Board of Directors

Mr. Hompe was appointed as Non-Executive Chair Officer in November of 2021. Mr. Hompe was the Managing Partner and co-founder of J.P. Charter Oak Advisors LLC, a private investment firm focused on the financial services industry from 2012 to 2019. He has worked in the financial services sector for more than 35 years. Mr. Hompe has held numerous board positions with insurance companies during his career. From 2003 through 2012, Mr. Hompe worked in investment banking and asset management (KBW Asset Management from 2011 through 2012 as a Managing Director and Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Inc. from 2003 to 2011 as Co-Head of Insurance and Asset Management Investment Banking). Mr. Hompe served as an observer on the Board of Directors of International Planning Group, Ltd., an international life insurance broker, and Preparis Inc., a provider of business continuity services. From 2010 to 2012, he was an independent director of Island Capital, a Bermuda investment company. He also was a director and a member of the executive committee of Island Capital’s predecessor company, EIC Corporation Ltd., a Bermuda-domiciled insurance holding company, and Exporters Insurance Company, a New York-based trade credit insurer from 2005 to 2010. He was an outside director of North American Insurance Leaders, Inc. (Nasdaq: NAIL), a special purpose acquisition corporation focused on the insurance distribution sector in 2007. He also served as a director of FIHC, a Barbados-domiciled insurance holding company, and Facility Insurance Company, a Texas workers compensation company from 2001 to 2003. Mr. Hompe was a Board Member of American Life from 2015 through June 2018. Mr. Hompe received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics (cum laude) from Princeton in 1983, with distinction in American Studies.

Ms. Nicholas brings more than 30 years experience in the global financial services industry including insurance, reinsurance and capital markets. She was named Chief Executive Officer as well as a member of the Midwest Holding and ALSC Board in November of 2021. She has a commitment to developing strong culture and leadership in organizations, supporting diversity and inclusion to grow management. Ms. Nicholas has leveraged this along with her business and financial acumen to drive strategy and results. Ms. Nicholas previously held the position of CEO and Managing Director for Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia, a publicly listed ASX company in Sydney, Australia. She also held various roles with Genworth Financial, Inc. in investor relations, chief financial officer roles in the mortgage insurance business and controllership. Ms. Nicholas also worked in public accounting, including as a firm director with Deloitte.

Mr. Minnich has over 25 years of experience in insurance, a private investment company, technology, risk-management, and investing. He was named Chief Investment Officer of Midwest Holding in November of 2021 as well as the President and a member of the Board of American Life in June of 2018. Mr. Minnich is a Founder and has been Co-Chief Executive of Vespoint Capital LLC, since 2018. Since July 2010, he has been a managing member of Rendezvous Capital LLC, a New York firm advising insurers on capital and investments. From February 2013 to May 2017, he was Chief Investment Officer of A-Cap, an insurance holding and investment company. Mr. Minnich graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1994 and an MBA in 1995 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Leung has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry as an Investment and Capital Markets Banker in New York, London and Hong Kong. Since 2016, he has served as the Managing Principal of Columbus Circle Capital, LLC in New York and the Executive Managing Director of Investment Banking and Capital Markets at American Capital Partners, LLC, also in New York. From 2012 to 2015, he served as Managing Director, Investment Banking and Capital Markets at RCS Capital Corporation, New York. From 2002 to 2012, he was Managing Director, Capital Raising, at Sandler O’ Neill & Partners, L.P., New York. Mr. Leung received his BS in Economics from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and his MBA degree from The Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Mr. Theeler is a partner in the Morgan Theeler law firm of Mitchell, South Dakota where he has been employed since 1971. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting (1968) and a law degree (1971) from the University of South Dakota. In law school he was Editor in Chief of the South Dakota Law Review. He was the first Chairman of the South Dakota Lottery Commission, serving from 1986 to 1992. He is a member of American Bar Association, the State Bar of South Dakota, the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, the South Dakota Defense Lawyers Association and an associate in the American Board of Trial Advocates. He was a founding board member of Great Plains Financial Corp. and Great Plains Life Assurance, he is also a board member of American Life.

