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.

  • All Banking Insurance

  • Matthew Josefowicz

    Matthew Josefowicz is a managing director at Novarica. He is a widely-published and often-cited expert on insurance and financial services 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 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. 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

    Chad Hersh is a managing director in the insurance practice at Novarica. For the past seven 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 atchersh@novarica.com.

  • Rob Rubin

    Rob Rubin is a managing director and leads the banking practice at Novarica. Prior to joining Novarica, Rob ran his own research business and created FindABetterBank.com – the largest panel of “bank shoppers” in the US. Rob also spent 8 years at Forrester Research, launching several consumer research services to understand how technology changes behavior. Recently, Rob has published research about the imperative for banks and credit unions to reach Gen-Y consumers, how to provide “effortless” online experiences and how to win more customers by increasing online visibility. Rob is a featured speaker at industry events, has been widely quoted in national and trade press, and has appeared on TV networks such as ABC and CNN. He can be reached directly at rrubin@novarica.com.

  • Karlyn Carnahan, CPCU

    Karlyn Carnahan is a principal in Novarica's insurance practice, focused on claims, distribution, and IT planning. Karlyn is the primary researcher and author of the market leading reports on claims core systems, reinsurance, and Web 2.0 and is a widely recognized expert on these topics who has presented at numerous conferences and conducted numerous vendor selection projects for US insurers. She joined Novarica with an extensive career in the insurance industry including serving as Vice President of Marketing for Fireman's Fund commercial lines division, where she successfully launched multiple industry 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 atkcarnahan@novarica.com.

  • Martina Conlon

    Martina Conlon is a principal in Novarica's insurance practice focused on the P&C and healthcare markets. Martina is the primary researcher and author of market leading reports on agent portals, business intelligence, business process outsourcing and IT staffing strategies. She provides expertise on IT best practices, organizational approaches,and strategic technology architecture and planning. Her recent consulting experience includes vendor selection efforts, insurer peer benchmarking, IT organizational assessments and IT sourcing strategies. Prior to Novarica, Martina served as Director of Enterprise Technology for Arbella Insurance, where she was responsible all enterprise applications, including policy, billing, claims, business intelligence, websites and portals. She has also served as Principal Consultant with leading technology and consulting firms where she partnered with client executives to launch technology solutions to meet strategic business goals. She holds an MBA from Boston University and a BSEE from Tufts University. She can be reached directly atmconlon@novarica.com.

  • Rob Mcisaac

    Rob McIsaac is a principal in the insurance practice at Novarica with expertise in IT leadership and transformation as well as technology and business strategy for life, annuities, wealth management, and banking. He has broad experience in IT strategy and management in the insurance and financial services industries. Prior to joining Novarica, he served in a series of senior technology management positions including leading the Business Transformation Office at Nationwide Insurance and as the CIO for First Citizens Bank, a rapidly growing regional firm based in Raleigh, NC. Rob spent the majority of his career at Guardian Life, where he was the Divisional CIO responsible for annuity, distribution and broker dealer operations and at Prudential Insurance, where he held a variety of positions including leading e-Business development efforts. Rob holds a BA in Economics from Montclair State University, an MBA in Information Systems from Seton Hall University and has received a number of business and technical designations including FLMI and LLIF. He can be reached directly at rmcisaac@novarica.com.

  • Tom Benton

    Tom Benton is a principal in the Insurance practice at Novarica with expertise in IT strategy, business process reengineering, CORE systems implementation and project management, primarily for life and annuities. Prior to joining Novarica, he served as VP, Technology and Systems at Navy Mutual, where he led a multi-year strategy to transform the core systems, which included a rapid-deployment Policy Administration System implementation. Tom has broad experience as a senior IT executive, serving as CIO/CTO at two medium-sized non-profits in the Washington, DC area, and has held positions in IT project management at PG&E and General Electric. Tom holds a BS degree from Cornell University and a MS degree from MIT. He can be reached at tbenton@novarica.com.

  • Sarah Bogan

    Sarah Bogan is an associate principal in the insurance practice. Her recent projects for insurers have included core systems vendor evaluation projects as well as organizational, IT, process and program management assessments. Sarah’s experience includes many years at Allstate in a variety of internal consulting, technology strategy and planning, and business architect roles. Prior to joining Allstate, she was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She holds a BS from Indiana University. She can be reached directly at sbogan@novarica.com.

  • Steven Kaye

    Steven Kaye is Research and Knowledge Systems Manager at Novarica and Series Editor of Novarica’s Business & Technology Trends reports. 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.

  • Thuy Osman

    Thuy Osman is a senior analyst at Novarica. Her recent research topics include analyses of Gen Y preferences in financial services and market and technology issues in Latin American Insurance. She has also worked on numerous insurer core system evaluation. Thuy's prior experience includes several research and financial analyst positions, teaching and educational consulting. She holds an MBA from Brandeis International Business School and a B.A. from Brown University. She can be reached directly attosman@novarica.com.

  • Elisabeth Maguda

    Elisabeth Maguda is a senior researcher at Novarica and Series Editor of the Novarica Market Navigator reports. She focuses on insurance technology vendor research and consulting engagements. Prior to joining the company, Lis 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.

  • Kim Todaro

    Kim Todaro is a researcher in the banking practice at Novarica. Prior to joining the company, Kim worked at Facilitas as a research associate. Kim is in charge of making sure institution and account information is up-to-date on FindABetterBank and works on digital strategy projects and benchmarking studies. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Montclair State University. She can be reached directly at ktodaro@novarica.com.

  • Donald Tam

    Donald Tam supports Novarica's principal team in client relations, marketing, and operations from our NYC headquarters. Prior to joining the company, Donald worked at GfK Custom Research as a research associate in the mystery shopping division. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Stony Brook University. He can be reached directly at dtam@novarica.com.