James McCahill
Chairman
James McCahill, currently Chairman, had been the Chief Executive Officer of St. James, and predecessor Braishfield, since joining the firm in 1990. During these sixteen years he orchestrated the re-engineering of the company from a regional brokerage to a thriving Program Manager/Managing General Agency, divesting the firm of all retail business in 1997.
Mr. McCahill began his insurance career in 1979 with Marsh in New York where he was a member of the Major Accounts Casualty Division. He joined Palmer & Cay of Savannah, Ga. in 1984 and was ultimately named Director of Commercial Operations. Responsibilities included management of customer service, marketing, underwriting, loss control engineering, claims, (fully insured and tpa), and sales management.
Mr. McCahill is a graduate of Rollins College. He was approved as Underwriter at Lloyd’s of London in 1987, and has held a Binding Authority since then. He has served on and chaired numerous insurance company councils and advisory boards. He obtained his CIC designation in 1988 and is a licensed Insurance Broker with a Surplus Lines Authority in various states.
Mr. McCahill has served on numerous civic and social boards. He is a member of the Executive Council and Advisory Board of Directors of Fairleigh Dickinson University, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Opera at Florham, and a Trustee of The Several Sources Foundation. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors for St. Johns Insurance Company.
Robert Lucas
President
As President of St. James Insurance Group Inc., Robert Lucas oversees the policy underwriting, claims, marketing, and program management functions of the company. His other responsibilities include product development, agency program marketing, and agency management. Lucas also is an approved Underwriter for Lloyd’s of London. He is a Named Cover holder and Claims Representative on all Lloyd’s contracts for St. James.
Lucas brings a comprehensive 20 year industry background in multi-line underwriting, sales, and marketing to the company. Prior to joining St. James, Lucas worked for the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and A.J. Gallagher handling program business accounts. During his tenure with Chubb, Lucas completed both the intermediate and advanced multi-line underwriting training programs. Lucas underwrote and managed program business, including a specialized Metalworkers Association Program and also was responsible for all property underwriting in his unit and branch, including uncontrolled lines, working extensively with facultative reinsurers.
Lucas is a graduate of Drew University in Madison, N.J., earning a B.A. degree from the College of Liberal Arts. He also is a licensed New Jersey Insurance Broker with a Surplus Lines Authority designation.
Edward Falzarano
Chief Financial Officer
Edward Falzarano joined Braishfield Associates/St. James Insurance Group in 2000 as the Chief Financial Officer. He brings over 17 years of financial management, control and IT experience in an agency environment. He has been a leader in the advancement and development of automation and financial control systems in the insurance industry.
Falzarano’s insurance experience began as the CFO of the Detroit Diesel Allison Distributor in Miami, Fla., purchasing insurance. This experience, coupled with his demonstrated knowledge in automation and financial control, primed him as the CFO for the South Florida Assurex Partner, Seitlin & Company. During his tenure, he led Seitlin through a series of successful acquisitions that were made possible by the implementation of an integrated agency automation system. In 1998 Falzarano joined Gow & Hanna in New York where he was recruited to perform the roles of CFO and CIO for this dynamic wholesale agency. Subsequent to the sale of Gow & Hanna, Falzarano joined Spectrum Insurance Group, a large regional broker in New Jersey. There, he was responsible for reorganizing the accounting, administration and automation services. Responsibilities with Spectrum included the creation of a five-year financial business model, ultimately resulting in the merger of Spectrum with a lead financial institution.
Falzarano has been an active member of the Delphi System User Group and was one of the founders of The Large User Group Applied Systems.
Falzarano is a graduate of Montclair University with a B.S. in Accounting, and Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, N.J. with an M.B.A. in Finance.
Fred Cieslak
Chief Operating Officer
Prior to assuming the role of Chief Operating Officer, Fred Cieslak was Senior Vice President of Braishfield Associates, Inc. Orlando, Fla.
Prior to joining Braishfield, Cieslak was a Regional Vice President and General Manager with Royal & SunAlliance working in their Tampa, Fla. office. His responsibilities consisted of leading a multi-line sale, underwriting, loss control, and claim team of professionals.
Cieslak began his insurance career with the Travelers Insurance Company corporate training program. Soon after completing this program he joined the Reliance Insurance Company as a commercial lines underwriter. Cieslak’s 20 years with Reliance encompassed underwriting, management and leadership roles, including branch management in Atlanta and Orlando. Prior to joining Royal, Cieslak was Vice President and Account Executive with Willis in Tampa.
Throughout Cieslak’s career, he has managed commercial account business ranging from middle markets to risk transfer accounts. Responsibilities with Royal were predominantly of a program business nature.
Cieslak graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration majoring in Finance.
Jonathan Mertz
Vice President
Marketing Director
As Marketing Director of St. James Insurance Group, Jonathan Mertz is responsible for all marketing/sales initiatives, distribution network management and program development.
In his previous position with St. James Insurance Group, Jonathan oversaw the day to day MGA operations as well as managed the underwriting and administration staff. He also assisted house counsel in managing all legal and contractual matters for the firm.
Prior to joining St. James, Mertz was employed at Braishfield Associates, Inc. where he started his career in 2001 as a Management Trainee based out of the Corporate Headquarters in Clifton, N.J. His training included underwriting for numerous personal and commercial lines programs and claims administration.
In March 2002, Mertz was transferred to the Orlando Branch office where he continued his training in branch management with an emphasis on sales and marketing administration.
Mertz received a B.A. in Sociology from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, in 2001. He currently sits on a Scholarship Committee Board at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Jonathan is also actively involved with scholarship fundraising for the University Club of Orlando.
Dave Stricker
Senior Vice President
Dave Stricker joined St. James in 2010 to lead the Commercial Insurance Division.
Prior to joining St. James, Stricker was Senior Vice President for All Risks, Ltd., a national wholesale broker. During his tenure he oversaw their small commercial division as well as their Northeast Region which included binding, program, and brokerage production in excess of $200 million in premium.
He has experience working with global retail brokers including Marsh and Alexander and Alexander. He also spent time in London working with the Lloyd’s broker Nicholson, Chamberlain & Colls (now Aon).
His background includes experience in mergers and acquisitions, sales & marketing leadership, and technology implementations.
Stricker has a B.A. in History from Loyola College and a M.S. in Business from Johns Hopkins University. He has obtained his Associate in Risk Management Designation (ARM).