We reveal our 10 Ones to Watch in the captive insurance industry, who we could see pushing for inclusion in future Power 50 rankings
Alongside the Power 50, Captive Review has regularly championed professionals tipped to be leaders of the future in our Ones to Watch section. This section consists of 10 individuals in the captive insurance industry that might be younger, new to the industry or up to now largely unheralded, who have displayed the potential to be future entries to the Power 50.
Many of our Ones to Watch from past years have gone on to appear in the Power 50 and exert their influence on the current captive insurance landscape. Read on to find out whose career you should be keeping an eye on over the next few years, and what they have achieved so far.
The Ones to Watch list forms part of our Captive Review Power 50 2025 publication, which also includes the full 2025 Power 50 rankings and the Captive Review Hall of Fame, alongside video interviews and thought leadership articles from some of those that were voted the most influential professionals in the captive insurance industry today.
John Paul Antoncich, account director, Willis Towers Watson Management (Malta)
Antoncich has risen up the ranks at WTW since joining seven years ago and is now highly experienced in insurance management services, including accounting, secretarial, risk management and compliance. His role has seen him form part of a team responsible for preparing feasibility studies, and he has also been responsible for the regulatory application of new cells and other insurance undertakings with the Malta Financial Services Authority. His CV also includes working with captive clients at Deloitte Malta, and three years at Elmo Insurance as a finance manager and risk manager.
Jessica Dontas, vice president, Global Captive Management
After starting in the UK, Dontas has earned acclaim among clients as one of the most skilled accountants in the Cayman market. Upon moving to Cayman with PwC in 2013 her financial services industry experience has included direct responsibilities for managing and governing an extensive portfolio of clients including captive re/insurance companies, investment companies and general commercial activities. Dontas joined Global Captive Management last year and is a member of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Cayman Islands Institute of Professional Accountants. She is also an active member and supporter of the Cayman Islands chapter of 100 Women in Finance.
Caroline Erdman, Captive consultant, Hylant
Erdman only joined Hylant’s Global Captive Solutions team in June 2023 but has already become a notable member of the team thanks to her appearances and speaking roles at captive conferences. Erdman is the latest young professional to start her captive career with Hylant, and joined straight after graduating from the University of South Carolina, where she studied finance, risk management and insurance. Her time there also included a two-year financial analyst internship with the South Carolina Department of Insurance. Based in Chicago, Erdman also earlier this year became the director of marketing at Young Risk Professionals Chicago.
Victor Gallardo, client relationship manager, Helio Risk
Gallardo began his captive insurance career at the Oklahoma Insurance Department, initially on an internship as a financial examiner, before taking up a full-time role as a captive analyst in December 2022. Since joining Helio Risk in June 2024, Gallardo has been praised for seamlessly transitioning from regulator to strategic adviser, with his regulatory experience said by nominators to have given him a “unique perspective that now benefits Helio Risk’s growing portfolio of captives”. Gallardo has quickly established a visible presence at captive conferences and recently shared with Captive Review his thoughts on the skills to be obtained from working within captive regulatory departments.
Matthew Hornick, vice president, Truist Wealth
Hornick has earned praise as part of the Truist Bank team lauded for its captive insurance offering in the area of letters of credit and trusts. Last year Truist Bank won Letters of Credit and Trusts Firm of Year for the third consecutive year at the Captive International US Awards, with Hornick having previously received highly commended recognition in the individual category of this award. Hornick has risen through the ranks since joining Truist seven years ago, and just this year earned his latest promotion to vice president, signalling his value to its captive offering.
Evan Johnson, associate director captives and alternative risk transfer, Platform Insurance Management
Platform last year became the latest Canadian brokerage to enter the country’s blossoming captive market, and Johnson is expected to play a key role in the future of that operation. Joining Platform in April 2024, initially as an associate director of enterprise solutions, he has further broadened his role within Platform this year after being named to a unit delivering life insurance advisory services to clients, with a specific focus on tax and estate planning for business owners, high-net-worth individuals and families. Johnson has extensive advisory experience, having previously spent time at Perseus Group and Arcadea Group.
Jonathan Messick, senior account executive, Unity Captive Solutions
Messick is one of a burgeoning number of captive insurance talents coming out of Oklahoma. With more than five years of insurance and captive service experience, Messick joined his father Jerry at Unity Captive Solutions in February 2024, after three years at Acrisure, where he was responsible for the account management and oversight of medium to large commercial lines clients. Jonathan focuses on complex captive creation, alternative risk management, and fronting structures for Unity.
Abie Pua, Associate director risk consulting, Howden
Malaysia-based Pua began her captive insurance career with JLT (later Marsh) in 2012, and since 2020 has worked for Howden. Here she has become integral to its captive offering, becoming practice leader for risk and captive consulting and principal officer of Howden’s Labuan-domiciled PCC. She now leads a team of risk professionals who provide tailored captive solutions and risk consulting services to clients across various industries and geographies. As Howden has grown its footprint in captives over the past couple of years through acquisition, Pua could become one of the key leaders in developing Asia Pacific’s emerging captive insurance industry.
Alan Rodriguez, regional multinational client executive, AIG
Alan Rodriguez joined AIG five years ago and has since earned two promotions that have taken him to the group’s Miami office and set him out as one of the most promising captive insurance talents serving the LatAm market. He has acted both as a multinational client executive and a global fronting underwriter for the Latin America & Caribbean region for the past two years, working with some of LatAm’s largest global operating companies. With previous experience working in Mexico as a broker for 13 years at Howden and Inter, Rodriguez has a wide breadth of experience to draw on and bring to LatAm’s growing captive insurance industry.
Aviel Shalev, consultant, Spring Consulting Group
Joining Spring Consulting straight after graduating from Fox School of Business at Temple University with a BBA in risk management and insurance at the start of 2022, Shalev has quickly proved his ability within Spring’s growing bench of captive insurance talent. Learning from Hall of Famer Karin Landry and working across actuarial teams in P&C, MSL and health and welfare sectors, Shalev has already developed his skills across a wide array of captive products. He is becoming a more prominent part of Spring’s captive consulting team thanks to appearances at conferences such as CICA and VCIA, and becoming well established within the industry.
