Summary
The insurance investment market is entering a new frontier — vast, fast moving, and shaped by forces unlike any era before it. At the same time, competition for a finite pool of insurance capital is intensifying, as asset managers operate in an environment where opportunities are limited, crowded, and increasingly difficult to uncover. Firms are sharpening their tools, pioneering new approaches, and working to stay ahead in a landscape defined by AI innovation, evolving regulation, shifting interest rates, inflationary pressure, and geopolitical uncertainty.
At the Insurance Investment Symposium 2026, we bring together the trailblazers navigating this frontier — leaders exploring new terrain and seeking out real value in a complex, rapidly shifting market. Join insurance industry experts and investment professionals as we read the landscape, decode emerging risks, and map where opportunity is taking shape.
Through expert led panels and discussions, we’ll equip participants with the clarity needed to compete effectively in an environment where insight is the ultimate differentiator. Dedicated networking opportunities throughout the event will help attendees build meaningful connections and strengthen industry relationships. In A New Frontier, advantage belongs to those who read the landscape clearly and act decisively.
Who Should Attend
Insurance industry executives
(CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CIOs)
Investment and portfolio managers
overseeing insurance portfolios
Regulatory and risk management professionals
focused on insurance investments
Investment banking and private equity professionals
specializing in the insurance sector
Consultants and legal advisors
providing M&A and investment guidance to insurers
Business development and competitive intelligence professionals
driving strategic growth and market analysis in insurance
Agenda
*Agenda is subject to change.
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Thursday, October 8, 2026
Speakers
KKR
Craig Fitt
Managing Director, Capital Markets
Craig Fitt (New York) joined KKR in 2022 and is a member of the KKR Capital Markets team, where he specializes in providing ratings advisory to the firm and its clients globally. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Fitt was U.S. head of ratings advisory at UBS for twenty years. Previously, he was a member of Credit Suisse's ratings advisory group, and spent eleven years at Moody's Investors Service as a senior analyst, responsible for rating corporate issuers across a variety of industry sectors. Mr. Fitt is a graduate of Yale University.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Stephen Fitzsimmons
Executive Director, Insurance Solutions
Stephen Fitzsimmons is a member of Insurance Solutions within Morgan Stanley Investment Management. He has experience managing multi-sector investment portfolios in support of Life, P&C and Health insurance liabilities. He was a Director and portfolio manager at Conning for the better part of a decade followed by time as a Portfolio Manager at Resolution Life where he helped optimize insurance investment portfolios and supported M&A and reinsurance transactions.
Stephen has over ten years of insurance asset management experience. Stephen earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut.
S&P Global Ratings
Paul Gruenwald
Global Chief Economist
Paul Gruenwald is the Global Chief Economist at S&P Global Ratings based in New York. He leads the economic research agenda and serves as the primary spokesperson on macro-economic matters for the company.
Before joining S&P Global Ratings in 2013, Paul spent almost five years at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) as the Asia Pacific Chief Economist, where he was responsible for helping set and direct ANZ’s Asian and global economic research agenda, as well as building the bank’s economic research efforts and profile in the region. Previously, Paul worked at the International MonetaryFund(IMF) for nearly 16 years, where he led the team producing the IMF’s Asian regional outlook reports. He was also the IMF Resident Representative to Hong Kong and Korea, the Deputy Chief of the China Division, and did considerable work on both public (Paris Club) and private (London Club) debt restructuring issues.
Paul has a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics/Mathematics from the University of Texas.
Voya Investment Management
Jeffrey Hobbs, CFA
Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income
Jeffrey Hobbs is the chief investment officer of fixed income at Voya Investment Management.
In this role, Jeff is directly responsible for oversight of public and private fixed income teams and leads Voya’s fixed income investment teams. Previously at Voya, he served as Voya’s head of insurance portfolio management, where he was responsible for developing and implementing full-service customized investment solutions across all asset classes for Voya’s proprietary general account as well as Voya’s external insurance clients. He is also a member of Voya IM’s Fixed Income Investment Committee governing the broader platform and acts as chair of the Voya IM Credit Committee. Prior to that at Voya, Jeff served as an insurance portfolio manager focused on the management of proprietary U.S. insurance assets and multi-sector insurance accounts for third party insurance clients. Prior to joining Voya, he was a portfolio manager at 40|86 Advisors, the investment management subsidiary of CNO Financial Group. Jeffrey earned an MBA from the University of Chicago with concentrations in analytic finance, corporate finance and economics, and a BBA in finance with honors from the University of Oklahoma. He serves on the Emerging Leaders for Children’s board at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, supporting pediatric healthcare initiatives in our community. Jeff is a member of the Insurance Board of AIF Global, and is a CFA® Charterholder.
