Insurance Conference - Webcast

John J. Peel, CPA
Tax Partner
PwC

John is a Partner in the Tax practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia with over 21 years of experience. He rejoined the firm in September 2003 after spending seven years in industry, where he served as a Tax Director and CFO. Prior to his time in industry, John spent over six years at Coopers and Lybrand serving domestic and multinational corporate clients.

John has served clients in the insurance, asset management and capital market sectors. Some of the clients John has served include ACE Limited, The Radian Group, Torus Group, AIG Financial Products, Global Indemnity, Penn National, The Delphi Group, Everest Reinsurance, Eastern Alliance, Philadelphia Insurance Company, ICI Mutual, Penn Treaty, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Harleysville Insurance, Florida Physicians Insurance, Essent Holdings, SEI Investments and Vanguard. 

John has extensive experience in the following areas:  accounting for income taxes, due diligence reviews, corporate tax planning and restructuring, international tax planning, tax compliance and state and local tax planning. While working in the insurance industry, John served on the NAIC’s working group that assisted in drafting the NAIC’s Q&A on SSAP #10, the statutory accounting for deferred taxes. He also served as Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Reinsurance Association of America’s Tax Committee. He has been a guest speaker at various tax forums sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, IASA, Society of Actuaries and the PICPA. John is a CPA with an undergraduate degree in accounting from LaSalle University and a graduate of Villanova’s School of Law with a Masters in Taxation.

Michael A. Ernst, CPA
Partner
KPMG LLP
 

Michael is a partner in KPMG LLP’s Philadelphia office. He has 21 years of experience with KPMG and provides audit and advisory services to insurance companies. 

Michael has served as lead audit engagement partner on a variety of insurance companies, both publicly traded and private, during his recent eight years in Mid-Atlantic area.  Prior to that, Mike focused on insurance accounting consultations for KPMG’s largest insurance clients while spending three years in KPMG’s National Office. He participated in the drafting of KPMG’s comment letter responses on insurance related accounting developments and in developing KPMG’s insurance publications. Mike also participated in the AICPA Task Force’s that developed life insurance accounting standards on non-traditional contracts and deferred acquisitions costs.  He served for three years as KPMG’s lead in monitoring and disseminating information on NAIC and insurance accounting developments.  Michael is a technical advisor and quality reviewer on several of KPMG’s insurance clients listed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Andrew Prior
Managing Director
PwC

Andrew Prior is a Managing Director in the Washington National Tax Services (WNTS) office of PwC. As a member of the Legislative & Regulatory Services group, he oversees the monitoring and analysis of federal tax legislative developments. He also assists individuals, companies, associations and coalitions with lobbying and advocacy initiatives before Congress, the US Treasury Department, and the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, Andrew is a frequent speaker at tax meetings and conferences on current tax legislative developments. From 1993 to 1996, Andrew worked as the chief Capitol Hill tax reporter for CCH, Inc. He was responsible for covering the US Congress, including House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, and reporting on tax, budget, health, retirement, and entitlement legislation, including the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, and the policy debates over President Clinton's health care reform plan, comprehensive tax reform, and balancing the federal budget.

Michael Flagiello
Partner
Mazars USA LLP

Michael has more than 30 years of experience leading business strategy and transformation efforts and delivering technology solutions to the insurance industry.

His expertise includes building financial infrastructure and managing financial activities in both start-up ventures and large companies. Michael’s financial discipline, understanding of business performance, strategic vision, and creative operational strength have driven measurable results in both small and large global insurance companies. He is widely published, including several industry surveys, numerous articles, videos, and is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Prior to joining Mazars USA in 2009, Michael held executive roles at RVI Group, TIG Re, and CNA. He began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Michael graduated from Pace University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, and received a Master of Business Administration in Finance.  He holds the Lean Six Sigma certification from Villanova University.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE -- Financial Services; Insurance; Reinsurance
SERVICE SPECIALTIES -- Business Process Management; Financial Infrastructure Management and Planning; Information Technology Management and Solutions
MEMBERSHIPS -- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Society of Insurance Financial Management
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Nov 17