Meet Our Team
Get to know and connect with the innovators behind your insurance solutions.
John Termini
President
John Termini brings over 30 years of leadership experience in the Energy, Environmental, Professional, Construction, and General Excess Casualty sectors. John’s career spans roles as an environmental consultant in the midstream and downstream energy markets, claims specialist, underwriter, broker, and most recently as International Head of Line for a global insurance carrier. His breadth of experience across the value chain has positioned him as a strategic leader with deep technical expertise and a strong track record of building profitable specialty lines businesses.
John began scaling his leadership impact in 2000 when he established Aon’s West Coast Environmental and Professional Liability brokerage platform. He went on to spend eight years with Aon in senior leadership roles, including serving as Senior Vice President of the National Construction Service Group, Professional/Environmental Specialty. In these positions, he was a key national resource for Fortune 500 clients, advising on complex risk placements and driving innovative solutions across environmental, professional, development, and construction-related exposures.
In 2007, John successfully launched a startup Environmental book of business at a Bermuda-based insurance carrier with operation in the U.S., laying the foundation for long-term portfolio growth and profitability. He later joined a Fortune 500 specialty lines insurance carrier, where he spent a decade leading the most profitable lines of business. In this role, he was responsible for defining strategic direction, developing differentiated product offerings, and strengthening both retail and wholesale broker partnerships to expand market share.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, John maintains a strong commitment to family and personal interests. He is an avid boater and enthusiastic traveler, taking full advantage of opportunities to explore new environments. A dedicated advocate of Vizslas, he has developed a passion for raising and training the breed. John is also proud to have two sons who have followed his path into the Excess & Surplus lines industry, reflecting a shared commitment to the specialty insurance sector and its evolving landscape.
John’s combination of technical expertise, operational discipline, and relationship-driven leadership continues to position him—and the organizations he leads—for sustained growth in the Excess & Surplus marketplace, particularly in complex, capacity-constrained segments such as environmental and casualty lines.
Matt Anderson
Chief Underwriting Officer, EVP
Matt leads the underwriting strategy across the organization. He focuses on building a disciplined and adaptable underwriting approach that evolves with changing market conditions, while partnering closely with Claims, Marketing, and Actuarial to support profitable and sustainable growth. Before Berkley Specialty Excess, Matt spent over 20 years at a global specialty insurance carrier, most recently as Senior Managing Director of Specialty Casualty Lines.
Matt lives in the suburbs of Richmond with his wife, Tish, and their three kids - one at Virginia Tech and two in high school. While he enjoys traveling to remote and adventure focused destinations, most weekend excursions are now to convention centers to watch his teenagers play in travel basketball and volleyball tournaments.
Chris Young
Head of Environmental, SVP
Chris brings over 35 years of insurance experience gained across England and the U.S., including broking, underwriting, MGA and product line roles. He has specialized in Environmental since 1999, following earlier experience in both Energy and Primary Casualty Lines.
Chris has a proven track record in form development with ability to work with regulatory, claims and legal stakeholders. Most recently Chris served as a key underwriter starting up Environmental & Energy as SVP of underwriting at a global insurance carrier. Chris lead a team of international underwriters focusing on environmental & energy underwriting throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Prior to that Chris spent 11 years with a global specialty insurance carrier as a member of the Product Line Leadership team assisting with development and growth of book including most recently direct responsibility for the implementation of the Retail strategy.
Sarah Maxwell
Head of Excess Casualty, SVP
Sarah joined the Berkley Specialty Excess team bringing more than 20 years of casualty insurance experience. Most recently, she served as Chief Underwriting Officer, leading a wholesale excess casualty platform focused on disciplined underwriting, portfolio management, and profitable growth.
Prior to this role, Sarah led an excess casualty business as Managing Director, where she was responsible for portfolio profitability and oversight of a diverse platform that included binding authority, delegated underwriting arrangements, and broker-driven business.
Earlier in her career, she held progressively senior underwriting roles at national and specialty insurance organizations, where she developed deep expertise in casualty underwriting. She began her insurance career following a brief adventure in the legal field.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Virginia.
Phil Burke
Head of Excess Energy, VP
Phil leads the Excess Energy vertical at Berkley Specialty Excess, where he is responsible for underwriting strategy, production, and building the firm’s presence in the energy sector.
He brings 15 years of experience across insurance and consulting, focused on the energy industry. Phil began his career underwriting niche energy risks at an MGA and industrial reinsurer before transitioning to PwC, where he advised insurance companies on strategy and M&A.
Phil joined Berkley Specialty Excess as part of the initial energy team, with a mandate to help build and scale the platform from the ground up. His expertise includes underwriting, energy risk, strategic development, and broker relationships.
He earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Phil lives outside of Boston with his wife, twin daughters, and their lab. When his girls permit it, he spends some free time playing golf.
Alasdair Cameron
National Fixed Facilities Practice Leader, VP
Alasdair manages the site pollution team in structuring pollution legal liability solutions for transactional and operational risks across the United States.
