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Meet our team

You can count on our experts to provide timely and practical risk management and insurance advice to your business. Exceeding your expectations is our goal. If you are curious about what makes us so passionate about what we do, please read our manifesto.

Leadership

Berto Di Manno

President

Berto is the President and CEO of Iridium Risk Services Inc. Berto started his career in 1995 at Marsh specializing…

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Frances Weeks

Managing Partner

Frances joined Iridium in 2006 as a Partner, and is the Account Lead on a variety of E&P, oilfield service,…

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Geoffrey Cowling

Managing Partner

Geoff joined the Iridium team in 2008 as a Partner and works on a variety of technical risks including E&P,…

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Shelly Swartout

Managing Partner

Shelly joined Iridium in 2008 and plays an instrumental leadership role in the company. She is the Account Lead on…

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Andrew Barker

Managing Partner

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Andrew Barker

Managing Partner

Andy joined Iridium as a Risk Technician in 2010 immediately upon graduating from the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of…

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Partners

Hugh Patterson

Partner and Team Lead

Hugh joined Iridium in 2012 as a Risk Technician and progressed to his current role as Partner and Team Lead….

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Brent Blasetti

Partner

Brent joined Iridium in 2006 and is the Account Lead on a number of Canadian E&P and oilfield servicing accounts….

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Hristo Minkov

Partner

Hristo has been with Iridium since 2010 and works on a variety of E&P, technology and marine clients. Prior to…

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Financial Lines

Danielle Gorst

Partner and National Practice Leader, Financial Lines

Danielle brings more than twenty years of financial lines insurance experience with over thirteen years in Executive Protection with a…

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Risk Advisors

Bruce Barton

Risk Advisor

After graduating from the University of New Brunswick Saint John, Bruce moved to Calgary in 1990 and started his insurance…

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Joel Askew

Risk Advisor and Team Lead

Joel graduated from the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business in 2018, earning a Bachelor of Commerce in Energy…

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Scott Gummerson

Risk Advisor

Scott has over 30 years of client service and broking experience with companies in the energy sector. Throughout his career…

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Mike Dow

Risk Advisor

Mike brings over 25 years of risk management and insurance experience to Iridium, having worked as an underwriter, broker, and…

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Jessie Gwynne

Risk Advisor

Jessie joined Iridium in 2012 in the role of Administrative Assistant. She was promoted to Technical Assistant in 2014, then…

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Joel Harrison

Risk Advisor

Joel joined Iridium in January of 2019 as a Risk Technician and works on a number of E&P accounts. He…

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Joanne Hankinson

Risk Advisor

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Joanne Hankinson

Risk Advisor

Joanne brings over 20 years of energy, manufacturing, transportation and contractor insurance experience to the Iridium team. Joanne has a…

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Heather Johnstone

Risk Advisor

Heather brings almost ten years of insurance experience to Iridium. Prior to Iridium she managed a Commercial Lines team at…

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Tim de Jonge

Risk Advisor

Tim is a well-rounded insurance professional with 27 years of experience in the insurance industry. He began his career as…

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Hristo Minkovski

Risk Advisor

Hristo joined Iridium in 2014 as a Risk Technician, and works primarily with E&P clients. Prior to this, he worked…

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Gibran Qureshi

Risk Advisor

Prior to joining Iridium in 2019, Gibran spent almost ten years working in a variety of roles within the insurance…

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Risk Consultants

Jared Nash

Risk Consultant

Before joining Iridium in September 2018, Jared worked on the energy team for a large brokerage. With several years of…

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Graeme Shea

Risk Consultant

Graeme graduated from the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business in 2019 with a Bachelor of Commerce and a…

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Graham Duff

Risk Consultant

Before joining Iridium in April 2023, Graham spent several years managing personal and commercial lines portfolios at a leading national…

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Barry Smith

Risk Consultant

Barry graduated from The University of Lethbridge in 2005 with a Bachelor of Economics before moving to the University of…

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Navacord Executives

Roger Swierstra

Chairman of Iridium Risk Services Inc.

