Speaker information: Construction Risk Management

Company	Job Title	Name	Speaker Bio	Speaking At
Zurich Insurance Group	Head of Continental Europe & Canada Construction, Commercial Insurance	Richard Gordon	Before assuming his current position, Richard served as Head of Construction for Zurich in London and previously as Underwriting Manager for Engineering Lines with Zurich Commercial Insurance in Dubai, UAE. These roles involved extensive international engagement, particularly across the GCC region, and reinforced his expertise in complex infrastructure risks and multinational project portfolios. Richard began his Zurich career in 2015 as a Senior Underwriter. Prior to joining Zurich, he worked with Infrassure Ltd in Zurich, Switzerland, as a Construction Underwriter within the Construction and Infrastructure team, underwriting major international engineering projects. His professional foundation is in civil engineering, having worked on large scale infrastructure schemes in the UK as well as overseas in India and Kazakhstan.	Presentation & panel discussion: Managing economic & geopolitical risk in European construction
Munich Re	Business & Product Development, Parametric Weather Insurance	Valerie Gottschalk	Valerie works in Business Development for Parametric Weather Solutions at Munich Re, focusing on weather risk transfer across industries such as construction, logistics and industrial production. She designs tailored parametric solutions for corporate clients seeking to hedge financial exposure to weather variability and climate change. Valerie joined Munich Re around 1.5 years ago. Prior to that, she worked as an Investment Manager in commercial real estate, acquiring and divesting assets across Europe for multiple funds.	Panel discussion: Weathering the future – climate risk, extreme weather and insurance for European construction Workshop: Integrated risk solutions for complex construction projects
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners	Risk Manager	Dimitrios Gravias	Dimitrios Gravias focuses on enterprise risk governance and project controls across a global renewable energy and infrastructure portfolio. He aligns project level risk with fund-level strategy by translating risk insights into portfolio decisions and investor reporting; supporting transparency, audit readiness, and regulatory compliance through scalable governance and GRC systems implementation. He has led the design and rollout of standardized risk frameworks, facilitated cross-functional risk workshops, and driven portfolio wide implementation of enterprise risk management software, including the standardisation of contingency setting practices.	Panel discussion: Risk, capital and coverage – aligning insurance strategy with Europe’s infrastructure investors
Chubb	Head of Terrorism & Political Violence COG	Piers Gregory	Piers joined ACE in April 2009 to start up the Terrorism unit having previously worked for 7 years within the Lloyd’s of London with the Wellington and Catlin syndicate. Overall he has over 20 years of experience in the political risk and political violence markets and is a current member of the Chubb political risk product board.	Workshop: The new threat frontier – political violence & terrorism insurance for construction leaders
Faithfields	Director	Jeremy Harrison	From 2018 to 2025, Jeremy served as Group Director of Risk & Assurance at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, redesigning frameworks following the Magnox Inquiry and chairing executive oversight of the multibillion pound Advanced Gas Reactor decommissioning programme. In 2024 he was seconded to Great British Nuclear as interim Development & Assurance Director, establishing risk, assurance, governance and audit functions and shaping the Target Operating Model for Development Companies and Small Modular Reactor programmes. Jeremy’s earlier career spans senior roles across the rail sector and major projects. He was Director of Risk & Assurance at HS2, leading the establishment of risk, assurance and insurance functions and conducting major baseline assurance reviews. At Network Rail he headed Risk and Value Management across all national infrastructure projects, and previously pioneered early system safety risk thinking at Railtrack and British Rail.	Workshop: The next frontier – emerging civil megaprojects & their risk implications