Mr. Sachin Goel serves as Chair of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Goel is a Certified Financial Analyst and serves as a Managing Director on the investment team and leads the capital markets activity for Brightwood Capital Advisors, LLC in New York. He joined Brightwood in 2013. Prior to joining Brightwood, Mr. Goel was a Managing Director in Macquarie Capital USA’s credit trading division from 2009-2013, where he was responsible for a portfolio of distressed and high-yield corporate credits. Mr. Goel received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Chicago in 2003 and earned his Certified Financial Analyst Charter in 2006.

Mr. Bratton is the Founder, President, Chief Investment Officer and majority owner of Crestline Investors, Inc., the general partner of Crestline Management, L.P., an institutional alternative investment management firm. Mr. Bratton is also sole director of Bratton Capital, Inc., which is the general partner of Bratton Capital Management L.P. Mr. Bratton has been an investment professional specializing in alternative asset strategies since 1983 and has managed assets on behalf of the Bass family of Fort Worth, Texas, since 1988. Mr. Bratton has served on the Board of Directors of Bounty Minerals Corporation, a private company, since 2014, and the Board of Visitors of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business since 2013. Mr. Bratton has served on the Board of Directors of Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AQST) since January 2004. Mr. Bratton received a B.S. from North Carolina State University in 1981 and an M.B.A. with Honors from Duke University in 1984.

Ms. Nancy Callahan serves as Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Ms. Callahan has over 25 years of experience acting as a versatile business leader, delivering market differentiation through profit and loss oversight, general management, strategy, corporate governance, product development and business development. She is currently Global VP of Strategy for SAP Customer Success Services, and previously, Global VP of Strategy and Growth for SAP Digital Business Services, positions she has held since 2017. From 2015 to 2017, Ms. Callahan served as Chief of Staff to an SAP Board Member for the SAP Business Networks and Applications Group. During 2014, she served as Chief of Staff to the President and COO of Concur Technologies (“Concur”). From 2013 to 2014, Ms. Callahan served as Senior Director of Platform and Web Services at Concur. From 2010 to 2012, she served as Senior Director of Product Development and Mobile Strategy with Concur. From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Callahan worked at American International Group (“AIG”), serving in many capacities including VP of Commercial Insurance with the Financial Institutions Division, VP of the Professional Liability Division and VP of Business Development in the AIG Identity Theft & Fraud Division. Prior to that, she was President of Reuters Futures Services, Inc., a business unit of Reuters Group which is now part of Thomson Reuters. Ms. Callahan received her BS in Systems Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Virginia and her MBA in Finance from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Additionally, she has completed the Women Board Directors Development Program with the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.

Ms. Diane Davis serves as Chair of the Audit Committee. Ms. Davis has nearly 20 years of experience in executive positions utilizing her practical background in data governance, risk management, finance and leadership to be an engaged and thoughtful board member. She is currently serving, and has been since March 2020, as a Board Member with First Financial Northwest Bank. Additionally, Ms. Davis is currently serving, since 2014, as Board Member of the Habitat for Humanity for Seattle-King County. In this capacity, she serves as the Secretary and Governance Committee Chair. From 2016 to 2019, Ms. Davis served as President and CEO of Farmers New World Life Insurance Company. From 2013 to 2016, she served as Chief Risk Officer of Zurich Insurance Company’s Global Life North America region. From 2010 to 2013, Ms. Davis served as Chief Risk Officer of Farmers New World Life Insurance Company. From 2003 to 2010, she served in various senior executive roles at Kemper Investors Life Insurance Company. Prior to that, she gained experience through actuarial, marketing, distribution and strategic finance positions. Ms. Davis received her BS in Actuarial Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her MBA from the University of Washington. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.