Meet MS Transverse

Dave Paulsson is CEO of MS Transverse Insurance Group and MS Transverse Asset Management as well as a member of the International Business Strategy Committee of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group. He co-founded Transverse Insurance Group in 2018 and was its President through the sale to MSIG in 2023.

Prior to starting Transverse, Dave spent 15 years investing in private companies and funds on behalf of banks, asset managers, and family offices. His final role was as Portfolio Manager of Paragon Outcomes, a multi-family office with a broad portfolio of investments in insurance and other industries. On behalf of Paragon, he also served on the Advisory Board of numerous asset management platforms, including funds managed by Fortress Investment Group, the Mitsubishi Corporation and Blue Owl Capital.

Dave holds dual B.S. degrees in finance and information systems from the Stern School of Business at NYU. He holds CFA and CAIA designations.

John was appointed President of MS Transverse in July 2024. He joined Transverse Insurance Group in the beginning of 2021 as our Chief Financial Officer. His role was broadened to include oversight of Human Capital, Claims and Regulatory matters following our acquisition by Mitsui Sumitomo.

John is an experienced senior insurance finance executive with 25 years of diverse experience in and around the Property & Casualty insurance industry. He was previously in senior executive roles at ProSight Specialty Insurance, helping to both take them public and be acquired in a private transaction in his time there. He held previous senior roles at QBE Insurance, including CFO of their North American Reinsurance business, Program business and the Equator Re division in Bermuda. He started his career with Ernst & Young LLP in their insurance practice.

Ethan is an experienced insurance executive with over 25 years of experience spanning multiple disciplines and industry segments. Preceding his time at Transverse, he served as Division Executive for AIG Programs, growing the division to exceed $1B in premiums across all of North and South America. He held previous roles of increasing responsibility in other divisions within AIG during his 16-year tenure there. He spent time prior to AIG at a start-up E&S carrier subsidiary of PMA Capital after having started his insurance journey with MetLife Auto & Home. Ethan is a credentialed actuary in the Casualty Actuarial Society.

Pete is a 35+ year industry veteran, having spent time on the primary underwriting (CIGNA), facultative underwriting (General Re), treaty underwriting (Constitution Re) as well as reinsurance broking sides of the business with EWB, Benfield, GC, JLT and most recently, as CEO of BMS Re.  He has seen the entire distribution system when including his time with Marsh. Pete will now enjoy contributing to the continued growth of MS Transverse alongside a proven team of insurance industry professionals.

Jamie is a seasoned regulatory & compliance professional with over 30 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. Prior to joining Transverse, she was an integral part of a start-up program carrier, admitted in 44 states, and served as Vice President of Regulatory & Compliance and Assistant Secretary. During her 20+ years at The Republic Group, she was responsible for building, from the ground up, and overseeing the regulatory compliance department for Republic’s program business segment.

Kristin is a skilled human capital executive with over 15 years of extensive experience in strategic planning, recruiting & analysis, policy development and change management. She was most recently Principal and Director of Human Resources at Siguler Guff & Company, where she led the Human Resources function for the global private equity firm. She began her career in human resources at Oz Management, and held various titles, most recently as a Human Resources Business Partner. Kristin also worked at Morgan Stanley and Sanford C. Bernstein.

Paul is a 40+ year insurance and reinsurance veteran with significant expertise in business development, client & broker relations and strategy development & execution. Prior to Transverse Paul was the Head of US Broker Relations and SVP of Global Clients for PartnerRe. Prior to PartnerRe Paul spent 30 years with Munich Re America where he was a member of the Reinsurance Division leadership team and held various positions including broker & client management, business development, underwriting and claims. Paul’s experience is non-life working with international and domestic global & national companies, MGA’s and regional companies. Paul has P&C insurance company board experience and has earned numerous industry designations.

Kori is a seasoned executive in property casualty insurance, bringing over 30 years of expertise in legal, compliance, corporate governance, and government affairs. Before joining MS Transverse, she served as General Counsel at Corvus Insurance, a global cyber insurtech startup, where she developed a robust legal and compliance program and played a key role in navigating Corvus’s 2024 acquisition by a leading U.S. insurer. Throughout her career, Kori has led legal, compliance, and government affairs teams across both carrier and agent/MGA sectors. She holds a BA in Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and a JD from Western New England University School of Law.

Matthew heads our Business Development group at MS Transverse and also leads Transverse Ventures, our venture capital arm. He joined the firm in May 2024. He most recently served as Chief Strategy Officer at Cowbell, a U.S. cyber insurance MGA. In this role, he was responsible for the company’s overall strategy as well as the execution of major strategic and growth initiatives. Prior to this role, he served as Managing Director at Anthemis, with responsibility for investing in companies across insurance and risk management. Matthew started his career at Swiss Re in London, later spending time at the head office in Zurich working on strategy and corporate development.

Tanya is a seasoned (re)insurance executive with over 23 years of experience in global reinsurance, retrocession, and alternative risk transfer solutions. Prior to joining MS Transverse, Tanya spent a significant portion of her career at Transatlantic Reinsurance, where she held various roles in Ceded Retrocession, Underwriting, and Portfolio Management. Tanya began her career at Goldman Sachs and OneBeacon Insurance. With deep technical expertise and market knowledge, Tanya specializes in structuring both traditional and innovative risk transfer solutions, including traditional reinsurance, catastrophe bonds and sidecars. She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Moscow State University and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Northeastern University.

Robert is an experienced insurance executive with over 30 years of experience spanning multiple disciplines in operations, strategy, finance, and innovation. Prior to MS Transverse Robert served as Chief Operating Officer for a Private Equity backed risk management company.  The bulk of Robert’s career was leading strategy and operations for Munich Reinsurance Company’s US business.  In addition, Robert served as Innovation Executive in Silicon Valley leading Munich Re’s innovation effort and developing the innovation framework. Robert has served as Co-Chair of The Institutes RiskStream Alliances blockchain consortium and held various other positions at AM Best and GE.

John is an accomplished and well-versed finance professional with over 15 years of experience in the insurance industry. He joined MS Transverse in early 2020 and held positions of Vice President of Finance, Treasurer and Controller. Prior to joining, he held roles of increasing responsibility for an A rated, size XV carrier and started his career in the assurance practice of large public accounting firm.

David Zakutansky is an executive with over 15 years of experience in principal investing across traditional and alternative asset classes. He is currently the Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at MS Transverse.  Prior to joining MS Transverse, he was a partner at Paragon Outcomes, a private investment firm focused on investments in real assets and financial services strategies.  David began his career in investment banking at BNP Paribas.  He is a Certified Public Accountant (State of New York) and a CFA Charterholder.