Administration

Andreas Kleiner

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Andreas Kleiner is Chief Executive Officer. His role is to create the vision and strategy for the continued success of the company, and build a highly collaborative, results-focused culture that serves the client/customer, employee and shareholder. He began his leadership of American Modern in May 2016.

Andreas held multiple senior management positions in a 23 year career at Munich Re covering all major fields of insurance and reinsurance. He served as member of the Board of Management of ERGO International as well as CEO of Munich Re of Africa.

He holds a degree in civil engineering from the University of Stuttgart (Germany), an Executive MBA in Financial Services and Insurance from Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School (Belgium) and University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), and also is an ACII and Chartered Insurer at the Chartered Insurance Institute (United Kingdom). He is married and has two daughters.

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Kevin Morreale, Sales and Marketing

Sales and Marketing

Kevin Morreale

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Kevin Morreale is Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and is a member of the Executive Management Board. He is responsible for growing specialty property and casualty products through multiple channels of distribution. He has additional responsibility for the Specialty Client Division which provides dedicated management and focus to certain clients where an agent takes responsibility for operations such as policy administration, customer service, underwriting, pricing and claims.

In his more than 25 years with the company, Kevin has held multiple roles, including the Head of Commercial Lines, Head of Business Development, Head of Agency Sales, National Account Representative for Financial Services and Marine Product Manager.

Before joining American Modern, Kevin was with LoVullo Associates, Inc., a managing general agency in New York state. Kevin holds a B.S. in Marketing from Canisius College.

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David McNutt, Claims

Claims

Eric Hunziker

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Eric Hunziker is Head of Claims. Overseeing a team of more than 350 professionals, he is responsible for driving strategic initiatives that best support customers by delivering a prompt and quality claims experience. Since joining the company in 1994 as a Claims Adjuster, Eric has held many different roles within Claims.

Additionally, he oversaw the organization’s Producer Management department and led its transformation through the implementation of innovative solutions to improve efficiency and quality. Eric holds a B.S. in Management from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Indiana Wesleyan University, as well as several industry designations. In 2017, Eric joined the Hydrogen program, Munich Re’s global executive management development program.

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René Gobonya, Finance

Finance

René Gobonya

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René Gobonya is the Chief Financial Officer. He joined American Modern in 2013. René is the past Deputy Head of Group Controlling at Munich Re, as well as Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and also Head of Group Capital Management. In his 25 years of work in primary insurance and reinsurance, he has held many finance, management, sales, and underwriting positions for Munich Re, and earlier at Winterthur International, a Credit Suisse subsidiary. René earned his undergraduate degree and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He has command of six languages. Close bio
Kate Reed, Human Resources

Human Resources

Kate Reed

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Kate Reed is Head of Human Resources, overseeing human resources, facilities, and internal communications functions. Kate began her career at the company in 2001.

Starting in the Legal Department as the employment attorney, Kate has provided legal counsel regarding employment-related issues for all levels of management in each business unit. She also developed her skills in numerous disciplines by leading projects in the areas of training, compliance, and benefits. She has served in leadership roles for the Compliance Council, American Modern Women's Network, and the Pension and Savings Committee.

Kate received her B.S. in political science from Ohio University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati. She also holds a certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.

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Charles S. Griffith III, Legal

Legal

Trey Griffith

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Charles S. "Trey" Griffith III is General Counsel. He joined American Modern in 2001.

Trey has served in a number of capacities and is presently General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer.  He oversees the legal affairs and compliance functions.  Prior to joining American Modern, he was in private practice, representing clients in both Ohio and Kentucky.

A graduate of Northern Kentucky University's Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Trey completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Cincinnati, receiving a B.B.A. in accounting. He is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP) and a member of the Ohio State, Kentucky, and Northern Kentucky Bar Associations. He is a veteran of the United States military.

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Paul Schneider, Operations

Operations

Paul Schneider

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Paul Schneider is Chief Operating Officer (COO) at American Modern. In that capacity he oversees IT, Business Operations, Producer Management, Operations Consulting as well as the important Business Transformation project.

Paul has been with American Modern for 12 years and has led many strategic initiatives such as the modernLINK/mlp3 implementation for our collector vehicle and motorcycle lines of business, the AMClaim project for the Guidewire Claim Center implementation and completion of the Corrective Action Plan addressing the FID regulatory concerns. Paul has held leadership positions managing the Project Office and System Testing Teams and, most recently, the FID Division.

Prior to joining American Modern, Paul spent over 13 years in consulting with Ernst & Young/CapGemini Ernst & Young. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from the University of Dayton.

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Cathy Smith, Chief Underwriting Officer

Product and Underwriting

Kamalesh “Kam” Jha

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Kam Jha is Chief Underwriting Officer and is a member of the Executive Management Board. He is responsible for execution of the American Modern product and underwriting strategy. Kam joined American Modern in 2020, with more than 20 years of experience in technology and insurance. Prior to joining the company, he held several executive roles at various insurance organizations, where he helped lead the utilization of new innovation solutions. He brings in-depth experience in personal lines products as well as data analytics and is skilled at bridging the interface between insurance products and technology solutions. Kam holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Varanasi, India, as well as an MBA in Marketing and Product Management from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Close bio