David Brown, Chief Executive Officer

David Brown is a founder of Flagstone and has served as Chief Executive Officer since its inception. From September 2003 until our inception, Mr. Brown served as the Chief Executive Officer of Haverford (Bermuda) Limited and as the Chief Operating Officer of West End Capital Management (Bermuda) Limited. During his time at Haverford, Mr. Brown led the team which analyzed, structured and negotiated the acquisition of Merastar Insurance Company in 2004. As Chairman of Merastar, he led the board's oversight of the successful turn-around strategy.

Mr. Brown joined Centre Solutions (Bermuda) Limited in 1993, and was its President and Chief Executive Officer at the time of his retirement in 1998. At Centre, Mr. Brown was responsible for the global operations of a group with over $7 billion in assets and offices in several countries. Prior to joining Centre, Mr. Brown was a Partner with Ernst & Young in Bermuda. During his ten years with Ernst & Young, he specialized in insurance and was involved in the liquidation of numerous insurance companies in Bermuda, the U.K. and the U.S.

Mr. Brown is the non-executive Chairman of the Bermuda Stock Exchange and a Director and Trustee for the Schroder Family Trusts. Mr. Brown is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and a Member of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bermuda and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Go back to top

Guy Swayne, Chief Underwriting Officer – International

Mr. Swayne has extensive experience in the industry worldwide and brings a depth of expertise in underwriting, business development, and leadership to Flagstone Re. He has held a number of executive positions in the Bermuda, London and New York markets.  Prior to joining Flagstone Re, he was Chief Underwriting Officer, International with ACE Tempest Re Bermuda where he managed the International Catastrophe underwriting unit.

Mr. Swayne joined Ace in January 2000 and has held senior positions including Executive Vice President, ACE Financial Solutions International (AFSI) – Bermuda where he managed AFSI offices in London, Dublin, and Melbourne. In London he became President of ACE Financial Solutions Europe (AFSE) whereby he established and developed the European office reporting directly to the President and CEO in Bermuda.  Mr. Swayne was instrumental in many key elements associated with a start up operation including business plan and budget development, hiring underwriting team, business production and program completion.

Prior to joining ACE, from October 1996 to September 1999 Mr. Swayne was Senior Vice President with Aon Re Bermuda where he was responsible for the production, design and placement of reinsurance and capital market solutions for Bermuda domiciled Insurance, Reinsurance and Captive Companies.

From November 1993 to October 1996, Mr. Swayne was Vice President of Willis Faber North America in New York with responsibility for the production, design and placement of treaty and proportional reinsurance contracts for both United States domiciled companies and International companies. He was also responsible for marketing business into and production out of the Bermuda market.

Mr. Swayne’s early underwriting experience in the Lloyds market with John Poland & Company from 1987 to 1992, where as deputy underwriter he underwrote a global non marine portfolio enabled him to develop a broad knowledge of the industry and establish excellent industry wide connections.

Go back to top

Gary Prestia, Chief Underwriting Officer – North America

Gary has more than twenty five years experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry in senior underwriting and executive management positions successfully navigating across the underwriting cycles. From 1998 to 2003 Gary was Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer for Standard Property & Casualty lines at Converium before becoming President of Converium North America on January 1, 2004 when he assumed responsibility for all legal entities and staff in the United States and Canada.  As SVP and Chief Underwriting Officer, he was responsible for Property Cat, Property Non-Cat, Motor, Marine and Third Party Liability (excluding professional liability and workers compensation) and developed an excellent track record and improved profitability. In early 2005 Gary was brought in to Alea North America as CEO of the North American Reinsurance Division with the challenge to turnaround that business, restore profitability and expand short-tail underwriting and product offerings.

Prior to 1998, Gary held senior underwriting positions at Transatlantic Re, where he was responsible for Property, Property Cat, Marine, Aviation and Property Facultative lines.  He also held underwriting positions with increasing responsibility at Skandia America Re, St. Paul Re and Republic Insurance Group. Gary received his CPCU and ARe designations from the American Institute for Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters and undergraduate degree and graduate work at St. Johns University School of Risk Management and Insurance in New York.

