Urs Uhlmann joined Aviva Canada in January 2021 as Managing Director of Global Corporate & Specialty (GCS). Urs is responsible for the GCS team and supporting Aviva’s Global GCS ambitions.
A strong property and casualty leader with more than 35 years of experience and a track record of driving profitable growth, Urs brings tremendous amount of experience and expertise to the role.
Prior to joining Aviva, Urs was Chief Executive Officer, Global Corporate at Zurich Canada and most recently, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Agent at AXA XL Canada.
Urs served as a Captain in the Swiss Army and graduated from the Swiss business school in Weinfelden, Switzerland. He holds the Swiss Federal Insurance Diploma and completed his C.R.M at the University of Toronto.
Chief Technical Underwriter
Alison Donato joined the Global Corporate & Specialty (GCS) leadership team in May 2023 as Chief Technical Underwriter, overseeing all Commercial lines at Aviva. Alison is responsible for driving customer satisfaction and profitable growth in commercial technical underwriting strategies and technical performance in the areas of risk management, appetite, governance and controls, pricing, reinsurance, and exposure management.
Alison joined Aviva Canada in September 2015 and has held various roles, with increasing levels of responsibility, in people leadership and P&L management.
Alison shapes her view of personal achievement around the success and growth of key stakeholders, both internal and external. With over 15 years experience in the Canadian insurance market, Alison leads and delivers on objectives with a focus on collaboration, agility, and technical excellence.
VP Client Relationship Management
Jaime is responsible for leading the Client Relationship Management (CRM) team, executing the CRM strategy and positioning CRM as a key resource to round out the Global Corporate & Specialty (GCS) offering. CRM supports the ambitions of GCS while balancing relationships and advocacy of customers and brokers.
Jaime joined Aviva Canada in July 2019 and is an experienced professional in the commercial risk and insurance industry having worked 20+ years as a broker, underwriter, and most recently as VP Client & Market Development at technology startup KNØX. Prior to that, Jaime was AVP, National Product Line Leader for environmental risks at Markel International, accountable for all facets of the Canadian environmental book of business.
Jaime earned her CRM, FCIP, and holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Applied Economics from Queen's University. She is also co-chair of the Insurance Institute’s CIP Society Symposium Committee.
Head of Programs
John Hastings, Head of Programs, is responsible for the strategic direction and delivery of Aviva Canada programs under the Global Corporate & Specialty (GCS) division of Aviva Canada’s Commercial Insurance offering.
John, along with many skilled underwriting leaders and their teams, serves customers and distributors across a wide range of industry segments and risks. John and his team seek to optimize outcomes for customers with legacy portfolios while thinking creatively about new opportunities for delivering Aviva products and services in a dynamic market.
John has shaped his outlook from collaborating with various teams, mentors, customers and industry associations throughout his career. With 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, he brings his knowledge of underwriting, distribution, and broker and client relationship management to this role.
Head of Operations
As Head of Operations, Lisa is responsible for the development and implementation of a variety of standardized business processes and systems that contribute to the overall operational efficiency of GCS. She launched her career in Equipment Breakdown with Aviva Canada in 2006.
She has Underwriting Support teams that manage the administration of our policies, including a Multinational Desk that connects us to our global partners, and a Performance Optimization team that supports in the creation, reporting and analysis of operational metrics.
In addition, her Strategy and Initiatives team helps to execute change and ensure GCS continues to build for the future, focusing on the most value-added work, and is invested in broadening our products, transitioning our operating model, processes and technology to grow and gain market share.
Head of Fronting
James King joined Aviva Canada in August 2021. As Head of Fronting, he is responsible for the implementation and execution of Fronting arrangements for Global Corporate & Specialty (GCS).
James started his career with Commonwealth Insurance Company working in Property insurance for the energy and mining sectors and then moved on to gain experience at Marsh as a broker for large corporate risk.
Prior to joining Aviva, James spent 17 years at Zurich where he grew his career in several roles, including AVP of Eastern Property, Director of Consumer Goods and Transportation, Head of Auto, and Head of Alternative Risk Transfer and Captive Services.
Head of Corporate and Specialty Risk
Leszek Bialy joined Aviva Canada in June 2022. As Head of Corporate and Specialty Risk, in the GCS division, he is responsible for leading, growing and defining the strategy and risk appetite for the large commercial market segment.
Leszek is a strong leader with over 25 years in the commercial insurance industry. He brings a wealth of experience in managing profitable underwriting portfolios and exceptional customer and broker relationship management skills.
Prior to joining Aviva, Leszek spent over 20 years at Zurich Canada where he grew his career in several roles in Commercial Insurance, some including: Director of Forestry, Real Estate and Financial Institutions for the Global Corporate Division, Vice President of Programs, Head of Customer and Distribution Management, and most recently as Head of Alternative Risk Transfer.
Sharlane Bugarin joined the Global Corporate & Specialty (GCS) team in 2022 as the Head of MGA. Together with the team, she continues to build strong relationships with our MGA partners, ensure their ability to grow profitably and find new opportunities to expand our portfolio of the MGAs we do business with.
Sharlane has been with Aviva since 2016 and has held various roles within Finance at Aviva Canada, as well as in the UK. She was most recently VP Business Manager in the Executive Office providing operational, strategic and consultative services to Aviva Canada’s CEO.
Prior to joining Aviva, Sharlane worked in the assurance practice at EY in Canada and in the US, primarily focused on the audit of large insurance clients. She is a qualified accountant (CPA, CA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.
Head of Contract and Commercial Surety
Max Fratarcangeli joined Aviva Canada in 2019. As Head of Contract and Commercial Surety, he is responsible for building strong relationships with Surety partners and ensuring sustainable growth for our Surety business under Aviva Canada’s Global Corporate & Specialty division.
Max carries a breadth of experience in Surety. He spent over 20 years working in various surety and enterprise risk management roles at a prominent Canadian Surety company prior to joining Aviva.
Max graduated from McMaster University, qualified as a Certified General Accountant (CPA) in 2001 and obtained his Canadian Risk Management designation in 2018.
Johanne Desloges has been the VP of GCS Claims at Aviva Canada since January 2021. She is accountable for the operational and financial performance of the GCS claims team which spans multiple provinces and all product lines. Her focus is a return to insurance fundamentals, improved indemnity and expense management, and instilling a culture of empowerment, transparency and accountability.
After practicing insurance defense litigation and media law in Toronto for a few years, Johanne’s need for a more collaborative environment led her to Aviva where she began her insurance career as an analyst in the Major Case Unit in 2003, a position she held for 5 years until she began leading her own team in that same unit. In 2010, she put her litigation skills to use and was selected to assemble and lead a team of adjusters dedicated to handling Ontario litigation claims with a mandate for streamlining litigation handling and developing strategies for more effective handling of litigation matters all the while ensuring that Aviva’s customers received the best possible defense. In 2012, Johanne’s role expanded to include a larger focus on Casualty results and strategy, and eventually she took over leadership of the Casualty team in June 2015.
