Prime Advisors, Inc.

Duane Castles
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Duane founded Prime Advisors, Inc® in 1988. He has overall responsibility for implementing investment policies for clients and supervising investment operations. Duane has been actively involved with both individual and institutional clients since 1983. Prior to founding Prime, Duane was at Seattle-Northwest Securities. He also managed the Municipal Bond Department at U.S. Bank in Portland, Oregon where he had overall responsibility for trading and underwriting. During his tenure, the bank’s bond trading earnings were consistently at record levels. Along with Vince Rowland, Duane developed the theory of Dynamic Cash Flow Risk Reward AnalysisSM, and the return on surplus portfolio analysis methodology for insurance company portfolios. Duane graduated from Washington State University with a BA in Business Administration (Finance and Economics), and was both an MSRB (Municipal Securities) Registered Representative and an MSRB Principal.

Vince Rowland, ACAS, MAAA
Director

Since joining Prime in 1992, Vince has been responsible for the development and oversight of financial strategies for clients, including actuarial investment policy parameters and objectives. Prior to joining Prime, Vince was a principal for the actuarial consulting firm Tillinghast - Towers Perrin. Vince was responsible for a variety of client relationships, most of which included evaluation of investment policy. He was the also the principal involved in Tillinghast’s property/casualty financial model development called InvisionTM. Before Tillinghast, Vince was Chief Financial Officer for Merchants Insurance Group in Buffalo, New York, where he was directly responsible for both investment policy and supervision of external investment managers. Vince has been active in financial and investment management since 1971, and has written and spoken widely on such topics as optimal tax strategy and investment strategies for the insurance industry. Vince graduated from St. Mary’s university in Winona, Minnesota, with a BA in mathematics. He is an Associate of the Casualty Actuary Society (ACAS) and Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA).

Blaine O'Kelley
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer

Blaine joined Prime in 2007, and is responsible for the company’s finance, accounting, operations and administrative matters. He has over 20 years experience in various positions within Seattle-Northwest Securities Corporation, including serving as its Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. His responsibilities at SNW included oversight of the compliance, administrative, finance and information technology groups as well as administration of the company Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Blaine has held various licenses and registrations, including the Series 24 – General Securities Principal, Series 7 – General Securities Representative, Series 53 – Municipal Securities Principal, Series 52 – Municipal Securities Representative, Series 63 – Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, and Series 27 – Financial and Operations Principal. Blaine graduated from Gonzaga University with a BA in Business Administration with a focus on Public Accounting.

Frank Conde, CFA, FCAS, MAAA
Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Strategist

Frank Conde is Chief Investment Strategist for Prime Advisors, Inc. Frank joined Prime Advisors in 1994 and is a member of Prime’s Investment Committee. Frank oversees the Investment Strategy Group in Windsor, CT that combines professionals with actuarial, insurance and investment backgrounds to develop strategies addressing the constrained needs of insurance companies. The Investment Strategy Group focuses on integrating capital market investment opportunities with insurance operational requirements. Frank’s specific areas of expertise include dynamic financial modeling, risk management, after-tax performance attribution, and the development of yield maximizing portfolio strategies. Frank has co-authored a paper titled, “Dynamic Financial Analysis Issues in Investment Portfolio Management” and is a regular contributor to “The Prime Advisor” series. Prior to joining Prime, Frank worked in actuarial consulting at Tillinghast – Towers Perrin. Frank graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering. Frank is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA).

Marc W. Tollefson
Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer

Marc joined Prime in 2004 and is responsible for all corporate investment portfolios. Prior to joining Prime, Marc was the Manager of Long Municipal Portfolios for Quellos Fixed Income Advisors. His responsibilities included long tax efficient core fund and separate account management. Before Quellos, Marc was Vice President and Head Bond Trader with GE Financial Assurance, where he managed corporate bond trading positions in both High Yield and Investment Grade Corporates and executed over $30 billion in trades. Marc was also a Principal with the Gelber Group, focusing on proprietary trading in U.S. Treasuries, Strips, Agencies and Futures, and worked for Benaroya Securities, Seattle First National bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle. Marc has been active in securities trading since 1982 with experience in multiple markets including Municipals, Corporates, US Governments, Agencies, Swaps, Money Markets and Futures Contracts. Marc received a BA in Business Administration from the University of Puget Sound.

