ABOUT US
Meet Our Executive Team
Kurt Gearhart
CEO
Kurt is the CEO of ITM TwentyFirst. Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Kurt was Managing Director of Credit Suisse’s Longevity Markets Group. He also served as the initial President of ILMA, a trade association founded by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, UBS and other longevity market participants. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Kurt was a Partner in the Insurance and Financial Services Group of Sidley Austin LLP.
Kurt Niederloh
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Kurt is the Chief Financial Officer at ITM TwentyFirst and manages the company’s financial reporting, planning and analysis, treasury and tax. As a member of the executive leadership team, Kurt actively participates in developing the strategic planning for the company, M&A activities, and investor/board member relationships. Kurt has over 25 years of experience building and leading finance teams for global companies including Activision Blizzard and Carlson Companies. Kurt is a graduate of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and is a proud veteran of the United States Army.
Maureen Sheehan
GENERAL COUNSEL
Maureen is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of ITM TwentyFirst. Prior to joining the company, Maureen was an attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis in the Corporate Group and at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago in the Insurance and Financial Services Group. Maureen is a graduate of The University of Chicago Law School.
Cory Cates
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
Cory is responsible for technology and analytics at ITM TwentyFirst. Cory is a quantitative technologist with a wealth of experience in life insurance assets. Prior to joining the firm, Cory worked at Credit Suisse for 8 years (including several years as Head of Technology for the Longevity Markets Group). Cory earned a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from the department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University.
Mario Coniglio
COO
Mario Coniglio is Chief Operating Officer at ITM Twenty First and is responsible for operations teams across the Longevity Holdings companies. Mario joined Longevity Holdings in 2020 as part of the acquisition of the Maple companies and MLF LexServ and was responsible for the merger of LexServ and ITM21st Servicing.
Mario has extensive experience with business & operations leadership with a background and foundation in business process development and information technology. Mario’s prior work experience includes over 10 years with responsibility for LexServ and 17 years with Electronic Data Systems (EDS) where he worked across multiple industries including health care, state health care, commercial insurance, and flood insurance. Mario resides in Virginia and is based out of Longevity Holding’s Bethesda, MD office.
Tami Ahlstrom
Chief Human Resources Officer
Tami is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Longevity Holdings and leads the company’s people initiatives and human resources team. As a member of the executive leadership team, Tami develops the strategic human resources planning for the company. She supports the organization in attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining talent.
Tami has over 25 years of experience leading global HR initiatives, including over 20 years at Thomson Reuters. Tami has a master’s degree in Human Resources from Carlson School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Wisconsin – Stout. She additionally holds the HR designation of SHRM-SCP.
Lara Koza
Chief Strategy Officer
Lara is the Chief Strategy Officer at ITM TwentyFirst and leads the exploration and development of new growth opportunities for the company. Lara brings 11 years of diverse corporate strategy experience to Longevity Holdings including developing and executing both organic and inorganic growth initiatives in small, medium, and large organizations. Prior to joining Longevity, she most recently served as the Chief Strategy Officer at Surest, a UnitedHealthcare company, where she built the strategy function and led the organization’s launch into new health insurance markets. She also previously worked at Optum (a UnitedHealth Group company) developing product strategy in numerous divisions of the business, Norwest Equity Partners evaluating new private equity investments and working with portfolio companies on strategic growth initiatives, and Piper Jaffray advising clients looking to raise capital or sell their business. Lara received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her bachelor’s degree in finance from the Carlson School of Management.
Cody Pobuda
Chief Data Officer
As the Chief Data Officer for the Longevity Holdings’ family of businesses, Cody’s experience spans over fifteen years in building and leading technology teams, with particular strengths in project management, software architecture, and data science. Prior to joining the executive team in 2022, Cody lead technology projects including several key Data Science and Data Engineering initiatives at Longevity. As CDO, Cody oversees data analytics, data infrastructure, and data governance within the company. Prior to joining the firm in 2014, he held engineering and leadership roles with firms in the healthcare and education fields. Cody has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Saint Cloud State University.
Ralph Medici
PRESIDENT – Financial Services Solutions
Ralph is the President of Financial Services Solutions at Longevity Holdings. His team manages over 30,000 life insurance policies for banks, trust companies and investors and provides medical underwriting services for policyholders and insurance companies. Prior to joining the firm in May 2012, Ralph worked in the Longevity Markets Group of Credit Suisse, most recently as Director responsible for servicing all of Credit Suisse’s longevity assets. Prior to Credit Suisse, Ralph worked for 15 years at AIG in several leadership positions.
