Speakers

John Gambale, effective January 1, 2024, John will be named Chief Distribution Officer, North America, for Allianz Commercial.  Consolidating the North America distribution and marketing teams which aligns with the global Allianz Commercial Distribution model. With one team, John is empowered to bring the full capabilities of Allianz Commercial to our clients and distribution partners, across Mid-Corporate, Large Corporate & Specialty segments.

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John joined Allianz in October 2023 as Regional Head of Distribution, Large Corporate where he focused growing this segment with strategic brokers and clients.  John is based in the New York City office, reporting to Tracy Ryan, President & CEO, North America.  

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With 25 years of experience, John most recently served as President, Northeast Zone, at AIG where he led overall operations across all major Property, Casualty, Financial Lines and Specialty product lines. During his tenure with AIG, he held various leadership positions of increasing responsibility including Head of Professional Liability & Lexington Financial Lines Executive responsible for Cyber, Miscellaneous, Media, Accountants, Lawyers Malpractice, in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda, and E&S London market and Head of the Private/Non-Profit Management Liability Division responsible for domestic and multinational private and non-profit organizations in the U.S. and Canada.

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John is the Chair of the Northeast Board of Directors for the Insurance Industry Charity Foundation (IICF) and Co-Chair for IICF’s annual fundraising event. John graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science degree in Resource Economics and holds an M.B.A. from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. In 2021, John received the Pace Downtown Gamechanger award for his contributions and impact on Downtown Manhattan over the past two decades.

With an incredible work ethic, iron-man mentality and natural leadership skill as constants throughout his 16 years in the NFL, Eli Manning made a name for himself as one of the elite quarterbacks in the game. 

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He led the New York Giants to Super Bowl wins over the New England Patriots in both 2008 and 2012, earning Super Bowl MVP honors each time. Some of his other notable achievements include being named to four Pro Bowls, holding second place for most consecutive starts by an NFL QB, and setting Giants franchise records in numerous offensive categories before retiring at the end of the 2019 season. Manning was inducted into the New York Giants Ring of Honor and had his No. 10 jersey retired during a special halftime ceremony during the 2021 season. 

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His hiatus from the New York Giants was short-lived, as he rejoined the organization in 2021 in an off-field capacity helping with initiatives stretching across business development, marketing, fan engagement and community and corporate relations. 

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Manning is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, where he received numerous academic and athletic honors, including the Maxwell Award as the nation's best all-around player, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete Award, and SEC Player of the Year, to name just a few. He graduated with a degree in Marketing and was the number one selection in the 2004 NFL Draft. During the 2021 season, his number will become just the third in University of Mississippi football history to be retired. 

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Manning is involved in numerous charitable organizations. The co-recipient of the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, Manning demonstrates considerable dedication and commitment to his life off the field as well. He lends his time to numerous charitable efforts, including Tackle Kids Cancer with the Hackensack University Medical Center, March of Dimes, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, American Red Cross and Robin Hood Foundation, where he most recently helped with the organization’s massive fundraising efforts for COVID-19 relief. He also has raised millions for The Eli and Abby Manning Children’s Clinics and the Manning Family Fund in partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center. 

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Manning currently hosts two shows across ESPN channels: Sports Emmy Award-nominated Eli’s Places and the Sports Emmy Award-winning Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli. Eli’s Places currently airs on ESPN+ and is a college football-focused show which highlights the most iconic places and people in college football history. Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli currently airs on ESPN2 and is a Monday Night Football simulcast. Manning was nominated for the Sports Emmy category of Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent in both 2022 and 2023. In addition, he serves as Executive Producer on the revival of the classic television quiz show, College Bowl, where his older brothers Peyton and Cooper Manning serve as host and co-host. He balances these projects with a robust slate of endorsement partners, speaking engagements and other business endeavors, including serving as a partner at Brand Velocity Group and a minority owner of Gotham FC. 

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Manning’s father, Archie, was an All-American at the University of Mississippi in 1969 and 1970 and had a 14-year playing career in the NFL with New Orleans (1971-82), Houston (1982-83) and Minnesota (1983-84). His brother, Peyton, attended the University of Tennessee, was a two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, a five-time NFL MVP and recently inducted into the Pro Football HOF. 

