Professional Biographies

Tom Ptacek – Managing Partner

Tom began his insurance career in 1975 in the Marine and Energy Department of Marsh & McLennan (now Marsh, Inc.) handling ocean cargo, liability and hull claims, wordings and insurance evidence. He held numerous broking and management positions at Marsh & McLennan including commercial packages, large lines (HPR) property, excess liability marketing, utility and marine account production and handling, and management of the ten-person marine department for nine years.

From December 1989 until September 1992, he managed the Marine and Energy Department and acted as account executive for Rollins Burdick Hunter (now Aon Risk Services).

Tom joined Lockton Companies in September 1992 as head of the Chicago office, where he established the Detroit Edison captive (Energy Insurance (Bermuda)), as well as developed alternative risk, finite risk and financial guarantee products.

Tom jointly formed Global Risk Partners, LLC in May of 1995 with John Cornelius. GRP principally engaged in risk management consulting and program design and analysis.

Tom’s special areas of expertise include exposures in marine transportation, energy, onshore and offshore property, casualty and surety, with further specialization in contractual indemnity analysis, financial risk management and program design.

Tom graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Classical Greek and Latin in 1974. He graduated from The John Marshall School of Law in 1980 (J.D. - With Distinction).

He is a Member, Illinois Bar and the Maritime Law Association.

John Cornelius – Managing Partner

John Cornelius has been closely involved in utility casualty insurance throughout his career. He was a large accounts casualty underwriter prior to joining Marsh in 1980, and serviced complex casualty risks including deductible and self insurance programs for worker’s compensation. He developed and administered an environmental impairment product for hospitals sponsored by the American Hospital Association. Beginning in 1992, John provided casualty account handling and program design for a major Midwestern utility. His responsibilities expanded to include captive management, consultation on property insurance, development and placement of specialty lines of coverage including T&D and Long Term Outage, placement of reinsurance and detailed consultation on mergers and acquisitions. In addition to these responsibilities, John was a product development consultant for AEGIS insurance company from 1997 until joining JLT in 2004. After joining JLT as Senior Vice President of Corporate Risks, John continued his duties as an account executive and expanded his consulting activities to assist improvement of insureds’ internal contracting discipline. He also acted as a JLT corporate resource on wrap-up programs and accounts with complex retention structures, including captives.

John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa.

Hanson Pickerl – Managing Partner

Hanson joined JLT USA, the predecessor company of Global Risk Partners, in May 2005, bringing twenty years of professional brokerage experience in the energy and power industries as a Managing Director of Marsh USA. In addition to serving as the Marsh Midwest Region Power & Utility Practice Leader, Hanson held senior client executive responsibilities for several of the nation’s largest electric utilities, along with his brokerage service for newly formed companies in ethanol production, electric transmission, nuclear power plant operations management, and coal gasification. Hanson is responsible for enterprise-wide risk evaluation, contract review and analysis, and complete insurance program development, procurement, and administration for GRP clients. His Client Executive duties also encompass alternative risk financing, engineering and loss control evaluations, and claims advocacy.

Hanson began his career in 1985 with Marsh & McLennan Nuclear Consultants, serving US nuclear power plant operators and nuclear vendors in all aspects of insurance placement, administration, engineering and claim support, regulatory compliance, and contractual risk transfer consulting.

Prior to entering the insurance brokerage industry, Hanson served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine program. He successfully completed all Division Officer professional training and qualification requirements, and completed three strategic deterrent patrols as a Lieutenant aboard the ballistic missile nuclear submarine USS Kamehameha.

Hanson holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He also earned his Nuclear Engineer Officer certification upon successfully completing a series of examinations administered by the US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC.

Mary Gunderson – Account Administrator / Executive

Mary began her insurance career in 1992 with Oland International. She has been the chief administrator and client service coordinator for Oland International, Lockton, Global Risk Partners and JLT USA in Chicago.

She establishes and manages ongoing client relationships, handles policy administration and coverage interpretation issues. Mary is the point person for our large clients’ entire risk management organization, and is a coordinator for liaison among our clients’ risk management, operations, and legal departments.

Mary also ensures precision documentation for their surety transactions, coordination and review of insurance binders, files, certificates and policies.

Mary holds insurance producer licenses in multiple states, as well as a notary public designation.

Global Risk Partners, LLC
2 Trans Am Plaza
Suite 260
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

Phone: 630.261.6300
Fax: 630.261.6975