Speaker information: Construction Risk Management

Company	Job Title	Name	Speaker Bio	Speaking At
Allianz Commercial	Global Head of Construction	Darren Smart	Darren is Global Head of Construction at Allianz Commercial. He returned to Allianz in 2024, where he started his underwriting career as an underwriter at Allianz Cornhill (Allianz UK), before working at Trans Re as Assistant Vice President. He joined Liberty Specialty Markets in 2007 as Construction Regional Product Line Manager for EMEA, before becoming Global Construction Practice Leader role in 2016.	Panel discussion: Major risks and insurance market outlook
Allianz Commercial	Global Head of Construction Claims	Christian Kolbe	After working in the automobile industry developing diesel engine components, Christian joined Insurance in 2008 working as an Independent Loss Adjuster for Onshore Energy, Property, Engineering and Construction losses in different countries of Latin America, before leading a loss adjusting office in Brazil. He joined Allianz Commercial in 2018 and has been Claims Manager and Field Adjuster for Engineering and Property in Germany before joining Global Claims Key Case Management, recently also dealing with on/offshore wind/solar and IDI losses. In his current position, Christian is Global Head of Construction Claims, responsible for the Global Construction Claims book within AGCS.	Panel discussion: Claims – how to navigate megatrends
Aon	Executive Director	Tom Anderson	Tom has 20 years’ experience in construction and construction insurance. His career was spent at one of the UK’s largest contractors where he led their insurance and risk management programme. Now at Aon he is now focussed on supporting the Professional Services team and their clients with insight and innovation.	Presentation: Professional liability – what to expect next
Aon	Managing Director	Peter Kapler	Peter heads up Aon’s Canadian Performance Security practice group and manages the Subcontractor Default Insurance (SDI) product in Canada. Building on a decade of Surety underwriting, Peter’s responsibilities include Surety and SDI account management, customisation of risk transfer solutions, broking, development of risk mitigation programs, consultations on prequalification program implementation, as well as risk control, operational best practices and loss avoidance.	Presentation & panel discussion: Supply chain risk – identify, measure, manage and mitigate
Aon	Practice Leader – EMEA Claims Preparation, Advocacy, and Valuation	Mike Sgarlata	-	Panel discussion: Claims – how to navigate megatrends
Aon	Managing Director, Construction & Infrastructure	Simon Simpson	Simon has considerable risk and insurance experience in the construction sector both globally and in the UK which has been gained from nearly 34 years in the industry. Prior to taking on the position of Business Leader, Simon has managed the delivery of service for major contractors and projects with complex and demanding requirements. His knowledge and ability to manage both the strategic and operational delivery of service are recognised within the insurance industry. Simon’s role now includes the responsibility for both UK Construction and Infrastructure and the provision of technical and broking support to the Aon network globally. Also included as part of Simon’s team is Aon’s surety offering for both construction and commercial risks.	Fireside discussion: Managing sports stadia construction – Everton Football Club Panel discussion: The importance of collaborative sharing
Aon	Chief Commercial Officer	Jon Thacker	Jon joined Aon at the start of 2025 having spent the past 20 years working within WTW’s Construction Team. Jon has 37 year’s experience working within the Construction Insurance Industry having started his insurance career in 1988. During that time he has handled insurances for major contractors arranging all aspects of their relevant insurance requirements both annual and more complex major one-off projects along with placing projects for developers. Jon has been involved in numerous major projects across the Construction Sectors in the UK and Overseas, including Tunnels, Roads, Bridges, Waste, Rail, Water Sector, major building projects and PFI/PPP’s.	Panel discussion: Delays on construction projects – managing and mitigating the risks
Aon	Senior Vice President	Todd Henderson	Todd joined Aon in 2020. He quickly assumed responsibility for large construction client accounts at Aon Montreal. He began his career in an insurance coverage and defense law firm in Montreal, before moving to insurance and risk management at global engineering and construction firm AtkinsRéalis. There in his role as Claims Officer, he was responsible for insurance claim handling and resolution, in addition to captive insurance operations and global insurance program development, budget preparation, M&A due diligence and integration, and presentations to Executives and Board of Directors.	Panel discussion: Europe's changing captives landscape
Aon	Global Head of Construction & Infrastructure	James MacNeal	James is currently Aon’s Global Head of the Construction and Infrastructure Practice which includes over 1000 specialist colleagues in 48 countries. In this role James is responsible for growth, thought-leadership and best practice in this key industry practice. James is also the relationship lead for certain Aon clients. He has over 35 years of construction insurance experience, of which 21 have been with the Aon Group. He was previously at Marsh where he led the UK Construction Units broking team. James has travelled extensively and placed a wide variety of major construction projects in most parts of the world, for Owners, Contractors and Infrastructure Funds. James has a strong track record of delivering on clients' expectations with some of the largest firms in the Construction sector. He has designed insurance programmes across a wide variety of industry segments, with particular specialisation around energy/power, digital infrastructure and transportation. James is actively engaged as the Executive Sponsor / Account Director on some of Aon's largest construction accounts and leads the carrier relationships in this key industry.	Panel discussion: Major risks and insurance market outlook
