About

Our vision with Profound Specialty Programs is purpose driven product creation. A joint venture between GoodWorks Financial and Innovation Insurance Group, Profound Specialty Programs focuses on the development of insurance programs that align with niche opportunities and address the unique risks of our clients. Programs in development address critical need in industries such as Cannabis Operations, Entertainment & Events, Gaming, Lodging & Leisure, Restaurants, and Sports.

Developing comprehensive and meaningful solutions for our industry specialty groups is an important part of the overall success of our firm and our clients. Our combination of deep industry expertise, vast experience in all aspects of the insurance market place, financial strength, and innovative program design platform, enables us to offer our clients an unparalleled level of protection and service.

Our clients, led by evolved risk management thought leaders, are looking for holistic risk management solutions, not just transfer of risk. We are in constant creative mode, collaborating with our brokers to develop programs on the cutting edge of the industry.

Programs

Simply put, a program is a plan of action aimed at accomplishing a clear business objective, outlining the details of the work to be done, by whom, when, and what means or resources will be used.

Working with Profound Specialty Programs you will first be introduced to your industry expert—someone who not only understands your business, but has been a part of it for decades. Together we will outline your insurance program objectives, first from a big picture perspective, followed by a detailed discussion of the work to be done without missing an operational beat or detail.

More familiar in their niche environment than anyone else in the marketplace, our experts possess an inexhaustible inventory of means and resources, all dedicated to the development of each program. The result: Purposeful, driven, product creation, defined and developed in partnership with each of our industry driven clients.

Leadership Team

Profound Specialty Programs is managed by an executive team with extensive industry and product development expertise.  Collectively, our industry experts represent well over 100 years of experience in all facets of risk and insurance services, making them uniquely qualified to define and develop industry-specific insurance products with a purpose.

Chad Yonker, CFA

Chairman & CEO
Managing Partner

Chad Yonker has been Chairman & CEO of GoodWorks Financial Group, and Executive Chairman of the Company’s subsidiaries and affiliates since 2011. Mr. Yonker was an early stage investor in GoodWorks Insurance and took over management and ownership of the Company in 2011. Since that time, GoodWorks Financial Group has grown from a small regional start-up insurance agency to one of the fastest growing insurance services operations in the U.S., representing national operations and global partnerships.

Prior to GoodWorks, Mr. Yonker founded Litchfield Capital Management in 2002 as a specialist investment manager focused on the financial services and real estate sectors of the market. The company quickly grew into one of the largest global financial services specialist hedge funds, compounding net returns to its investors in excess of 14% annually from 2002 through the financial crisis—a period of time in which the S&P Financials index lost nearly 50% of its value. Since 2010, Litchfield Capital has focused exclusively on managing private equity and venture capital opportunities and investments with control stakes.

Prior to founding Litchfield Capital, Mr. Yonker was a Managing Director at the specialist investment bank, Fox-Pitt, Kelton’s (FPK) research team, ranked #1 or #2 for global insurance and financial services research in 2000, 2001 and 2002 by Institutional Investor Magazine’s Survey of Global Institutional Investors. While at FPK (1994-2002), Mr. Yonker was seven times named an “All-Star” and “5-Star Analyst” for his research work and investment recommendations in the banking, insurance and consumer finance sectors. Prior to joining FPK, Mr. Yonker was an analyst at the investment management and venture capital firm of Robert W. Duggan & Associates.

Mr. Yonker is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder, and holds a degree in Business Economics and Accounting from the University of California at Santa Barbara. As a financial institutions expert, Mr. Yonker has been widely quoted by publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, The Wall Street Transcript, The American Banker, Buyside Magazine, Insurance Journal, IA Magazine, Crain’s Business, SNL Securities, various newswires and regional publications.

TY SAGALOW

President
Senior Partner

Mr. Sagalow is the Founder & CEO of Innovation Insurance Group and serves with Profound Specialty as President & Senior Partner, overseeing all underwriting, product development, claims, and legal functions.