John Bikus
PRESIDENT – Death Audit and Locate
John is President of PBI Research Services, an ITM TwentyFirst company. Prior to joining the company, John helped start, grow and successfully sell two online companies – ObitData.com (leading online data and research company) and Legacy.com (global leader in online obituary services). He also has marketing, sales and research experience with Kraft Foods and AC Nielsen. John holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Meet Our Board of Directors
Emily Pollack
BOARD MEMBER
Emily is a Partner of Cornell Capital. She has 15 years of M&A and private investing experience. Prior to joining Cornell Capital in 2017, Emily served as a Vice President of Harron Communications. She began her career at Davis Polk & Wardwell in the Mergers & Acquisitions group and previously worked at American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
Emily was recently selected as one of the 10 women profiled in Buyouts’ Women in Private Equity: The Class of 2022. She was also recognized in the Wall Street Journal’s Women to Watch in Private Equity and profiled in The Deal’s article Private Equity’s Better Half. Emily is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a JD at Harvard Law School.
Richard Carbone
BOARD MEMBER
Mr. Carbone is a Cornell Capital Senior Advisor and former Executive Vice President and CFO of Prudential Financial. He has held senior finance officer positions in the financial services industry for over 30 years, including Managing Director and Controller of Salomon Brothers, Senior Vice President and Controller of Bankers Trust, Chairman of the Audit Committee at E*TRADE, and Chairman of the Risk and Investment Committee at Lincoln Benefit Life. He served as an Officer in the United States Marines from 1969 to 1972 and is a CPA.
Colin Devine
BOARD MEMBER
Colin is a Senior Advisor to high-growth InsurTech-enabled businesses. He is also a Research Fellow for the Alliance for Lifetime Income, a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization focused on helping educate Americans on the risk of outliving their savings so they can enjoy their retirement. Colin had a 15-year tenure with Smith Barney/Citigroup where he was consistently ranked among the top sell-side equity analysts in the insurance sector.
Prior to Citigroup, Colin was a Director in Standard & Poor’s Insurance Ratings group and a Vice-President of a major Canadian life insurer. Colin is a Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner. He holds an MBA in Finance from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Guelph.
Bob Dowdell
BOARD MEMBER
Bob was the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marshall & Swift Boeckh. Bob earned a M.B.A. and a B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. Bob serves on the advisory board of the business school of Notre Dame and is a CPA.
Richard Drucker
BOARD MEMBER
Richard is a Partner and the General Counsel of Cornell Capital. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, he was a partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell where he spent 40 years and had extensive experience advising private equity clients and corporations and their boards of directors in connection with mergers and acquisitions and with respect to corporate governance matters. He also actively represented issuers, underwriters, and sponsors in securities offerings, including acquisition financings. Richard is a graduate of the University of Vermont and earned his JD at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Jack Oliver
BOARD MEMBER
Jack Oliver is a Founding Partner of Finback Investment Partners, a firm he founded along with Governor Jeb Bush. Jack works across the highest levels of international and national politics, government, technology, finance, and business to provide senior relationship management and unparalleled insights at the intersection of public policy, communications, innovation, and commerce. Jack develops relationships with Fortune 100 companies, financial sponsors, and governmental actors across the globe.
Most recently, Jack served for 13 years as a Senior Advisor to Barclays and Lehman Brothers. Jack served as National Finance Vice-Chairman for Bush-Cheney 04 and Victory 2004 managing the campaign’s national operations and was principal in the campaign’s leadership. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Republican National Committee. In 2000, Jack served as National Finance Director for George W. Bush’s 2000. In 2016, Jack was the National Co-Chair of Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Jack received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Vanderbilt University and a JD from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Gokul Sudarsana
BOARD MEMBER
Gokul is a Managing Director at Hudson Structured Capital Management with primary responsibilities in the Re/Insurance Strategy. Prior to HSCM, Gokul led Deloitte’s actuarial service offerings in Bermuda and the Caribbean. Prior to Deloitte, Gokul led internal capital modelling for Sun Life Financial. He has previously held roles with Munich Re including actuarial modelling, pricing and risk management. He also previously held a pricing role in the Canadian pension risk transfer market with Sun Life Financial, as well as risk management roles at TD Asset Management and Canadian Western Bank.
Gokul graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Mathematics in Actuarial Science. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst and a Financial Risk Manager.
Taylor Watt
BOARD MEMBER
Taylor is a Managing Director of Cornell Capital. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Taylor worked at Citadel, where he focused on public equity investments, and Silver Lake Partners, where he focused on private equity investments. Taylor began his career in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division in the Healthcare Group in New York. Taylor is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BS from the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Kathy Belfi
BOARD MEMBER
Kathy recently retired from the Connecticut Insurance Department, and now leads KB Regulatory Solutions. For over 20 years Kathy was the Director of the Financial Regulation Division, responsible for the oversight of the financial solvency of some of the most complex Property and Casualty, Life and Health insurers in the world.
In 2013, Kathy was honored to be a co-recipient of the NAIC’s Robert Dineen Award, recognizing her contribution to the state regulation of insurance and advancement of the insurance regulatory profession. In 2018, Kathy was honored to receive one of the highest awards given by the AICPA, the National State Government Impact Award, recognizing her contributions to the efficiency, effectiveness, and innovative service delivery to her state department. Both awards recognized Kathy for her ongoing work on supervisory colleges and group supervision.
In 2021, the Connecticut Society of CPA’s awarded Kathy with the distinguished woman CPA award, demonstrating outstanding leadership in the state.