In 2003, Rick joined Fortegra as COO and was promoted to his current leadership role four years later. Since then, he has led the company through an IPO process, expanded internationally, and grown the organization to over $1 billion in gross annual sales and $1.5 billion in total assets.
Prior to Fortegra, Rick served as President and CEO of Volvo’s Global Insurance Group. A graduate of the University of Delaware, he also holds a J.D. from Delaware Law School.
Mark Rattner joined Fortegra in September 2016 as Executive Vice President & Chief Underwriting Officer for Credit and Specialty Lines. He previously worked for Houston International Insurance Group (HIIG) as Senior Vice President and started the Professional Liability Division. Mark attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and The College of Insurance, New York, NY.
Ed Peña is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Fortegra, a global specialty insurer. He possesses more than two decades of insurance, finance, and mergers and acquisitions expertise. Most recently, he served as the CFO for Global Retail Markets (GRM), a $30 billion strategic business unit within Liberty Mutual Insurance. Prior, Ed served as Treasurer for the Liberty Mutual Group; Vice President of Finance at ProSight Specialty Insurance; and held various roles at J.P. Morgan where he advised investment bank financial institution clients on mergers and acquisitions, and capital structuring, and within Corporate Treasury where he worked on financial and regulatory reporting. Ed has an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and a dual major B.A. undergraduate degree in Economics and History from Yale University.
Sanjay Vara is Executive Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer for Fortegra's warranty products. Since arriving in 2016, Sanjay has spearheaded the organization’s international growth by opening the company’s European subsidiary, Fortegra Europe Insurance Company Limited (FEIC Ltd.). Prior to his arrival at Fortegra, Sanjay headed up teams at ANV Lloyds syndicate 5820 and at AmTrust Europe. A graduate of the University of Kent, Sanjay’s leadership has proved critical to the expansion of programs underwritten through Fortegra, both in the domestic U.S. and international market.
Abbie Taylor joined Fortegra in 2023 as the Chief Operating Officer. She is an accomplished general management executive with nearly 20 years of experience across sales, marketing, finance, and operations. She has experience in strategy and is an expert on the customer experience. Previously, she worked at Asurion as the General Manager & Head of Client Operations and had strategic, product, and operational oversight of US, Canadian, and Latin American client portfolios in retail, cable, and wireless phone industries. Abbie received her MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Duke University.
Joe Lettween joined Fortegra in November 2022 as Chief Innovation, Data Science, and Technology Officer. He previously worked at Osso Capital as Principal, Head of Data & Analytics and Vista Equity Partners as Director, Vista Intelligence Group. Joe attended the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management and Syracuse University.
John Short joined Fortegra in 2007 as Senior Vice President and General Counsel and served in that role until 2011 when he was named Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and Governmental Affairs. Prior to joining Fortegra, he led the State regulatory and governmental affairs for Sprint Corporation and its spin-off Embarq Communications. John holds a J.D. from the College of William and Mary and a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Richmond.
Joel Vaag currently leads Fortegra’s Specialty Program actuary group. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society with over 25 years of actuarial experience. Joel joined Fortegra in September 2019 after a three-year stint at Houston International Insurance Group (HIIG) where he served as the company’s Chief Actuary. Prior to HIIG, he worked as Principal and Consulting Actuary at Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consultants, Inc. and Milliman, Inc. Joel’s experience includes a broad array of pricing, reserving, and management experience, with focus in the professional liability, auto, general liability, and workers’ compensation lines of business. He earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Northern Arizona University and an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Arizona.
Holly Bohn Pittman is an accomplished leader with over 25 years of experience in Strategic Marketing, Sales Enablement, and Brand Development. She joined Fortegra in 2020 as Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President. Holly's notable background includes founding and leading a multi-million dollar retail brand, as well as executive roles in consumer products. She was recognized as a 2022 Trailblazer by the Insurance Marketing & Communications Association. Holly mentors female entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs and holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a Finance focus from California State University, Chico. Under her innovative marketing leadership, Fortegra is gaining recognition as a leading force in specialty insurance.
Michael (Mike) Grasher serves as the Executive Vice President of International Business Development at Fortegra. In this role, he spearheads the growth of Fortegra’s specialty insurance companies in both the UK and the EU. In his previous position, he served as Chief Financial Officer and was instrumental in Fortegra’s consistent growth and profitability. Previously, he’s held positions at GuideWell Health, Amerisafe, Inc., and Piper Jaffray, Inc. He earned his B.S. from the University of Illinois and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Howard Fishbein joined Fortegra in November 2018 as Senior Vice President of Claims. Howard previously worked at Houston International Insurance Group (HIIG) as Senior Vice President, Claims & Litigation, and was responsible for the in-house claims operation. He holds a J.D. from St. John’s School of Law and a B.S. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University.