Mr. Sagalow is a 38-year veteran of the insurance industry and is recognized as one of the most influential insurance professionals of his generation, developing an unprecedented number of new products for the world’s largest insurance companies and startups. He is considered an expert in a range of product lines, particularly cyber-insurance, directors & officer’s liability insurance, professional liability insurance, employment practices liability insurance, and reputation insurance.

Prior to Innovation Insurance Group and Profound, Mr. Sagalow was a Founding Member of Lemonade (2015), the founding Chief Insurance Officer of Lemonade, Inc. and founding CEO of Lemonade Insurance Company. Mr. Sagalow retired from Lemonade in September of 2019. Lemonade (LMND) is publicly traded on NYSE.

Prior to Lemonade, Mr. Sagalow spent 25 years as a senior executive with AIG. His major positions included ten years as Chief Underwriting Officer and General Counsel for AIG Executive Liability (f/k/a National Union). National Union is the largest provider of management and professional liability insurance in the United States. From 2000 to 2005, he was Chief Operating Officer of AIG eBusiness Risk Solutions, a large provider of security and privacy insurance. From 2005 to 2009, he headed up new product development at AIG General Insurance as President of Product Development before moving to Zurich North America as Chief Innovation Officer. In April 2011, Ty departed Zurich to create Innovation Insurance Group.

Products Mr. Sagalow has created have produced hundreds of millions of dollars of gross premium and include Y2k Insurance, (Entity Cover) Directors and Officers Insurance, Cyber Insurance, Reputation Insurance, and Intellectual Property Collateral Insurance. Additionally, with his unique background combining management and professional liability legal, underwriting, and policy drafting, Mr. Sagalow is one of the industry’s most sought-after experts in D&O/E&O coverage disputes.
Mr. Sagalow is a board member on Relm Insurance Ltd, a Bermuda based insurance company and on the board of directors or advisory board of other Insurtech companies in the United States and elsewhere with missions supportive of Profound Specialty Programs.

Mr. Sagalow is a frequent author and speaker. His works include @Risk: Internet and E-Commerce Insurance and Reinsurance Legal Issues and Directors & Officers Insurance Handbook. Mr. Sagalow has appeared on CNBC, WPIX-TV, PBS and Bloomberg Radio, and he has spoken before various tech, legal and insurance forums on issues including the White House, Department of Homeland Security, and Congress. Mr. Sagalow has been interviewed on the topic of innovation by many organizations, including Harvard Business Review and Business Insurance.

Mr. Sagalow is a summa cum laude graduate of Long Island University, a cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, and he earned the LLM from New York University School of Law.

Ali Wilson

Chief Underwriting Officer
Partner

Ali Wilson is Chief Underwriting Officer and is tasked with the product development and underwriting at Profound Specialty. Mr. Wilson is a 25-year veteran of the insurance industry and an expert in new product development in a range of insurance product lines, including accident & health, life, cyber-insurance, directors & officer’s liability insurance, professional liability insurance, employment practices liability insurance, environmental insurance, general liability and reputation insurance. Additionally, with this background Mr. Wilson is known as an industry expert. He has been retained as an expert in coverage disputes relating to claims, governance, underwriting and policy intent and drafting.

Mr. Wilson was formerly employed at AIG, Zurich, and Prudential insurance companies. His experience included Vice President for Zurich’s marketing and proposition development team in New York and as Assistant Chief Underwriting Officer for its accident and health division. Mr. Wilson held several senior claims positions at AIG and was the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for its Product Development division. Prior to this time, Mr. Wilson held various management roles at Prudential and was a law clerk in New Jersey. In March 2017, Mr. Wilson departed Zurich to create Wilson Associates, LLC.

Mr. Wilson led various teams at AIG and Zurich in the creation of new products and the refresh of many more. This includes strategic approaches for sales, marketing, underwriting and claims management which resulted in the success of various products in the marketplace.

Mr. Wilson’s work extends beyond insurance. He serves on many non-profit boards and is highly sought after for advice and counsel regarding board management and governance. Mr. Wilson has also created several non-profits addressing various issues facing urban communities.

Mr. Wilson is a graduate of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, and Washington and Lee University School of Law, in Lexington, Virginia.

Hemant Hirani, CFA

Chief Financial Officer
Partner

As CFO, Mr. Hirani is responsible for financial, administrative, and risk management of various entities under the Goodworks Financial Group umbrella, including Profound Specialty.

