Senior Team - VALE Insurance Services LLC

Jamie Sahara
Co-Founder & Managing Member

Jamie Sahara is the Co-Founder and Managing Member of VALE Insurance Partners and Rivington Insurance Services. Jamie oversees VALE’s strategic initiatives, internal operations and administrative matters. He currently serves as Chairman of Onyx Insurance Company, an RRG, MP Reinsurance, a Cayman Island based reinsurer and United Insurance Company, an A- AM Best Cayman Insurance Company. In addition, Jamie serves on the board the NRRA, an industry trade group.

After launching his career at General Re, Jamie transitioned to an underwriting position with Swiss Re, where he focused on casualty and professional liability. Prior to founding VALE, Jamie was Chief Underwriting Officer at Southport Re and Chief Financial Officer at DGU Insurance Associates.

Jamie earned a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University where he received an athletic scholarship and served as captain of the tennis team.

Philip Stevenson
Chief Executive Officer

Prior to joining VALE, Philip served as a private equity and venture capital investment professional and has held business development and corporate development roles at technology companies.

At H.I.G. Capital he was involved in the origination, structuring, and execution of new investment transactions and the strategic management of the firm’s portfolio companies. While in the Healthcare Investment Banking group at Wachovia Securities, he performed advisory services related to M&A and capital markets transactions for companies in the healthcare industry.

Philip received his MBA degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a degree in finance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bryce Guingrich
Chief Underwriting Officer

Prior to joining VALE, Bryce practiced law in New York, litigating insurance coverage disputes for multiple coverage areas, including representations and warranties, directors & officers, fidelity and commercial crime bonds, and professional liability.

Before law school, Bryce worked as a broker of directors and officers coverage, employment and professional liability, corporate property insurance, and other miscellaneous lines in the U.S., London and European markets. He started his career as a civil engineer in Florida.

Bryce graduated with a BS (Engineering) from Purdue University. He also received a JD from Rutgers University and an Intellectual Property LLM (Master of Laws) from Georgetown University.

Brian Conroy
Chief Financial Officer

Brian Conroy manages the VALE finance function and partners with other members of the leadership team to advance business growth and strategic objectives. Prior to joining VALE, he was the Corporate Controller and Head of FP&A for Constellation Affiliated Partners, a multi-line MGA focusing on construction, transportation, real estate, cyber, and various specialty coverages. Previously, Brian worked for many years at Thomson Reuters in several finance roles of increasing seniority supporting their financial services business unit. He began his career at PwC and also worked at Deutsche Bank and Integro Insurance Brokers.

Brian graduated from Georgetown University with his B.S. in finance and accounting and from New York University with his M.S. in real estate.

Peter Wells
General Counsel / Tax Underwriter

Prior to joining VALE, Peter was Counsel at a large international New York law firm. While in private practice, Peter focused primarily in the fields of taxation, closely-held businesses and exempt organizations. Peter’s experience also includes general corporate and partnership transactions. Peter’s tax practice includes federal tax matters relating to entity selection, formation, transfer of ownership, and operational issues. He also specializes in the formation of off-shore investment vehicles designed to minimize exposure to U.S. taxation.

Peter received his B.A. in history and sociology from the University of Vermont and his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

Peter is a member of the bar in New York and Massachusetts and is admitted to appear before the U.S. Tax Court and several U.S. federal courts.

Frederik von Barnekow
Managing Director and Head of Europe

Frederik von Barnekow is the Managing Director and Head of VALE Europe. Prior to joining VALE, Frederik was a partner and Head of M&A at RiskPoint (a Danish-headquartered, Northern European MGA in the W&I space). During his time at RiskPoint, in addition to underwriting duties, Frederik was responsible for carrier and team management as well as authoring and executing the M&A business plan with a €125M limit. Before joining RiskPoint, Frederik i.a. practiced law in both Copenhagen and New York with a focus on M&A and corporate law. Frederik holds an LL.M. (Master of Laws) from UC Berkeley (California) and a Master of Laws from the University of Copenhagen.