Larry G. Swets, Jr.
Chairman of the Board
Mr. Swets has over 25 years of experience within financial services encompassing both non-executive and executive roles. Mr. Swets founded Itasca Financial LLC, an advisory and investment firm, in 2005 and has served as its managing member since inception. Mr. Swets also founded and is the President of Itasca Golf Managers, Inc., a management services and advisory firm focused on the real estate and hospitality industries, in August 2018. Mr. Swets has served as the Chief Executive Officer of FG Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGF) (formerly 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc.), which operates as a diversified reinsurance, investment management and real estate holding company, since November 2020, after having served as Interim CEO from June 2020 to November 2020. Mr. Swets has also served as Chief Executive Officer of FG New America Acquisition II Corp., a special purpose acquisition company in the process of going public and focused on merging with a company in the InsureTech, FinTech, broader financial services and insurance sectors since February 2021. Mr. Swets is a member of the board of directors of FG Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGF) since November 2013; GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSX: GFP), a public company focused on investments in the forest products industry since June 2016; Harbor Custom Development, Inc. (Nasdaq: HCDI) since February 2020; FG Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE American: FGH), formerly Ballantyne Strong, Inc., since October 2021; Alexian Brothers Foundation since March 2018; and Unbounded Media Corporation since June 2019. Mr. Swets is also the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of FG Acquisition Corp. (TSX: FGAA), a Canadian special purpose acquisition company focused on searching for a target company in the financial services sector.
Previously, Mr. Swets served as a Director and Chief Executive Officer of FG New America Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: FGNA), a special purpose acquisition company which merged with OppFi Inc. (NYSE: OPFI), a leading financial technology platform that powers banks to help everyday consumers gain access to credit, from July 2020 to July 2021. From April 2021 to December 2021, Mr. Swets also served as Senior Advisor to Aldel Financial Inc., a special purpose acquisition company, which merged with Hagerty, Inc. (NYSE: HGTY), a leading specialty insurance provider focused on the global automotive enthusiast market. Mr. Swets served as Chief Executive Officer of GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSX: GFP) (formerly Itasca Capital Ltd.) from June 2016 to June 2021. Mr. Swets served as the Chief Executive Officer of Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (NYSE: KFS) from July 2010 to September 2018, including as its President from July 2010 to March 2017. Mr. Swets served as a director of Insurance Income Strategies Ltd. from October 2017 to December 2021. He also previously served as a member of the board of directors of Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LMB) from July 2016 to August 2021; Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (NYSE: KFS) from September 2013 to December 2018; Atlas Financial Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFH) from December 2010 to January 2018; FMG Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: FMGQ) from May 2007 to September 2008; United Insurance Holdings Corp. from 2008 to March 2012; and Risk Enterprise Management Ltd. from November 2007 to May 2012.
Prior to founding Itasca Financial LLC, Mr. Swets served as an insurance company executive and advisor, including the role of director of investments and fixed income portfolio manager for Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company, formerly known as Kemper Insurance Companies. Mr. Swets began his career in insurance as an intern in the Kemper Scholar program in 1994. Mr. Swets earned a Master’s Degree in Finance from DePaul University in 1999 and a Bachelor’s Degree from Valparaiso University in 1997. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
M. Wesley Schrader
Chief Executive Officer and Director
M. Wesley Schrader has served as our Chief Executive Office since January 2022 and will serve as a Director upon the closing of this offering. Mr. Schrader has over 25 years of experience encompassing both non-executive and executive roles. Mr. Schrader founded Waverider Partners LLC, an advisory and investment firm, in 2021 and has served as its managing member since inception. Mr. Schrader founded Capital MW LLC, a management consulting firm, in 2008 and has served as its managing member since inception. Mr. Schrader serves as Senior Advisor to Columbine Logging, Inc. d/b/a Columbine Corporation, a privately held company, where he served as Chief Executive Officer from March 2018 to December 2021. Mr. Schrader served as Director of Eagle Energy Inc. (TSX: EGL) from June 2018 to February 2019. Mr. Schrader also served as a Director of Littleton Public Schools Foundation from November 2014 - June 2019.