Mr. Hirani has over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting having worked in these capacities in both the U.S. and India. Before joining GoodWorks Financial Group, Mr. Hirani founded and ran a financial advisory firm in India for 5 years. Previously, Mr. Hirani worked as an analyst and portfolio manager for hedge fund operators Endeavour Capital Advisors and Litchfield Capital Management, and was a sell-side research analyst at the specialist investment bank Fox-Pitt, Kelton (now a division of Macquarie Group). Prior to his move to the U.S. to attend the University of Maryland business school, Mr. Hirani worked as a Chartered Accountant and Auditor for K. S. Aiyar & Co, Chartered Accountants (Mumbai, India) were he ran audit and tax accounting teams that worked on the accounts of many of India’s largest publicly traded corporations.

Mr. Hirani is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder, a qualified Chartered Accountant (equivalent to CPA in India), and a qualified Cost & Management Accountant (India). Additionally, he has earned his MBA degree from the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and Bachelor of Commerce degree (Accounting and Finance) from University of Mumbai, India.

Jana Solis

Director of Risk Services

Ms. Solis is responsible for client development and retention, risk management program design, and safety and loss control training and consultation. Specializing in risk management and loss prevention, Jana has developed hospitality specific training programs and resources that have been embraced by hospitality and leisure companies across the U.S. and abroad.

Jana has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality and gaming industries. Before joining Profound, she served as Managing Director and Global Hospitality and Gaming Practice Leader, developing and overseeing several industry verticals including Hospitality & Gaming, Restaurants, Sports, Tribal and Real Estate for three global insurance brokerage firms including Marsh, Willis, and HUB. Prior to that, she held leadership roles at Wausau Insurance Companies, Red Lion Hotels, Double Tree Hotels & Resorts, and Promus Hotels.

Ms. Solis studied Hospitality Management and Occupational Safety & Health at Clark College in Vancouver, WA, and completed several high-risk degree programs at the OSHA Institute in Des Plaines, IL. Her business affiliations include memberships in: American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA); National Restaurant Association (NRA); National Ergonomics Council; Women in Foodservice Forum; American Society of Safety Engineers; and the Client Advisory Board, Cornell University Center for Hospitality Research. Jana is also a four-time recipient of the Industry Power Broker® award, and the Risk & Insurance Responsibility Leader award, as designated by Risk & Insurance® magazine.

Shannon Nicol

Senior Specialist
Claims and Workers' Compensation

As Senior Workers’ Compensation Specialist, Ms. Nicol plays an important role for Industria, ensuring that our clients follow federal and state guidelines for job safety, disability law and workers’ compensation claims management that could affect the rights of the company and their employees.

Shannon joined GoodWorks Financial Group in 2017, recruited to work as a shared resource across the entire book of workers’ compensation policies, claims and new business.

Ms. Nicol began her insurance career in 2000 as an Initial Premium Specialist with Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, expeditiously working her way up to New Business Administrator and Disability Claims Adjuster. Ms. Nicol then spent four years with the Arizona State Compensation Fund as a senior Workers’ Compensation Lost Time Adjuster. In 2007, Ms. Nichol moved back to New England where she embarked on a consulting career specializing in developing differentiated workers’ compensation assessment and management programs.

Ms. Nicol holds a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting, from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Shannon also holds several professional designations in her field, including Master Workers’ Compensation Advisor and Certified Workers’ Compensation Advisor from the Institute of Workers’ Comp Professionals, Professional Workers’ Compensation Account Manager from Oceanus Partners and Workers’ Compensation Claims Administrator from the Institute’s Risk & Insurance Knowledge Group.

Ms. Nicol is a member of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Women and Board Member for the ACS Girls Softball League.

The GoodWorks Charitable Mission

To engage with communities by supporting local charitable organizations that provide services in the fields of education, healthcare, and public safety, while in-turn strengthening communities where we live and transact business.

A Joint Venture of GoodWorks Financial and Innovation Insurance Group

www.GoodWorksFinancial.com — www.InnovationInsuranceGroup.com

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