Doug Clark
Senior Vice President and Chief Portfolio Strategist

Doug joined Prime in 1992, and as Chief Portfolio Strategist is responsible for the development and implementation of client investment strategies and oversight of the trading desk. In addition, Doug manages the mortgage-backed investment portfolios, which includes mortgage pass-throughs, asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed investments. Doug’s background at Prime includes investment accounting and extensive work with state and regulatory deposit requirements. Doug received a BA in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance, Economics, and Information Systems from the University of Washington.

Robert MacMillan
Senior Vice President and Portfolio Strategist

Bob joined Prime in 1997, and has direct responsibility for municipal investments, including working with dealers on new issue structuring, and bidding bonds in the secondary market. Prior to joining Prime, Bob was the Vice President and manager of the municipal bond trading desk at the Seattle offices of both Dain Bosworth and U.S. Bank. During his 14 year tenure as the lead trader and underwriter, Bob traded bonds in the secondary markets, took significant risk positions to achieve profit objectives, and led primary municipal bond underwriting via the competitive and negotiated processes. Licenses and registrations held were Series 24 – General Securities Principal, Series 7 – General Securities Representative, Series 53 – Municipal Securities Principal, Series 52 – Municipal Securities Representative and Series 63 – Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination. Bob graduated from Seattle University with a BA in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance.

Hope Maxwell
Senior Vice President

Hope joined Prime in 1999. Her responsibilities include financial modeling and developing customized investment strategies for clients. Additionally, Hope assists clients with rating agency issues and capital adequacy models. She is a frequent speaker at various medical malpractice seminars and is a member of the PIAA Rating Agency Relations Committee. Prior to joining Prime, Hope was a Managing Senior Financial Analyst in A.M. Best’s insurance rating division, specializing in the analysis of professional liability companies, excess and surplus line carriers, captives and small property companies. In addition, Hope participated on special research projects and has authored articles on various insurance topics. Before A.M. Best, Hope worked for the Everest Reinsurance Company, in several accounting and financial analysis positions. She has a BS degree in finance and accounting from the University of Richmond.

Ryan Leahy
Vice President of Business Development

Ryan is responsible for developing business in the property/casualty and life/health insurance markets. Before joining Prime, Ryan worked at ABN Amro trading municipal bonds, private placements, VRDN’s, and municipal derivatives. From 2001-2006, ABN Amro’s municipal bond desk was consistently ranked in the top 10 of municipal competitive underwritings and the municipal floater program grew to over $8 billion. Prior to joining ABN, Ryan played football professionally for the Amsterdam Admirals, Arizona Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. Ryan received his BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. He holds both a Series 7 license and a series 65 license.

Vincent R. McDonough, JD
General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer

Vincent is responsible for Prime’s legal and risk management issues. In addition, he serves as Prime’s Chief Compliance Officer, and in that role he is responsible for the company’s culture of compliance. Prior to joining Prime, Vincent was Director of Administration and Operations for Mellon Growth Advisors LLC; and he was Senior Counsel to Mellon Financial Corp., where he counseled several of Mellon’s investment adviser subsidiaries on regulatory issues and advised management regarding corporate governance and transactional issues. Vincent also has experience as a securities litigator, a state prosecutor, and as a clerk to a federal judge. Vincent graduated from Holy Cross College with a BA in English, received his law degree from Suffolk University Law School, and is a Member of the Massachusetts and Washington State Bars.

Lewis Leon, MBA
Senior Vice President, Investment Accounting

Lewis joined Prime Advisors in 1997. He manages client accounting and reporting, including Schedule D, new client conversions, and portfolio performance. In addition, he acts as a consultant to clients on related accounting issues and also oversees internal data quality and controls in support of Prime’s asset management and actuarial functions. Prior to joining Prime, Lewis was the accounting manager for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. He was responsible for all marketable securities portfolios, securities related statutory and GAAP reporting and performance measurement. Lewis has over 20 years experience in investment accounting and statutory reporting for securities. Lewis graduated from The University of Connecticut with a BS in Accounting and, received his Masters in Business Administration from The University of Hartford.

