Corporate management team

Manny Rios is President and Chief Executive Officer. His role is to create the vision and strategy for the continued success of the company, and build a highly collaborative, results-focused culture that serves the client/customer, employee and shareholder. He began his leadership of American Modern in November 2011. Manny is also Chairman of the Regional Diversity Council.

Prior to joining American Modern, Manny was the Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer at United Services Auto Association (USAA). He started his insurance career at Allstate where he initially worked in finance before holding various management roles in underwriting, sales and marketing. Manny was also appointed to Chief Underwriting Officer at Homesite Insurance.

Manny earned an M.A. in organization development from University of Incarnate Word, as well as a B.A. in business administration from Benedictine College. He participated in the ROTC program while in college and also served in the U.S. Army National Guard.

Steve Russell is Chief Actuarial Officer. He came to American Modern in 2011 and is now responsible for state insurance department relations, business data management, regulatory compliance, systems configuration, rate adequacy, predictive modeling, reinsurance purchasing, portfolio management, and reserving.

Over the past 30 years, Steve's responsibilities have included product development and pricing for multiple products, design and development of reinsurance structures for personal and commercial lines, reserving, and catastrophe modeling and management.

Steve was a Vice President for Aon Benfield, the largest reinsurance broker in the world, and served as Chief Actuary at Vesta Insurance Group, and a Director at Allstate Insurance Company. Steve graduated B.A. in mathematics from Wabash College. He is a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) and an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS).

Kevin Morreale, as Head of Specialty Solutions, leads company fee income projects, such as the new Specialty Insurance Services Corporations, an outsourcing and training initiative building on American Modern's well-established claims expertise. He has been with American Modern since 1991.

In his more than 20 years with the company, Kevin has held multiple roles, including the Head of Commercial Lines, Head of Business Development, the Head of Agency Sales, National Account Representative for Financial Services, and Marine Product Manager.

Before joining American Modern, Kevin was with LoVullo Associates, Inc., a managing general agency in New York state. Kevin holds a B.S. in marketing from Canisius College.

Dave McNutt is Head of Claims, overseeing a team of more than 350 professionals. He joined the company in 1989 and has over 27 years experience in property and casualty insurance.

Leading the company's claims operations since 1999, McNutt has developed and implemented claim handling standards, plus metrics for multiple products and distribution channels. As a member of the senior management team, Dave participates in corporate strategy and policy making.

Prior to his employment at American Modern, Dave worked for Safeco Insurance Company. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in industrial psychology. Dave is a Senior Claims Law associate, and holds several industry designations including The Associate in Claims. He has also served as Chairman of the Claims Committee for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

René Gobonya is the Chief Financial Officer. He joined American Modern in 2013.

René is the past Deputy Head of Group Controlling at Munich Re, as well as Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and also Head of Group Capital Management. In his 25 years of work in primary insurance and reinsurance, he has held many finance, management, sales, and underwriting positions for Munich Re, and earlier at Winterthur International, a Credit Suisse subsidiary.

René earned his undergraduate degree and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He has command of six languages.

Jamey Hinkle is American Modern's Treasurer. He started his career with the company in 2006.

Jamey's scope of responsibilities includes treasury and cash management, financial planning and analysis, and strategic planning. He has broad experience in the business having served as Vice President of Sales Finance and Planning, and also Vice President of Strategic Development.

Before joining American Modern, Jamey worked at Deloitte & Touche LLP. His B.S. in accounting is from Miami University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Larry Compton is Head of Financial Institutions Division (FID), a business segment dedicated to providing insurance products and services to banks and lenders, such as mortgage fire coverage, loan tracking, CPI and LSI programs for loan portfolios, and fee income programs. He joined American Modern in 2004.

Larry's current focus is on general management, creative risk management solutions, and fee generation programs for the financial institution marketplace. He is also working with the Munich Re cross platform team to help identify opportunities for FID and other Munich Re divisions.

Previously, Larry served as Executive Vice President for AIG/American General running their domestic Financial Institution Division. He served in a number of senior management positions prior to that at US Life and American General. Larry graduated with a B.A. in history from DePauw University. He currently serves on Board of Directors at the American Bankers Insurance Association.

Kate Reed is Head of Human Resources, overseeing human resources, facilities, and internal communications functions. Kate began her career at the company in 2001.

Starting in the Legal Department as the employment attorney, Kate has provided legal counsel regarding employment-related issues for all levels of management in each business unit. She also developed her skills in numerous disciplines by leading projects in the areas of training, compliance, and benefits. She has served in leadership roles for the Compliance Council, American Modern Women's Network, and the Pension and Savings Committee.

Kate received her B.S. in political science from Ohio University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati. She also holds a certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.

Charles S. "Trey" Griffith III is General Counsel. He joined American Modern in 2001.

Trey has severed in a number of capacities -- Senior Corporate Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and now is General Counsel. Prior to joining American Modern, his practice centered around the defense of professional negligence claims.

A graduate of Northern Kentucky University's Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Trey completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Cincinnati, receiving a B.B.A. in accounting. He is a member of the Ohio State, Kentucky, and Northern Kentucky Bar Associations. He is a veteran of the United States military.

Denny Robich is Head of Marketing. He oversees all agent and consumer marketing initiatives as well as strategic development and planning. He has held this role since 2004.

Under his leadership, the communication, market planning and research functions at American Modern have expanded significantly and he has sponsored successful corporate initiatives including the regional and state planning teams, retention improvement, operational excellence strategy development, and the customer self-service portal. He also established the company's important strategic alliances program.

Prior to joining American Modern Denny held senior executive positions with Procter & Gamble and Allstate Insurance Company. He earned a B.A.in economics from DePauw University and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Pete Effler is Head of Business Enablement, overseeing all service delivery operations for American Modern.

Pete came to American Modern in February 2005 as Senior Vice President of Operations for the Financial Institution Division (FID), and significantly grew that part of the business. In addition, Pete also had responsibilities in personal lines, strategic alliances, and sales operations. Starting in 2011, Pete began leading American Modern's modernLINK® initiative.

Prior to his tenure at American Modern, Pete was a partner at Accenture. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with an M.S. in industrial engineering, and the University of Notre Dame with both a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a B.A. in communication.

Kevin Randall is Head of Underwriting and Product Management. In this role he oversees all of American Modern's personal and commercial lines businesses, as well as Financial Institutions Division's products and services.

Since joining the company in 1997, Kevin has held various roles of increasing responsibility including oversight of actuarial, state relations/compliance, corporate product development, customer care, and underwriting. He also led the company's "right rate for every risk" initiative which began in 2008.

Kevin received his B.A. in computational mathematics from Albion College. Over his career, he has participated in numerous industry committees including: North Carolina Rate Bureau Rating Subcommittee, South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association Underwriting Committee, and Board of Directors for the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Insuring the Children of Southern Ohio.