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Manning and his family reside in New Jersey 

JillAllison Opell is a partner and insurance lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP.  JillAllison represents insurers and insurance-related entities in all lines of business, including accident, life and health, property and casualty, surplus lines, travel and reinsurance. JillAllison also represents private equity funds and other sponsors acquiring and divesting insurers and/or insurance-related entities.

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JillAllison’s regulatory experience includes advising clients on Holding Company Act issues including acquisitions, intercompany agreements and investment laws, as well as compliance, licensing and Affordable Care Act issues. She has counselled private equity funds, insurers, reinsurers, producers and other insurance industry professionals, helping to achieve compliance, obtain transaction approval and develop new products. Always monitoring and analyzing the latest regulatory developments, she assists clients with state legislative updates and regulatory investigations.

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JillAllison was recognized for Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the practice area of Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).

Jeffrey (Jeff) Rubin currently serves as Executive Vice President – HUB Healthcare Solutions and Client Advisory, HUB International Northeast, based out of HUB’s Manhattan office. Jeff holds over 35 years of diverse experience in the insurance industry, specializing in all types of Healthcare including Senior care – Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living, Home Healthcare and Allied Healthcare.

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Jeff joined HUB Northeast (formerly Kaye Group) in 1992 with the acquisition of Amalgamated Programs Corp., a New York City-based commercial insurance brokerage, where he served as President. He started his full-time career in 1983 at Light & Rubin, Inc. where he served as Vice President.

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Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Rider University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Pace University. Jeff also participated in Pace’s professional doctorate program majoring in Marketing. He also completed an executive leadership program at The Wharton School.

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In 2018, Jeff was inducted into the Insurance Business of America (IBA) Hall of Fame, recognizing senior insurance professionals with 35+ years of experience who have been instrumental in making an impact in the industry. He resides in Westchester County.

Responsibilities

Brian is the CEO of Commercial Risk Solutions North America responsible for business performance and leadership.  In this role, he is responsible for leading and delivering best-in-class industry solutions, services, capabilities, data & analytics to clients through commercial risk product leaders, specialties and teams. He also ensures the U.S. broking strategy is aligned with our global objectives, while developing and fostering our market relationships. Brian’s area of expertise includes directors’ and officers’ liability, professional liability for financial institutions, employment practices liability, transaction facilitation insurance and blended financial products programs. He is a member of the Aon North America Leadership Team.

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Career

Prior to Brian’s current role, he served as U.S. Chief Broking Officer.  His direct management responsibilities included the Financial Services Group (FSG), National Property, National Casualty, Aviation, Crisis Management, Marine and Aon’s Global Risk Consulting Group (AGRC).  In addition, duties included setting best practices for commercial broking that reside in our field organization and where broking is embedded inside our industry practice groups.

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Prior to Chief Broking Officer, he served as the chief executive officer of Aon’s financial service group (FSG) for the U.S. from 2014-2018.  In his roles at Aon, he has had direct client responsibilities for some of FSG’s largest and most complex clients.  In addition to managing the practice, he managed market relationships, acted as a claims advocate on serious claims and led client deal teams in this product area.

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Before joining Aon in 2001, he spent a decade underwriting first at AIG then at CNA Insurance.  He left CNA as senior vice president of financial institutions in the management liability group.  His previous experience was in public accounting prior to joining the insurance industry. He first began working in the industry in 1991 with AIG.

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Experiences / Education

Brian is a frequent public speaker on management liability and has participated in engagements at RIMS, PLUS, and ACI.  He was the recipient of the 2008 Power Broker Financial Institutions – Risk & Insurance Award.

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Brian earned a B.S. in accounting from Rutgers College and an MBA in finance from Rutgers University Graduate School of Management.

Christine has worked at Aon for 22 years in various global leadership roles. She currently serves as the leader for the Northeast Region, which includes New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, New England, DMV and Philadelphia.  Christine works in partnership with Aon’s solution line leadership in Commercial Risk, Health, and Wealth solutions. Christine’s ultimate responsibility is to serve clients and lead the Northeast team. She is the recipient of numerous industry awards, including the 2024 Business Insurance Women to Watch Award and the 2023 Insurance Business America Global 100.

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