S&P Global
David Knutson
Head of Industry Outreach, Chief Client Office
David joined from Schroders where he most recently worked as the Head of US Fixed Income Product Management after joining the firm as Head of Credit Research. Before moving to New York, he helped establish the US asset management business and led the research initiatives for global financials and emerging markets for Legal and General in Chicago. Prior to that David was responsible for financials research at Mason Street Advisors, the investment adviser to Northwestern Mutual. Previously he worked at UBS in risk management, debt capital markets and liability management (restructuring) and earlier started his career at Bank of America as a credit analyst and later as the research manager for Latin America. He is a Board member of the CFA Society of New York and a Board member of the Fixed Income Analyst Society (FIASI). Before leaving the buyside, David was a founder and Chair of the Credit Roundtable, a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s Standards Advisory Group and participated on the advisory councils of several rating agencies. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst, Financial Risk Manager and Chartered Market Technician designations and was a Rotary Scholar at the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa in Buenos Aires and also attended the University of Glasgow while earning a Masters in Finance, Economics and Foreign Languages and a Bachelors in International Studies and Political Science with Minors in History and Foreign Languages from Iowa State University of Science and Technology.
S&P Global Ratings
Carmi Margalit
Managing Director and Life Insurance Sector Lead
Carmi Margalit is Managing Director and the Life Insurance Sector Lead for the North American Financial Services Ratings group. Carmi leads the group’s research, commentary and analytical outreach efforts on life insurance. He serves as the subject matter expert on life and annuities in North America and is one of the primary voices of S&P Global’sinteractions with the market in the sector. He directly covers a portfolio of high profile life insurers and follows the entire sector very closely.
Prior to his current role, Carmi was the analytical manager of the life and health insurance team; he was an analyst on the life team and in the structured finance group before that.
Carmi is a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. in industrial engineering from the Tel Aviv University.
S&P Dow Jones Indices
Kelsey Stokes
Head of Financial Institutions Sales, Americas
Kelsey Stokes is Head of Financial Institutions Sales, Americas at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). The insurance sales team works with insurance carriers, product design groups, banks, IMOs and other parts of the insurance ecosystem to understand the market’s needs and deliver the iconic and innovative S&P DJI indexing franchise.
Previously, Kelsey held roles in both sales and marketing at S&P DJI, where she worked closely with insurance carriers to identify new multi-asset indices best suited to their needs and support their education and distribution efforts. Before joining S&P DJI, she led equity and alternative index derivatives marketing globally for CME Group.
Kelsey graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Northwestern University and holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Somerset Re
Stephanie Urdahl
Head of U.S. Operations
As Head of U.S. Operations, Stephanie is responsible for building out and growing Somerset Re's U.S.-based reinsurance entity. Prior to joining Somerset, Stepanie led financial strategy and investor communication for Group Protection at Lincoln Financial (and at Liberty Mutual, before Lincoln's acquisition of Liberty's Group business), gaining significant experience in responsible growth strategies, capital management, and corporate governance. Prior to joining Liberty, Stephanie was a Lead Pricing & Structuring Actuary for Hannover Re in its Financial Solutions business unit. Stephanie is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Stephanie graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Central Florida.
Virginia Bureau of Insurance
Scott White
NAIC President & Commissioner
Scott A. White was appointed Commissioner of the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance in 2018. He was elected NAIC President in December 2025.
White joined the Bureau as a research analyst in 1998. From 1999 until 2011, he worked as an attorney advising the Bureau on all major insurance regulatory and compliance matters. In 2011 he became head of the Commission’s financial services legal division, expanding his practice areas to include securities and banking.
At the NAIC, White has chaired the Financial Condition (E) Committee, the Long-Term Care Insurance (EX) Task Force, and the Southeast Zone. He is a member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Executive Committee, Macroprudential Committee, and Insurance Capital Standard Task Force.
White earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from the University of Missouri. He and his wife, Jodi, have two grown daughters.
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Chris Winter
Associate Director, Insurance
Chris Winter is the North America Insurance solutions lead for S&P Global Market Intelligence. In this role, Chris helps insurance clients utilize the full suite of solutions offered by S&P, such as financial data, credit risk solutions, data feeds, and more, while specializing in the NAIC Statutory and Rate Filings products. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and English from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the College of William & Mary.
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Tim Zawacki
Principal Research Analyst
Tim Zawacki is a principal research analyst covering the U.S. insurance industry for S&P Global Market Intelligence.
He has covered the insurance industry in various capacities since joining SNL Financial in 1999. Based in Charlottesville, VA, Tim authors the annual US P&C Market Report, US Life and Annuity Market Report and various other thought leadership providing historical context and forward-looking outlooks regarding key industry trends and developments at the line of business level.
Tim has also published numerous articles and research on M&A activity in the property and casualty and life and health insurance sectors, focused on trends in the underwriting and distribution sides of the business.
Tim is a 1999 graduate of the University of Virginia.
Pricing
Early Bird Rate: Expires June 26, 2026
$199
Insurers and Clients
$399
Non-Clients
Advance Rate: Expires September 4, 2026
$299
Insurers and Clients
$499
Non-Clients
Standard Rate
$399
Insurers and Clients
$599
Non-Clients
Current clients include any firm that currently subscribes to products/services offered by S&P Global Market Intelligence, excluding other conferences and training classes.
Venue
Convene 360 Madison
360 Madison Avenue
New York, NY