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Roger Swierstra

Chairman of Iridium Risk Services Inc.

Roger is the Chairman of Iridium Risk Services Inc. He has over 27 years of insurance and risk management experience…

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T.Marshall Sadd

Chairman of the Board of Navacord Inc.

Marshall is president and CEO of Lloyd Sadd Insurance Brokers and Executive Chairman of Navacord, and has over 20 years’…

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Shawn DeSantis

President & CEO of Navacord Inc.

Shawn is President and Chief Executive Officer of Jones Delaurier Insurance Management Inc. and President and CEO of Navacord Inc. Shawn…

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“Enerflex is a complicated global account and I have been extremely impressed with the way that the team at Iridium has been able to dissect and understand our risks to ensure our policies are appropriate for our organization. There are a number of touch points around the globe and the team at Iridium has seamlessly coordinated our program. I am extremely pleased with the risk management focus of Iridium and the results that their unique approach has brought to our company.”

—Jeremy Weatherhead
Treasurer,
Enerflex Ltd.

Iridium conducted an in-depth review and analysis of our company’s operations and risk management processes. It was an incredible value-add to our business and gave us insights as to how we could make our insurance program more effective, in addition to enhancing our overall risk management process. The team at Iridium was knowledgeable, detail oriented, and timely in responding to all our requests and requirements. There is no doubt in my mind that Iridium’s expertise enabled us to achieve favorable terms on our renewal while also helping to simplify and clarify some of the coverages. Their ability to explain complex coverage considerations and policy wordings provided us with a strong confidence level with their recommendations. Overall, we are very satisfied with Iridium’s service, which we feel is tailored to our business and we are confident our risk management needs are being addressed by the team.

—Shaun Gawryliuk, Chief Financial Officer, Terracon Geotechnique Ltd.

We had previously dealt with larger brokers exclusively, but in the past few years we were unhappy with the level of service we were receiving. Iridium routinely takes the time to meet with us to carefully review and address our evolving exposures. Iridium’s employees are very experienced and are well versed at explaining coverage nuances at an operational, executive and board level, which gives us confidence that we have appropriate insurance protection. Their knowledge of the marketplace is impressive, ensuring that we receive the most competitive terms available. With Iridium we believe that we receive excellent value and great service.

—Max Lof, MBA, CFA
Chief Financial Officer,
Surge Energy Inc.

Iridium’s energy industry knowledge, technical expertise, and meticulous attention to detail gives us the confidence that our exposures are properly managed. The people at Iridium are true risk management and insurance professionals and I would strongly recommend their services to any firm operating in our industry.

—Scott Kirker
Secretary and General Counsel,
Tourmaline Oil Corp.

I have to say that I am one happy customer. Iridium and NMB have delivered significant value to WesternZagros with the insurance policies that we have had in the past and the support with the claim, and now with a very competitive quote for insurance going forward. I pass on the gratitude of our entire executive team for this support, as I have to say that without your assistance I do not believe we would have achieved the success we have had recently at Sarqala.

—Greg Stevenson
Chief Financial Officer,
WesternZagros Resources Ltd.

We selected Iridium as our insurance partner as they provided a unique business and risk management focus that was aligned with our vision. Their team performed a comprehensive assessment of our insurance requirements utilizing a risk-assessment approach. Not only were we impressed with their initial assessment, but their ongoing service level, engagement and commitment has demonstrated to us that they are a valuable business partner. I would strongly recommend Iridium as a risk management partner.

—Stuart W. Jaggard
Chief Financial Officer,
Painted Pony Energy Ltd.

Iridium provides us with the guidance we need to ensure we have the proper coverage for our business. Iridium goes beyond the traditional broker role enabling us to explore different and new avenues that helped identify and address our various risk exposures.

—Marcia Elaschuk, CMA
Controller,
Divestco Inc.

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