Larry Ventura
Senior Vice President, Technology

Larry joined Prime Advisors in 1999. He manages Prime’s computing and telecommunications infrastructure. Larry also manages Prime's development team. Prior to joining Prime, he worked for 13 years at The Boeing Company's Defense and Space Group. Larry graduated with honors from the University of Michigan with a BS in Aerospace Engineering.

Tom Klem, ASA, MAAA
Senior Investment Strategist

Tom joined Prime in 2005. His overall responsibility is developing methodologies that integrate investment opportunities with insurance operational requirements. Specific applications involve financial modeling, quantitative analysis, benchmark creation/monitoring, portfolio optimization, simulation, and performance attribution. Prior to joining Prime, Tom worked for six years at Travelers Life & Annuity and Citigroup Global Investments as an actuarial associate. His experience with Travelers included derivative risk management, structured settlement pricing, individual annuity reserving, and workers compensation pricing. Tom also worked for three years at Insurance Services Office as an actuarial analyst in both their personal lines information division and actuarial consulting group. Tom graduated from Bucknell University with a bachelor of arts in mathematics and a computer science minor. Tom is an Associate in the Society of Actuaries (ASA) and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA).

Jason Gingerich, CFA, ASA, MAAA
Senior Investment Strategist

Jason joined Prime in 2005, and helps design tailored investment portfolios and benchmarks for insurance companies based on their specific financial situations. He works closely with insurance company management and investment committees to ensure that risk tolerance, profitability, and long-range goals are accounted for in the portfolio management process. Jason has written for “The Prime Advisor” series of white papers. Prior to joining Prime, Jason was a consulting actuary at Milliman, Inc. where he produced health insurance underwriting guidelines, cost effectiveness simulation models for the Centers for Disease Control, and competitive bid models for Department of Defense contractors. Jason graduated from the University of Colorado with a BS (high honors) in Applied Mathematics and minor in Astrophysics. Jason is an Associate in the Society of Actuaries (ASA), a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) and CFA charterholder.

Naomi Joy, MBA, CFA
Senior Research Analyst

With over 20 years of industry experience, Naomi joined Prime Advisors as the Senior Credit Analyst in June 2007. Prior to joining Prime, Naomi was a Senior Credit Analyst at Pugh Capital Management responsible for analysis and trading of corporate bonds for separately managed accounts. Prior to work at Pugh, Naomi was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Safeco Asset Management. During her nine years at Safeco, she held positions with increasing responsibility ending as Portfolio Manager of the $10 billion public and privately-placed corporate bond portfolio for Safeco Life and Property/Casualty Companies and the $250 million single name default swap portfolio for Safeco Financial Products. Prior to Safeco, Naomi was a Cash Manager for The Seattle Times. Naomi also worked in Public Finance Investment Banking. Naomi’s experience includes U.S. Treasuries, Agencies, Corporate Bonds, Convertible Bonds, Private Placements, Default Swaps, Interest Rate Swaps and Municipal bonds. Naomi graduated with a B.S. from the University of California at Davis and an M.B.A. from Yale University. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has been President of the Northwest Taxable Bond Club.

Scott Sell, MBA
Senior Research Analyst

Scott joined Prime in 2007, with over 28 years of experience in fixed income investment analysis, selection and trading. His areas of investment specialization include domestic and foreign debt issuance for privately-placed and public corporate investments, real estate investment trusts, credit tenant and equipment leasing, project financing and U. S. government agencies. Prior to joining Prime, Scott was an Assistant Vice President - Sr. Investment Analyst with Genworth Financial (formerly GE Asset Management), where he was responsible for a $3B private placement portfolio. Scott also has over 15 years experience as a member of the Knights of Columbus’s Investment Department, where, among other things, he managed the Knight’s $1B private placement portfolio. Before that, he was employed by ALLTEL Company for 5 years as an analyst in the Treasury Department. Scott holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Akron, and an M.B.A. from Cleveland State University.

Mindy Berg
Portfolio Strategist

Mindy joined Prime in 1999. Along with Doug Clark, Mindy focuses on security investments, portfolio risk management, and research support for the mortgage, commercial mortgage and asset-backed sectors. With her experience at Prime, she has extensive background with the portfolio management systems, trading operations, and client cash management. Mindy graduated from Gonzaga University with a BA in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Marketing and is a Registered Investment Advisor Representative.

