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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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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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Partners

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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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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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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Wesley Robinson

Risk Advisor

Wes graduated from the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business with a Bachelor of Commerce in Risk Management and…

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Phillip Stawowiak

Risk Advisor & Team Lead

Phil joined Iridium two and half years ago as a Risk Technician. Prior to Iridium, Phil worked in sales for a…

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Risk Consultants

Joel Askew

Risk Consultant

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

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Gibran Qureshi

Risk Consultant

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

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Financial Lines

Danielle Gorst

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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Claims

Bob Moore

Director, Claims

Bob brings over 40 years of claims handling experience to Iridium. Prior to joining Iridium, Bob spent 23 years as the…

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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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The team at Iridium understands our business and works tirelessly to get us the best coverage possible at the best rates possible. We appreciate that they stay connected to Seven Generations Energy throughout the year and provide consistently excellent customer service. We are thrilled to have Iridium as a valued partner in risk management.

—Kevin Johnston, CA
Vice President, Accounting & Controller,
Seven Generations Energy Ltd.

We are very pleased with the expertise and service that we receive from Iridium. We take comfort that our representatives at Iridium have a current understanding of market conditions and combined with the investment they make in understanding our business and risks, we are highly confident that we are getting the best coverage and competitive premiums. The people at Iridium are very attentive and responsive to our needs. I would highly recommend them to anyone.

—C. Dean Setoguchi
Vice President & CFO,
Keyera Corp.

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.

Pure is a company that has grown significantly both in size and complexity over the last 10 years and required a new perspective on its overall risk management approach. Through a detailed and in-depth review of our Company and our business, Iridium was quickly able to immediately add value to Pure by helping us develop and implement a comprehensive insurance program that ensured appropriate coverage on a cost effective basis. Our senior management has been very impressed with both the professionalism and responsiveness of the Iridium team as we have made the transition from our previous provider. We look forward to a strong and long term business partnership between Pure and Iridium as our business continues to grow.

—Geoffrey D. Krause, CA, CPA
Vice President and CFO,
Pure Technologies

The Iridium approach to insurance and risk management is very inclusive, encouraging representation from across the business to fully understand the business risks and requirements. The Iridium team brings extensive oil and gas experience, together with useful benchmarking, market research and relationships with insurers that results in intelligent and cost effective risk solutions. Iridium are an important part of our business and we share similar corporate values as Calgary based, owner managed teams with significant pride of ownership and determination to succeed.

—David French
CFO and VP Finance,
Burgess Creek Exploration Inc.

As we approached our first renewal with Iridium, I was extremely impressed by the team’s operational technical expertise in helping us construct an insurance program most suitable for our risks and their ability to clearly and concisely explain everything as we went through the process. The Iridium team were able to negotiate a fair price for Battle River, in a tough market, and was always quick to respond to any questions we had. Our first renewal went much smoother than I ever could have expected, and we really enjoyed working with them.

—Lance Dunn
Chief Financial Officer,
Battle River Energy Ltd.

We were impressed with the depth of research and analysis Iridium preformed in determining our operational exposures and regulatory insurance requirements. Iridium developed and executed an intelligent marketing strategy which resulted in a competitively priced insurance program that reflected our exposure needs. We now consider them to be our partner in risk management.

—Bruce Sherley
P.Eng, President,
Dundee Oil and Gas Ltd.

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