He joined Berkley Specialty Excess from a global insurance carrier and has been underwriting environmental risks since 2015. Alasdair has extensive experience handling complex exposures, including sites with legacy contamination, emerging contaminants and challenging regulatory considerations. He works closely with brokers, attorneys, and transaction stakeholders and regularly presents on the use of environmental insurance as a risk management and deal-facilitation tool.
Prior to his insurance career, Alasdair served as a Royal Marines Commando in the UK before transitioning into the oil and gas industry and ultimately relocating to the United States. He is based in the Atlanta area.
Daria Kachev, FCAS, MAAA
Chief Actuary, VP
Daria brings nearly 20 years of insurance industry experience, with expertise in pricing, reserving, product development, and reinsurance. She has been a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society since 2018.
Prior to her current role, she spent over a decade as a Lead Pricing Actuary, where she led pricing initiatives, enhanced rating tools, and partnered across underwriting, finance, and IT to strengthen portfolio performance and modernize actuarial capabilities.
Earlier in her career, she held roles at Tokio Marine North America Services (TMNAS), working across reserving and pricing. She began her career at Guy Carpenter in 2007, focusing on reinsurance analysis and capital modeling.
Outside of work, she lives in a 1905 American Foursquare with her plus one, where they devote their time to restoring/fixing the home and cultivating a garden that evolves with each season.
Shannon Reynolds
Operations, Technology & Strategy Officer, VP
Shannon has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, spanning business and IT roles across both standard and E&S markets. She began her career as an IT consultant implementing enterprise policy administration systems and progressed into senior technology leadership roles, overseeing large-scale IT organizations and enterprise transformation initiatives across multiple insurance companies.
Throughout her career, she has led strategic modernization efforts, aligned technology operations with business objectives, and driven innovation across underwriting, policy, and operational platforms in both standard and E&S markets. Prior to joining Berkley Specialty Excess, she served as VP of Excess and Surplus Lines Strategic Initiatives at WR Berkley, driving innovation and change across multiple operating units.
Shannon holds degrees in Biology and French from the University of Richmond, a French language certificate from La Sorbonne – Paris, and an Information Systems certification from VCU.
Tracey Howells
Chief Financial Officer, SVP
Tracey Howells has more than 30 years of experience in finance, accounting, and insurance operations. She partners closely with executive leadership to drive growth, profitability, and operational discipline.
Tracey began her career at Arthur Andersen as a Certified Public Accountant and went on to hold senior roles across the insurance industry, including Head of Internal Audit, Director of Reinsurance, Treasurer, and Statutory Accounting Manager. Her background spans financial reporting, internal controls, reinsurance, risk management, and strategy.
Since joining BSE in 2023, she has focused on strengthening financial operations and supporting strategic growth. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Rider University.
Outside work, she enjoys art, reading, her dogs, and Philadelphia sports, and brings an approachable, grounded leadership style.
Kathleen Olear
Claims & General Counsel, VP
Kathleen leads our specialized claims unit, managing complex environmental and energy claims. With over 25 years of experience in environmental insurance, she has held senior roles in both private practice and major insurance carriers, including nearly two decades at a global specialty insurance carrier overseeing environmental and energy claims.
Kathleen has extensive expertise in coverage litigation, underwriting support, and training, and is a recognized industry leader, currently serving as President of the Environmental and Emerging Claim Managers Association.
She holds a J.D. from Seton Hall Law School and is admitted to practice in New Jersey and multiple federal courts.
Olga Huxoll
Marketing Director
Olga has extensive marketing experience developing and implementing multi-channel marketing strategies in the financial space. Her previous employers include asset management, wealth management, and fintech companies. Previously, Olga spearheaded marketing efforts at the Wealth Management division of Atlantic Union Bank, lead a marketing team at Wealthcare Capital Management, and managed marketing for Genworth Financial’s biggest product line. She started her career in the financial industry at an asset management firm, Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley.
Olga has bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with focus in Marketing as well as an MBA. She lives with her husband in Virginia where they enjoy exploring the outdoors, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Renae Gary
Human Resources, VP
Renae Gary is the Vice President of Human Resources for Admiral and other units within the W. R. Berkley family. She functions as a strategic business partner to the leadership team, developing and implementing competitive people practices that are also aligned with the organization’s cultural objectives.
Renae has more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources within multiple industries, including healthcare, clinical research, and now insurance. Throughout Renae’s career, she has led organizational change through strengthening people programs and transforming organizations into profitable, customer-focused global entities.
Renae started her career at ICON Clinical Research, where she stayed for more than 15 years. During her time at ICON, Renae supported the company’s growth from 700 to 10,000 employees through acquisitions, implementation of the company’s talent management strategy, and leading culture change initiatives. Renae also worked as the head of Human Resources at Physicians Endoscopy, where she led a team of HR professionals to support acquisitions and delivery, integration, and automation of the company’s people practices among over 40 entities.
Renae graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a minor in Marketing.
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