Steve Sims, MBA
Portfolio Strategist

Steve joined Prime in 2006. Steve, together with Bob MacMillan, manages Prime’s municipal investments. Steve has over 14 years experience in the municipal marketplace, holding positions in companies engaged in both public finance and underwriting/secondary trading. Most recently, Steve worked as a secondary market municipal trader at Seattle Northwest Securities, where he focused on general market credits. Steve has also worked as a secondary market trader at UBS Financial Services, Keycorp and US Bancorp. Steve has a Masters in Business Administration from Seattle University and an undergraduate degree in Science from the University of Washington.

Victor Harned, MBA, CFA
Portfolio Strategist

Victor joined Prime in 2006 with over 20 years of experience in both fixed income portfolio management, and fixed income sales and trading. Together with Marc Tollefson, he manages the corporate, agency and TIPS bond investments for Prime’s client portfolios. His responsibilities include portfolio analysis, security research and position trading. Victor received his BA in Economics from the University of New Hampshire and his Masters in Business Administration from Suffolk University. Victor is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Ben Englund, MBA
Portfolio Strategist

Ben joined Prime Advisors in 2006. His responsibilities include client cash management, trade settlement and acting as the primary client and custodial contact for the trade desk. In addition, Ben also serves as a member of the Corporate Bond Team with Marc Tollefson and Victor Harned assisting in credit research and portfolio management. Prior to joining Prime, Ben was a marketing analyst with Nextel Partners, LP, where he concentrated on sales profitability and trend analysis. Ben graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Business Administration. He received his MBA from Northwest University in May 2007.

Jon Gaspar, CIPM
Investment Strategist

Jon joined Prime in 2005. His responsibilities include portfolio analytic reporting, performance attribution and analysis, and GIPS reporting. In addition, he provides support for Hope Maxwell in the development of peer analysis reports for Prime’s clients. Before joining Prime, Jon was an actuarial analyst with Traveler’s Life & Annuity where he had financial reporting and annuity reserving responsibilities. Jon received a B.S.B.A from Bryant College with a concentration in Finance.

Cathy Ho, ASA, MAAA
Investment Strategist

Cathy joined Prime in 2007. Her overall responsibility is to develop methodologies that integrate investment opportunities with insurance operational requirements, including financial modeling, quantitative analysis, benchmark creation/monitoring, portfolio optimization, simulation, and performance attribution. Before joining Prime, Cathy was a senior actuarial consultant with Metlife, where she priced corporate owned life insurance products. She also worked at Genworth Financial, where she priced health insurance, and at Allstate, where she performed statutory and GAAP reporting. Cathy graduated from Cornell University with a BA in mathematics and computer science. Cathy is an Associate in the Society of Actuaries (ASA), a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I Candidate.

Monica Kraus
Investment Strategist

Monica joined Prime in 2007. Her overall responsibility is developing methodologies that integrate investment opportunities with insurance operational requirements. Specific applications involve financial modeling, quantitative analysis, benchmark creation/monitoring, portfolio optimization, simulation, and performance attribution. Monica graduated from Bryant University with a bachelor of science in business administration and a biotechnology minor.

Elizabeth McDonald
Investment Strategist

Elizabeth joined Prime in 2007. Her responsibilities include portfolio analytic reporting, performance attribution and analysis, and GIPS reporting. In addition, she provides support for Hope Maxwell in the development of peer analysis reports for Prime’s clients. Elizabeth graduated from Babson College with a B.S.B.A in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I Candidate.

Kate Pizzi
Investment Strategist

Kate joined Prime in 2007. Her overall responsibility is to develop investment strategies for insurance companies based on their specific financial situations, investment tolerances and long-term goals. Specific applications involve financial modeling, quantitative analysis, benchmark creation/monitoring, portfolio optimization, simulation, and performance attribution. Before joining Prime, she was a senior actuarial analyst with Hooker & Holcombe where she produced actuarial pension valuations, priced plan design alternatives, and performed asset-liability modeling. She also worked at Towers Perrin as an actuarial associate. Kate graduated from Boston University with a BA in mathematics and economics. She is currently studying to receive her Associate of the Society of Actuaries and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I Candidate.