Executive Officers

Gordon G. Pratt, 52
President and Chief Executive Officer and Director

Since March 2004, Mr. Pratt has been Managing Member of FMG, a private holding company. From June 2004 to April 2006, he served as the Senior Vice President, Corporate Development of the Willis Group in New York and London. Prior to the Willis Group, he was an equity holder and Managing Director of Hales Capital Advisors LLC (1999 to 2004) and the Managing Partner of Distribution Partners Investment Capital L.P., a private equity fund focused on the insurance industry (1999 to 2010). Mr. Pratt was appointed to the board of directors of Atlas Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFH), or Atlas, in December 2010, and, since January 2011, has served as chairman of the board of directors of Atlas (and on the audit and compensation committees). In addition, Mr. Pratt was appointed to the board of directors of 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIH), or PIH, in December 2013 and has served as the chairman of PIH’s board and a member of its audit committee since his appointment. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the board of United Insurance Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: UIHC) (from September 2008 to March 2012) and as Vice Chairman of the board of privately-held Avalon Risk Management Insurance Agency LLC (from October 2009 to September 2012). Mr. Pratt also served as a member of the board of directors of United Property & Casualty Insurance Company (from September 2008 to March 2012) and as Chairman of the boards of directors for FMG Acquisition Corp. (OTC: FMGQ) (from May 2007 to September 2008) and of privately-held Risk Enterprise Management Limited (from November 2007 to May 2012). Before joining Hales, Mr. Pratt was a Senior Vice President and a member of the management committee of Conning & Company (1992 to 1999), where he helped to raise and invest capital for three Conning Private Equity funds. He began his career at The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. in New York. Mr. Pratt obtained a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a Master of Management degree from Northwestern University.

Hassan R. Baqar, 36
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary and Director Nominee

Since January 2011, Mr. Baqar has served as the Vice President of Kingsway America Inc., which is a subsidiary of Kingsway and as Vice President of Kingsway since January 2014. By virtue of a management services agreement between 1347 Advisors LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingsway, and United Insurance Management, L.C., he has also served as the Chief Financial Officer of United Insurance Holdings Corp, a publicly-held property and casualty insurance holding company. Before joining Kingsway America Inc., Mr. Baqar was appointed Secretary of Kingsway America II Inc. in December 2009 and Director of Finance of KFS Capital LLC in January 2010. Prior to joining the Kingsway team, Mr. Baqar served as the Director of Finance of Itasca Financial LLC, an advisory and investment firm specializing in the insurance industry, from April 2008 to December 2009. His previous experience includes positions held at Kemper Insurance Companies, a diversified mutual property-casualty insurance provider, from June 2000 to April 2008, where he most recently served as a senior analyst. Mr. Baqar has served as a member of the board of directors of 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc. since October 2012 and has been a member of the board of directors of Maison Insurance Company and Maison Managers Inc. since October 2012. Mr. Baqar obtained a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Administration from Monmouth College and a Master of Business Administration from Northeastern Illinois University. He also holds a Certified Public Accountant designation.

Board of Directors

Larry G. Swets, Jr, 39
Director 

Since July 2010, Mr. Swets has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer and, since September 2013, as a member of the board of directors, of Kingsway. Prior to that, Mr. Swets served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for Kingsway from January 2010 to July 2010. Before joining Kingsway, in 2005, Mr. Swets founded Itasca Financial LLC, an advisory and investment firm specializing in the insurance industry from which Mr. Swets separated in December 2009. Prior to his work at Itasca Financial LLC, Mr. Swets served as an insurance company executive and advisor, including the role of Director of Investments and Fixed Income Portfolio Manager for Kemper Insurance (from June 1997 to May 2005). At Kemper Insurance, he also evaluated business units, executed corporate transactions and divestitures, and developed financial projections and analysis for the company during its runoff stage. Mr. Swets began his career in insurance as an intern in the Kemper Scholar program in 1994. Mr. Swets is a member of the board of directors of Kingsway and Atlas Financial Holdings, Inc. He is currently a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. Mr. Swets has served as a member of the board of directors of 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc. since November 2013. Previously, he served as a member of the board of directors of United Insurance Holdings Corp. from 2008 to March 2012 and Risk Enterprise Management Ltd from November 2007 and May 2012. Mr. Swets obtained a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University and a Master’s degree in finance from DePaul University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