Aon	Head of Construction & Infrastructure – MENA Specialty	Jon Hetherington	Jon has more than 39 years’ experience in the insurance industry, advising risk managers, lenders and contractors on major capital projects and infrastructure developments across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Before joining Aon in April 2025, Jon held senior leadership roles with Marsh and was Sales and Industry Leader for the Construction Specialty business in Asia and relocated to the Middle East in 2024, as Senior Client Relationship Manager for Marsh IMEA. Previously, he served as Regional Construction Industry Leader for Willis Towers Watson in Asia Pacific.	Presentation: Managing supply chain risks in construction – lessons from the Middle East crisis
GlobalData	Lead Analyst, Construction Intelligence Centre	Tom Hopgood	Tom focuses on emerging trends in construction, with particular emphasis on the North American and European markets. He provides market sizing and forecasting, offering detailed analysis of project opportunities and risks. In addition to his consultancy work, he and his team publish a range of reports, including GlobalData’s quarterly Global Construction Outlook, which benchmarks 91 major construction markets by value and growth and highlights key macroeconomic trends. Before joining GlobalData, Tom earned a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Bristol and gained extensive experience in the UK biofuel sector, specialising in carbon trading and subsidy analysis.	Panel discussion: Operating in a crisis – the importance of resilient risk management & collaboration
Aon	Strategic Account Manager	Robert Humphreys	Robert Humphreys is a senior insurance leader with over 48 years of industry experience, including nearly four decades with Aon in strategic account management, executive leadership, and complex programme delivery. His career spans multiple continents—United Kingdom, South Africa, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain—giving him deep cross-border expertise and an ability to integrate local execution with global risk solutions. Robert has managed some of the most demanding insurance programmes in the energy and infrastructure sectors, consistently delivering results for multi-billion-dollar projects under challenging technical and commercial conditions.	Panel discussion: Rebuilding Europe’s energy future – the nuclear construction risk challenge
QBE	Senior Claims Adjuster	Barry Jackson	Barry joined QBE in 2017 to build up and develop capability in Construction (especially Contractors’ All Risks) and Engineering claims handling, to provide a claims offering in the Construction / Engineering space which could support QBE’s growth ambitions both in the UK and internationally. Barry has considerable experience of the Construction / Engineering claims market, having worked in the sector for over 35 years, starting at National Vulcan back in 1990 then spells at RSA Engineering, and HSB prior to joining QBE.	Panel discussion: Delay in start-up claims – navigating the evolving claims landscape for major projects
AIG	Global Head of Construction	Andy Kane	Andy has 35 years insurance industry experience with 30 years in the London Market. Since September 2025 Andy has led AIG Global Specialty’s Construction business. He has been involved in many large infrastructure, transport, energy and power projects world-wide. Andy sits on the executive committee of IMIA and has a HND in Natural Sciences, an MBA and is DipCII qualified.	Invitation-only breakfast workshop: Data centres across the full lifecycle – a comprehensive multi-line approach
Zurich Insurance Company	Senior Captive Underwriter, Commercial Insurance UK	Anna Kochan-Sonawane	Zurich has over 35 years of experience in captive fronting and manages an expanding portfolio of more than 600 fronting programs. Anna joined the Captive team in 2020 and is a Senior Underwriter for Zurich UK, one of the company’s largest captive fronting hubs. Before joining Zurich, she spent eleven years at AIG working across captive fronting and multinational solutions for large global clients. She holds a Master’s degree in Marketing and Management and is ACII qualified.	Panel discussion: Evolving risk financing mechanisms – captives, parametric triggers and alternative capital markets
Swiss RE Corporate Solutions	Head of Alternative Risk Transfer Structuring EM & MEA	Yann Krattiger	Yann has over 27 years of experience in corporate insurance and risk management, both in sales and underwriting. He joined Swiss Re from Allianz Risk Transfer where he spent almost 12 years as Principal in charge of structured (captive) fronting programs and sales/ underwriting of Alternative Risk Transfer solutions. Prior to this, he worked at Zurich Corporate Solutions as a Deal Architect on structured re/insurance programs, as Network Manager for International Programs and as Senior Marine Underwriter for Alpina Insurance Company.	Panel discussion: Evolving risk financing mechanisms – captives, parametric triggers and alternative capital markets