Go back to top

Patrick Boisvert, Group Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Boisvert has been with Flagstone since its formation. He served as Chief Accounting Officer based in Bermuda until June 2008 when he relocated to Switzerland as CFO of Flagstone Reassurance Suisse and Group Finance Director. Prior to Flagstone, he was the Chief Financial Officer of West End Capital Management Limited where he was responsible for various finance functions in relation to hedge funds and reinsurance affairs. Previous to West End, Mr. Boisvert spent over five years with BISYS Hedge Fund Services Limited as Vice President Fund Administration. He began his career with Ernst & Young in Canada where he worked for four years in audit and corporate finance. He holds a Bachelor in Accounting from Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres, is a member of the CFA Institute and a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Go back to top

David Flitman, Chief Actuary

David Flitman joined Flagstone as Chief Actuary in early 2006. Mr. Flitman has worked in the
reinsurance industry for over 15 years offering a depth of experience in risk management. Prior to joining us he was Chief Actuary and Senior Vice President for ACE Tempest Reinsurance where he managed Actuarial, Claims, Development, and Infrastructure. He began his career in 1993 as an Actuarial Analyst with Insurance Services Office. Moving on to WR Berkley Group where he became Assistant Vice President and Chief Actuary for Berkley Mid-Atlantic Group managing the department responsible for Actuarial, Information Management, and Reporting and Regulatory Filing. Mr. Flitman also worked at XL Reinsurance America as an Assistant Vice President and Senior Pricing Actuary where he priced all lines of Property and Casualty.

Mr. Flitman earned his Bachelor’s of Science from St. John School of Actuarial Science, Risk Management, and Insurance in New York. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

Go back to top

Frédéric Traimond, Group Chief Operating Officer

Frédéric Traimond was appointed Group Chief Operating Officer of the Company on November 14, 2008. Prior to his appointment as Group COO, since August 2007, Mr. Traimond had served as COO of Flagstone Reassurance Suisse SA. Mr. Traimond is also a member of the Boards of Directors of various entities within the Flagstone Group. Before joining Flagstone Group, Mr. Traimond worked for 15 years for AXA Group, primarily in Switzerland. His last position was Chief Risk Officer of AXA-Winterthur, where most notably he was responsible for the Economic Capital studies, including Swiss Solvency Test, Asset-Liability Management, reinsurance strategy and reserve review. For the 8 years preceding holding that position, he was the chief management officer for the Non-Life subsidiary of AXA Switzerland. Mr. Traimond is a full member of the IAF (Institut des Actuaires Français) and SAA (Swiss Association of Actuaries).

Go back to top

Venkat Mandava, Chief Information Officer

Venkateswara Rao Mandava joined Flagstone Capital Management in April 2004. He is currently the Group Chief Information Officer and also has a primary responsibility for our India operations. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Mandava held multi-disciplinary roles between Research, Analytics & Development, Technology Management, Fixed Income Trading and Investment Management at various organizations globally, including Vanderbilt, Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital, E*Trade, and American Century. Mr. Mandava received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

Go back to top

Brenton Slade, Chief Marketing Officer

Brenton Slade is the Chief Marketing Officer of Flagstone, responsible for investor relations, capital market initiatives, and firm marketing. Mr. Slade has been at Flagstone since its founding in 2005 assisting in the formation. Prior to Flagstone, Mr. Slade worked with several members of the Executive Management at West End Capital Management in the role of Director of Business Development, beginning in 2003. Before joining West End Capital, Mr. Slade was a Vice President at Agora Capital (an XL Capital affiliate). Mr. Slade has a degree in Economics and Politics from the University of Western Ontario.

Go back to top

William Fawcett, General Counsel

William Fawcett has served as our General Counsel since June 2008. A US and UK qualified attorney with over twenty years of international experience, Mr. Fawcett is responsible for the oversight and management of legal functions throughout the Flagstone Group. Prior to joining Flagstone, he served as the Chief Legal Officer of AXA’s North American P&C operations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and a Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

Go back to top