Aon	Executive Director	Peter Rudd	Peter has been working in the London market for the past 20 years and is currently the Chief Broking Officer for the Construction & Infrastructure group. He is responsible for the design and placement of major global onshore construction programs working with clients and the Aon network. Prior to joining the Aon Construction Team in August 2005, Peter obtained extensive experience working on major global construction projects with Marsh where he was the territory leader for Asia/Australia for onshore construction.	Workshop: Understanding regional insurance variations
Aon	Global Claims Leader, Construction & Infrastructure Industry Specialties Claims Leader, Asia	Clarence Ting	Clarence has been working in insurance since 2003. During this time he has been effectively managing Energy, Construction, Machinery Breakdown, Delay Start-Up and Business Interruption claims globally. Prior to joining Aon, he worked with global reinsurance firms leading their major and complex losses in the region. In his current role, he is a member of Aon’s Global Construction & Infrastructure Leadership team and a member of the Global Claims Leadership team delivering significant client value through Aon’s escalation protocols, and dedicated Claims Advocacy. Clarence is empaneled with the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) and a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID).	Panel discussion: Claims – how to navigate megatrends
Aon	Design Firms Specialist Risks	Oliver Heaton	-	Presentation: Professional liability – what to expect next
Aon	Head of Strategic Risk Consulting	Charles Winter	Charles has over 35 years’ experience in the insurance sector and has worked for Aon for over 20 years. He is currently Head of Strategic Risk Consulting for the Aon Risk Consulting business in the UK. Previous roles have been in corporate broking and underwriting.	Panel discussion: Europe's changing captives landscape
Aon	France Head of Construction and Natural Resources	David Gierski	David has more than 25 years of service in the insurance industry with 20+ years spent on carrier side from field risk engineering up to group head of commercial lines. David served in Asia for couple of years. Since 2018 David has moved to broking and he joined AON as EMEA Property Broking Director in 2022. In his role, David is supporting program structuring including parametric insurance and alternative risk transfer.	Panel discussion: When parametric solutions work
Aon	Chief Commercial Officer, Construction & Infrastructure	Tariq Taherbhai	Tariq is the Chief Commercial Officer for Aon’s Global Construction & Infrastructure (C&I) industry specialty. In his role, Tariq is tasked with developing and implementing the global growth and marketing strategies for the specialty. In addition, Tariq works with other leaders to ensure that the full capabilities and expertise of Aon are properly delivered to the firm’s global C&I clients. Tariq has significant experience with project finance and public private partnerships, having advised on multiple large, complex projects over the past two decades. Before joining Aon, Tariq was vice president of the project legal group at Infrastructure Ontario, with responsibility for all legal and procurement matters related to public private partnerships procured by the Province of Ontario, Canada.	Panel discussion: Implications of US tariffs for the construction industry
Aon	Global Head Climate Risk Consulting	William Bruce	William has 25 years risk consulting experience and leads Aon’s global climate risk consulting team, which works to support clients through profiling and quantifying the risks and opportunities arising from the climate transition. Before joining Aon, William was at WTW from 2016-2022, where he was Global Head of Enterprise Risk Consulting, Risk & Analytics and responsible for Transition Risk engagements for corporates, working with organisations to help them identify and assess threats and opportunities from a changing climate and in so doing, meet guidance provided by TCFD. From 2007-2016 William worked at Marsh where he was responsible for consulting services across industries and a member of the management team. Whilst at MMC, William worked on secondment for Oliver Wyman where he led a large team, involved in delivering a large European banking engagement. William spent the first 8 years of his career at the Big 4 (1999-2007) on the advisory side of both EY (FS) and PwC (Sustainability).	Panel discussion: Climate change and extreme weather – who bears the risk?
Aon Credit Solutions	CEO	Stuart Lawson	As the CEO for Aon’s Credit Solutions global business, Stuart’s responsibilities include developing and executing Aon’s strategy in respect of Trade Credit Insurance, Structured Credit, Political Risk and related financing solutions. Stuart has over 30 years industry experience, gaining valuable experience in leading market leading teams, client management and sales with specialist expertise in global trade credit programmes and receivable trade finance.	Panel discussion: Implications of US tariffs for the construction industry
Berkeley Estate Asset Management	Head of Construction	Rob Rotbart	-	Workshop: Leaks, losses and liability: the AI revolution in water risk prevention
Charles Taylor Adjusting	Managing Director Construction & Engineering	Marcus Gresham	Marcus is MD of CTA’s Construction and Engineering team. He started his adjusting career in 1986, and since 1989 has specialised exclusively in construction related claims. He has handled claims on many of the UK’s highest profile civil engineering and building projects, including the Jubilee Line Extension; Tate Modern; Heathrow Terminal 5; Wembley Stadium; Canary Wharf; and the Glasgow School of Art refurbishment. He has been Network Rail’s CAR and PL adjuster for 25 years. He works mainly in the UK but frequently provides practical advice and assistance to colleagues and Insurers on claims issues on international construction projects.	Panel discussion: Design & Construct coverage issues
Chubb	Property and Energy European Technical Claims Lead	Andy McAvan	Andy has 35 years’ experience in claims the majority relating to first party Property Energy Construction and Terrorism. He was part of the team that previously won the Major loss award at the British Insurance Awards and has handled many losses in excess of £100 million. He has also been involved in operation projects to create new claims systems and open new Chubb claims offices.	Panel discussion: Claims – how to navigate megatrends