Team
Novarica's core team is made up of subject matter experts with previous experience ranging from analyst firms, consultancies, financial institutions, and solution providers. This team works closely with our research council, in-house research team, and a wide network of contacts to build the knowledgebase to support our research and advisory services.
Matthew Josefowicz is the director of Novarica and head of the insurance practice. He is a widely published and often-cited expert on insurance technology, operations, and e-business issues who has presented his research and thought-leadership at numerous industry conferences. Over the past decade, he has worked directly with dozens of US and international insurer CIOs to advise them on IT strategy and solution selection, and has written more than 100 reports on insurance technology issues. He is also the lead moderator of the Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council (NITRC). Prior to launching the insurance practice at Novarica, he founded the global insurance group at analyst firm Celent and led it for more than six years. His other experience includes hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co., LP. He holds a B.A. magna cum laude from Brown University. He can be reached directly at mj@novarica.com.
Chad Hersh is a principal in the insurance practice at Novarica. For the past five years, he has been the primary researcher and author of the market leading reports on insurance core systems, and is a widely recognized expert on the topic who has presented at numerous conferences and conducted numerous vendor selection projects for US and international insurers. He joined Novarica from analyst firm Celent, where he spent five years after serving as an e-business director and IT strategist at AIG American General. He holds a BA in Economics and an MS in Accounting with a MIS concentration from Rice University, where he has also taught consulting and e-business. He can be reached directly at chersh@novarica.com.
Karlyn Carnahan, CPCU, is a principal in Novarica's insurance practice, focused on e-business, marketing, and IT planning. Karlyn recently served as Vice President of Marketing for Fireman's Fund commercial lines division, where she successfully launched several programs, expanded online customer self-service capabilities, and took a leading position in formulating IT strategy. She also served as Global Industry Manager for Sun Microsystems, and Senior Vice President of Product Development for InsWeb. Earlier in her career, she held a variety of marketing and underwriting positions at NORCAL and Fireman's Fund. She holds an MBA from Stanford Business School, and a Certified Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. She can be reached directly at kcarnahan@novarica.com.
Martina Conlon is a principal in Novarica's insurance practice focused on applications, data architecture, and IT planning for the property/casualty and healthcare markets. Ms. Conlon recently served as Senior Manager of Enterprise Technology for Arbella Insurance, where she was responsible for core application development, business intelligence, and the agent and consumer web presence. She has also served as Principal Consultant with leading technology and consulting firms where she partnered with client senior management to assess current business challenges and goals, current technology state and delivered strategic IT plans, architecture blueprints and migration strategies. Over the past 20 years, Ms. Conlon has launched technology solutions to increase revenue, improve decision making, enhance agent/trading partner satisfaction and gain operational efficiencies. She holds an MBA from Boston University and a BSEE from Tufts University. She can be reached directly at mconlon@novarica.com.
Robert Ellis is a principal and leader of Novarica's wealth management research and consulting practice. At Novarica, he covers client segmentation, product, and delivery channel strategies, plus the related technologies, including platform and planning systems. Previously, Bob directed the wealth management practice at Celent, a research and consulting firm. In addition to strategic consulting experience at Celent and Fast Track Advisors, Bob has held senior executive positions managing trust, brokerage, financial planning, asset management and insurance business units. Bob holds a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Harvard Business School, as well as gaining licenses as a CPA, securities principal, and life/health/accident insurance agent in NY. He can be reached directly at rellis@novarica.com.
Ben Stinson is an Industry Relations Manager with Novarica. Ben coordinates Novarica's relationships and information exchange with solution providers, industry organizations, and insurers who participate in Novarica's research. Prior to joining Novarica, Ben was a senior account executive for the insurance industry at Celent, an Oliver Wyman/MMC company. During his career in research services, he has also held positions with AMR Research, Forrester, and other firms. Ben holds a BS and MS from Florida State University. He can be reached directly at bstinson@novarica.com.
Tse Wei Lim is an analyst in Novarica's insurance practice. He holds an B.A. cum laude from Harvard University and has held several positions in global market and consumer research, including two years of service as an analyst at the Singapore Ministry of Defense. He can be reached directly at twlim@novarica.com.
Steven Kaye is a Knowledge Manager & Senior Researcher at Novarica. Prior to joining the company, Steven worked for Accenture as an insurance researcher focused on the US life and property & casualty markets. Before that, he served in both knowledge management and research roles at Gemini Consulting (now part of Capgemini) in Cambridge, Massachusetts for several of the firm's industry practices. Steven holds a bachelors and a masters degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He can be reached directly at skaye@novarica.com.
Elisabeth Maguda is a Researcher at Novarica. Prior to joining the company, she worked in multiple capacities at Harvard University, most recently as a Financial Assistant for the Interfaculty Initiatives in the Office of the Provost. She holds a B.A. cum laude in English from Harvard University. She can be reached directly at emaguda@novarica.com.