Previously, Mr. Schrader has held various executive and management positions, primarily focused on corporate development and finance. Mr. Schrader holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Valparaiso University, a Master of Business in Administration from the University of Denver, and a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Denver.
Hassan R. Baqar
Director
Mr. Baqar has over 20 years of experience within financial services focused on corporate development, mergers & acquisitions, capital raising, investments and real estate transactions. Mr. Baqar has served as the founder and managing member of Sequoia Financial LLC, a financial services and advisory firm, since January 2019. Mr. Baqar has also served as Chief Financial Officer since August 2021 and Executive Vice President since December 2021 of FG Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGF) (formerly known as 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc.), which operates as a diversified reinsurance, investment management and real estate holding company, as Chief Financial Officer of FG New America Acquisition II Corp., a special purpose acquisition company in the process of going public and focused on merging with a company in the InsureTech, FinTech, broader financial services and insurance sectors since February 2021, as Chief Financial Officer of Insurance Income Strategies Ltd., a former Bermuda based reinsurance company from October 2017 to December 2021, as a director of GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSX: GFP) (formerly Itasca Capital Ltd.), a public company focused on investments in the forest products industry from August 2019 to December 2021 and as Chief Financial Officer of GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. from June 2016 to December 2020, as a director of Fundamental Global Reinsurance Ltd., a Cayman Islands reinsurance company since June 2020, and as a director and Chief Financial Officer of Unbounded Media Corporation since June 2019. Since October 2021, Mr. Baqar is also the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the board of directors of FG Acquisition Corp. (TSX: FGAA), a Canadian special purpose acquisition company focused on searching for a target company in the financial services sector.
Mr. Baqar served as Chief Financial Officer for Aldel Financial Inc. (NYSE: ADF) from January 2021 to December 2021, a special purpose acquisition company which merged with Hagerty, Inc. (NYSE: HGTY), a leading specialty insurance provider focused on the global automotive enthusiast market. From July 2020 to July 2021, Mr. Baqar served as Chief Financial Officer of FG New America Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: FGNA), a special purpose acquisition company which merged with OppFi Inc. (NYSE: OPFI), a leading financial technology platform that powers banks to help everyday consumers gain access to credit. Previously, he served as Vice President of Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (NYSE: KFS) (“Kingsway”) from January 2014 to January 2019 and as a Vice President of Kingsway’s subsidiary Kingsway America Inc. from January 2010 to January 2019. Mr. Baqar also served as Chief Financial Officer and director of 1347 Capital Corp. from April 2014 to July 2016, a special purpose acquisition company which merged with Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LMB). Mr. Baqar served as a member of the board of directors of FG Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGF) from October 2012 to May 2015. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer of United Insurance Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: UIHC), a property and casualty insurance holding company, from August 2011 to April 2012.
His previous experience also includes director of finance at Itasca Financial, LLC from 2008 to 2009 and positions held at Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company (a Kemper Insurance company), a diversified mutual property-casualty insurance provider, from June 2000 to April 2008, where he most recently served as a senior analyst. Mr. Baqar earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Northeastern Illinois University in 2009 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Business Administration from Monmouth College in 2000. He also holds a Certified Public Accountant designation.
Jeff Sutton
Director
Mr. Sutton has over 20 years’ experience as an institutional investor, founder, chief operating officer, and chief compliance officer of several financial services businesses.
