Fun Fact: John earned the nickname "Johnny Potatas" from his family at a young age due to his love for mashed potatoes. This love has broadened to any way a potato can be served. John recommends you start ordering your french fries "well done."
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Katy Kadisak
Underwriting Assistant
Katy is an underwriting assistant at Falcon Risk Services and supports the Cyber and Tech E&O team. She has been in the insurance industry for a short time, having made the switch during the pandemic. Before she joined Falcon, she worked as a Property Claims Specialist for about a year and a half, which provided a good experience in reviewing and becoming familiar with insurance policies.
Katy received her Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Boise State University. She is a proud alumna and a firm believer that the blue football field makes #1.
Fun Fact: Katy is a huge Swifty and can name almost any Taylor Swift song within the first few seconds of hearing it.
Rafael Galarza
Underwriting Assistant
Rafael is responsible for supporting the underwriting team at Falcon Risk Services in day-to-day operations and helping to improve the underwriting process. Before joining Falcon, Rafael's background consisted of numerous customer support positions in various tech start-up companies, such as Policygenius and Lemonade.
Rafael received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Wheaton College and holds a New York State Property and Casualty License. In his free time, he enjoys cheering on the New York Mets and buying more comic books to add to his already impressive collection.
Fun Fact: Rafael is an avid tabletop board game player and has been playing Dungeons and Dragons with the same group of friends for over a decade.
Lindsey Rothenberg
Associate Actuary
Lindsey currently works for the Analytics and Predictive Modeling team under Jon Laubinger as an Associate Actuary. She started her career at Falcon, however, as an underwriting assistant, which has taught her how to price models more thoughtfully.
In 2022, Lindsey graduated from Binghamton University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Sciences. Although Lindsey loves math, her second love is film. In college, she participated in Binghamton Television for all 4 years of her undergraduate studies and was president for 2 years. In the summer of 2021, Lindsey was also fortunate enough to intern for NBC Olympics, in particular assistant directing the live stream of Simone Biles’ beam finals. In addition, Lindsey won several short film competitions between 2018-2021.
Fun Fact: Lindsey’s favorite TV show is The Office; she has seen the show beginning to end at least 6 times and knows almost every line.
Karena Chmielowiec
Compliance Specialist
Karena is the Compliance Specialist at Falcon, working under Melissa in the Operations team. Prior to joining Falcon, she was a Mortgage Underwriter. Karena decided to pivot to the insurance industry as a way to transition back into legal and compliance. Her previous experience in various law firms and as a mortgage underwriter has helped her maintain an eye for detail and understand how to analyze risk. Although she is new to the insurance industry, she is eager to learn more about it.
Karena received a Bachelors in Biology from Caldwell University in 2017, as well as obtaining a paralegal certificate from Duke University in 2019.
In her spare time, she enjoys gardening and cooking. When the weather is warm, she enjoys taking her two dogs kayaking at the jersey shore.
Fun Fact: Karena is trying to check off a bucket list goal by obtaining her private pilots' license. She will hopefully be finishing her needed hours by the end of 2024!
OUR TEAM IS GROWING
If you are interested in learning more about Falcon opportunities, please reach out to us.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
HDI Global Specialty, together with its US affiliates, supports Falcon with a strong balance sheet and underwriting capacity.
Learn more about Falcon’s partners below.
