Richard S. Kahlbaugh has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and a director since June 2007. Prior to becoming President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kahlbaugh was our Chief Operating Officer from 2003 to 2007. He also serves as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of all our insurance company subsidiaries. Prior to joining us in 2003, Mr. Kahlbaugh served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Volvo’s Global Insurance Group. He also served as the first General Counsel of the Walshire Assurance Group, a publicly traded insurance company, and practiced law with McNees, Wallace and Nurick. Mr. Kahlbaugh also served on the board of directors of Campus Crest Communities, Inc. from 2010 until November 2014, and served as its Executive Chairman from November 2014 until March 2016 and interim Chief Executive Officer from November 2014 until February 2015. Mr. Kahlbaugh holds a J.D. from The Delaware Law School of Widener University and a B.A. from the University of Delaware. Mr. Kahlbaugh was selected to serve on the Board of Directors in light of his significant knowledge of our products and markets, his experience leading Fortegra when it was previously a public company and his ability to provide valuable insight to the Board of Directors as to day-to-day business issues we face in his role as our Chief Executive Officer.
Edward Peña has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since August 2023. Prior to joining us, he worked for Liberty Mutual Insurance from 2017 until 2023 in a number of roles, most recently as EVP & CFO, Global Retail Markets. From 2012 to 2017, Mr. Peña worked at CoAction Specialty Insurance in various financial and capital planning roles, and prior to that, from 2002 to 2012, Mr. Peña worked at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. across various roles in investment banking, corporate finance, and strategy. Mr. Peña graduated with a B.A. from Yale University and M.B.A from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Mark E. Rattner has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Underwriter & Product Management, Specialty & Credit since September 2016. Prior to joining us in 2016, he previously worked for Houston International Insurance Group from January 2011 until August 2016 in a number of roles, most recently as Senior Vice President from January 2012 until August 2016, where he created the professional liability division, and prior to that he served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Terrapin Capital Holdings. Mr. Rattner also was an owner and director of Rattner Mackenzie Limited from January 2005 to January 2008, and was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Professional Indemnity Agency, Inc., a subsidiary of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., from January 2001 to January 2005. He was President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Professional Indemnity Agency, Inc., a subsidiary of Marshall Rattner, Inc., from January 1991 until January 2001.
Abigail “Abbie” Taylor has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since May 2023. Previously, from 2013 to 2022, Ms. Taylor held various roles at Asurion, LLC, most recently as the General Manager of Asurion, LLC’s retail business segment overseeing clients as well as the Chief Operations Leader for the company’s Strategic Portfolio, which included select North and South American wireless carriers and cable providers in various countries. Ms. Taylor spent her early career at Bain & Company, PepsiCo Inc. and EY-Parthenon in strategy and finance roles. Ms. Taylor graduated with an A.B. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Patrick Theobald joined Fortegra as our Executive Vice President of the Fortegra Services Group in February 2024. Prior to joining us, he spent nearly 15 years with Asurion LLC where he provided leadership in a diverse array of roles including finance, compensation, analytics, and product management. His most recent stint was General Manager and P&L owner for several partners in the wireless, cable, and entertainment industries. Prior to Asurion, Mr. Theobald spent several years in various FP&A and corporate finance roles across Capital One Financial. Mr. Theobald holds Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Bachelor of Science in Computer Applications degrees from the University of Notre Dame.
Sanjay Vara is Executive Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer for Fortegra's European 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.
Jane Dullinger joined Fortegra in 2022 as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. She has experience in insurance operations, transformation, and program management. Previously, Jane worked as SVP, Operations & Transformation at QBE North America and served in numerous operations and underwriting roles at Kemper, Chubb and Liberty Mutual. She received her MBA from the McCombs School at The University of Texas at Austin and B.A. from Westminster College (PA).
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.
Timothy “Tim” Smith joined Fortegra in 2023 and serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Claims. He has broad multi-line and multi-jurisdictional experience and has demonstrated success in building high-performing teams, designing, developing, and implementing claims technologies that systems deliver. Tim is well-versed in actuarial science, reinsurance, M&A, data structure, system implementation, operational efficiency, employee engagement and CX. Previously, Tim was the Chief Claims Officer for various insurers, including Missouri Employers Mutual, NORCAL Mutual, and Constellation Mutual. Tim’s experience as a claim executive spans stock companies, mutuals, and reciprocals. Tim received his J.D. from University of the Pacific — McGeorge School of Law and his B.S. in Accounting from DePaul University. Tim is licensed to practice law in California and Illinois and practiced in both jurisdictions prior to starting his insurance career. Tim is married and he and his wife enjoy traveling, and hobbies include skiing together.