Mr. Sutton is Chief Operating Officer of Fundamental Global, a private partnership focused on long-term strategic holdings, a position he has held since October 2015. In this role, Mr. Sutton manages Fundamental Global’s daily operations and provides ongoing analysis and advice to its holdings, primarily including FG Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGF) (formerly known as 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc.), which operates as a diversified reinsurance and investment management company; FG Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE American: FGH), formerly Ballantyne Strong, Inc., a holding company with diverse business activities focused on serving the entertainment and retail markets; and BK Technologies Corp. (NYSE American: BKTI), a provider of two-way radio communications equipment. During his tenure with Fundamental Global, Mr. Sutton has worked with two special purpose acquisition companies, including FG New America Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: FGNA), which merged with OppFi Inc. (NYSE: OPFI), a leading financial technology platform that powers banks to help everyday consumers gain access to credit; and Aldel Financial, Inc. (NYSE: ADF), which merged with Hagerty, Inc. (NYSE: HGTY), a leading specialty insurance provider focused on the global automotive enthusiast market. Mr. Sutton has been a member of the Board of Managers of Fundamental Global Asset Management, LLC, a joint venture between Fundamental Global and FG Financial Group that was formed to sponsor investment managers and the launch of their products and services, since August 2021. Mr. Sutton also founded ValueTree Investments in 2009, which is a registered investment advisor in the State of North Carolina, and which manages a focused small-cap value investing strategy.
Previously Mr. Sutton was Chief Compliance Officer of Fundamental Global from October 2015 to August 2021; Chief Compliance Officer of StrongVest Global Advisors, a registered investment advisor that sponsored the StrongVest ETF Trust, which was an open-end management investment company, from July 2016 to March 2021; and Chief Compliance Officer of CWA Asset Management Group, a registered investment advisor from October 2015 to January 2021. Prior to joining Fundamental Global and to founding ValueTree Investments, Mr. Sutton was an analyst at Maiden Capital, a long-short equity hedge fund, from July 2008 to April 2009; a project manager at Pittco Management, the family office of J.R. “Pitt” Hyde, III, the founder of AutoZone, from July 2004 to May 2006; an associate at SSM Ventures, a Southeastern private equity firm, from December 2001 to June 2004; and an analyst at Morgan Keegan, an investment bank, from July 2000 to November 2001.
Mr. Sutton earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, where he was appointed the Senior Portfolio Manager of the Darden Fund, a student-run investment fund focused on small-cap equities. He graduated summa cum laude with two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Rhodes College, with majors in International Business and in French, where he was also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and of the Omicron Delta Kappa national honor society. Mr. Sutton served as a member of the Rhodes College Alumni Executive Board from 2011 to 2014, and he has held the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation since 2003.
Ryan Turner
Director
Mr. Turner has spent over 20 years in the financial services industry. His experience includes equity research, portfolio management, strategic investments, public company directorship, mergers and acquisitions, special situations, business development and operations.
Mr. Turner has been a Managing Director of Fundamental Global since May 2020. In this capacity he has worked with companies including FG New America Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: FGNA), a special purpose acquisition company which merged with OppFi Inc. (NYSE: OPFI), a leading financial technology platform that powers banks to help everyday consumers gain access to credit. Also, Aldel Financial Inc. (NYSE: ADF), a special purpose acquisition company, which merged with Hagerty (NYSE: HGTY), a leading specialty insurance provider focused on the global automobile enthusiast market.
At FG Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE American: FGH), formerly Ballantyne Strong, Inc., Mr. Turner was the Vice President of Strategic Investments from September 2016 to May 2020 and Director of Business Development from July 2015 to September 2016. He served as President of StrongVest Global Advisors from December 2016 to September 2019.
Previous roles at Fundamental Global include Director of Research and Associate Portfolio Manager, from October 2014 to July 2015, and Research Analyst, from April 2012 to September 2014. He was an Associate Analyst at T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) from February 2006 to March 2012, and a Business Analyst at AST Trust Company from May 2002 to January 2006.
Mr. Turner served on the board of directors of BK Technologies Corp. (NYSE American: BKTI) from March 2017 to May 2020.
Mr. Turner received an MBA degree from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. Mr. Turner holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.