John T. Fitzgerald, 43
Independent Director Nominee 

Since June 2002, Mr. Fitzgerald has served as managing partner of Argo Management Partners, or Argo, a private equity investment firm. In that capacity, Mr. Fitzgerald has had significant transactional and operating experience in Argo’s acquired companies, which include consumer products manufacturing, marketing and distribution operations. Since January 2006, Mr. Fitzgerald has also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hunter MFG, LLP, a manufacturer and distributor of sports-licensed consumer products. Mr. Fitzgerald has served as a member of the board of directors of Atlas since May 2, 2013 and is a member of Atlas’s audit, compensation, and corporate governance and nominating committees. Since October 2011, Mr. Fitzgerald has also served as the Chairman of Oak Patch Gifts, LLC, a private gift and jewelry manufacturer. Mr. Fitzgerald has also served as a member of the Board of Progressive Bronze Products, LLC, a private manufacturer of metal goods, since December 2008. Mr. Fitzgerald is an MBA graduate of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, with concentrations in Finance, Accounting, and Strategy. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from DePaul University.

Joshua Horowitz, 36
Independent Director Nominee 

Since January 2012, Mr. Horowitz has served as managing director of Palm Ventures LLC, a family office private investment firm. Palm Ventures LLC and its affiliates invest in a wide range of public and private companies. From October 2011 to December 2011, Mr. Horowitz worked as an independent consultant. From September 2010 to September 2011, Mr. Horowitz served as Director of Research of Inverlochy Capital Ltd., a private asset management company. From April 2009 to April 2010, Mr. Horowitz served as managing director of Sapinda GmbH, a private investment holding company. From March 2004 to October 2008, Mr. Horowitz served as Director of Research for Berggruen Holdings, Inc., a family office with over $2 billion in assets under management globally. In these positions, Mr. Horowitz has analyzed and managed investments in hundreds of companies, with an emphasis on insurance and financial firms. Mr. Horowitz is a director of Lincoln General Insurance Company, a private insurance company, and Democracy at Work, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Mr. Horowitz obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Binghamton University.

Leo Christopher Saenger III, 46
Independent Director Nominee 

Mr. Saenger is the President of Reliant Star Capital, Inc., which he founded in February 2005 to focus on small and middle market private equity transactions. Based in New York, Reliant Star Capital, Inc. has consummated investments in industries ranging from computer peripherals to healthcare products and energy distribution. Prior to starting Reliant Star Capital, Inc., Mr. Saenger was a Partner at One Equity Partners, or OEP, a $5 billion private equity fund of J.P. Morgan, where he led investments in a variety of industries including healthcare, business services, aviation services and specialty insurance and oversaw dozens of acquisitions and add-on acquisitions for portfolio companies. During his approximately 10 years with OEP, Mr. Saenger took a leave of absence from April 2000 to February 2001 to work directly under Jamie Dimon, who was the newly-appointed CEO of Bank One, prior to its acquisition by JP Morgan Chase. At Bank One, Mr. Saenger led a five person “skunk works” team that worked on a variety of high-level banking strategic initiatives including technology reviews of various departments, competitive benchmarking, acquisition target analysis, and market research. Mr. Saenger started his career with Continental Illinois Venture Corp., the private equity branch of Continental Bank. Since December 2013, Mr. Saenger has served as a director and on the audit and compensation committees of 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc. He has served as a member of the board of directors (and on the audit committee) of Aphena Pharma Holdings, a private pharmaceutical packaging company, since April 2007 and as a member of the board of directors of the Scarsdale Golf Club, a non-profit organization, since January 2013. Since January 2007, Mr. Saenger has served as a Trustee on the board of trustees of the St. Pius X Church, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Mr. Saenger obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Business Administration with a double major in finance and entrepreneurial management from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

Thomas D. Sargent, 55
Independent Director Nominee 

Since September 2000, Mr. Sargent has been Executive Vice President and a Principal of Bradley, Foster & Sargent LLC, or BFS, an asset manager focused on high net worth and institutional clients with $2.6 billion under management. He is Chief Investment Officer and Chairman of the Investment Committee for BFS. From May 1986 to June 2000, Mr. Sargent worked at and rose to become Senior Vice President, an equity owner, and a member of the management committee for Conning & Company, where he managed that firm’s Equity Research, Institutional Sales, and Equity Trading divisions and was cited by Institutional Investor for his research expertise concerning the insurance industry. From May 2007 through September 2008, Mr. Sargent also served as a director of FMGQ, which merged with the parent of United Property & Casualty Insurance Company to form UIHC. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Union College and an MBA from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.