Zurich Insurance Company	Head of Energy, Marine & Construction Claims, Commercial Insurance UK	Amanda Langer	Amanda joined Zurich UK as head of Energy Marine & Construction claims in January 2026, from Marsh where she headed the Construction Claims Practice. Prior to this Amanda has held claims leadership positions at SCOR and Markel International. A Global Claims Portfolio Manager with over 25 years in the London insurance market in the following lines: Construction All Risks, Property, Energy, Casualty, Liability, Professional Indemnity, D&O. Legally qualified with extensive commercial London market and international experience in high value complex claims resolution.	Panel discussion: Delay in start-up claims – navigating the evolving claims landscape for major projects
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions	Senior Sales Executive, Risk Data Solutions	Karl Lawless	Karl brings extensive leadership experience across commercial underwriting, risk data services, and insurance technology, developed through senior roles in global insurance and enterprise technology organisations. He has worked with leading firms including Zurich, Chubb, Salesforce and Sapiens, and is recognised for bridging deep insurance expertise with advanced data platforms and digital solutions at scale.	Panel discussion: Weathering the future – climate risk, extreme weather and insurance for European construction
John Cockerill - Board Member, Belrim & FERMA	Head of Professional Ethics & Risk Management and Insurance	Gaetan Lefevre	-	Panel discussion: Managing energy volatility vs rising demand in construction projects
VINCI SA	Group Insurance MD	Xavier Luscan	-	Panel discussion: Operating in a crisis – the importance of resilient risk management & collaboration Panel discussion: Interpreting LEG3 in 2026 – what insurers think and what buyers need to know
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 33 years of construction insurance experience, of which 18 have been with the Aon Group. He was previously at Marsh where he led the UK Construction Units broking team.	Fireside keynote session: Inside the boardroom – a CEO’s view of evolving construction risk
Munich Re	Regional Director EMEA Parametric NatCat	Kristian Mangold	Kristian Mangold is a seasoned expert in parametric insurance and structured reinsurance, currently leading the Parametric NatCat efforts for EMEA at Munich Re. He holds dual Master’s degrees in International Business & Politics and International Management from Copenhagen Business School and Tsinghua University in Beijing. Kristian began his career in consulting before joining AXA in Paris, where he focused on climate risk solutions for corporates and developed agricultural insurance programmes across Africa and Asia. At Swiss Re, he worked on both prospective and retrospective structured reinsurance across Property & Casualty and Life & Health.	Workshop: Integrated risk solutions for complex construction projects
Descartes Underwriting	Commercial Director for Iberia and Central Europe	Juan María Marqués Domenech	With over 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, Juan María is an expert in designing Alternative Risk Transfer (ART) and parametric insurance solutions. Throughout his career, he has dedicated more than 8 years to technical specialisation within the Construction and Energy sectors, managing complex placements for major infrastructure and energy projects. After leading the parametric strategy at Aon Spain for three years, he currently spearheads Descartes’ expansion across Iberia and Central Europe, where he helps industrial and construction firms strengthen their climate resilience through innovative, data-driven solutions.	Panel discussion: Weathering the future – climate risk, extreme weather and insurance for European construction
Construction Fire Safety Services Limited	Director	Dan Martin	Following an 18-year career in the Fire & Rescue Service, Dan has continued to work extensively across the fire safety and construction sectors, building more than 30 years of combined industry experience. As UK Fire Safety Manager for a leading Tier 1 Principal Contractor, Dan gained deep insight into the real-world challenges of managing fire safety during the construction phase. He has also supported the wider industry through lecturing, the development of virtual reality fire training for site operatives, and contributing to innovative solutions including a reusable temporary fire door system. Now Director of Construction Fire Safety Services Limited, Dan continues to support construction projects nationwide while championing professional development and raising awareness of this critical area of fire safety.	Presentation: The biggest construction loss driver – fire and the future of construction risk control