Board of Directors
Alan J. Fine
President
Alan J. Fine, President
Alan has more than 28 years of tax experience and has worked closely with insurance companies for 26 years. He specializes in the taxation of insurance companies and is responsible for serving insurers writing fidelity, personal and commercial lines; medical and life insurance; and other professional malpractice coverage.
His areas of specialty include consulting and compliance tax services, captive insurance services and structuring and review of complex GAAP and statutory accounting tax provisions. Alan has authored a number of pieces on issues involving insurance tax and captive insurance companies. He regularly consults with insurance companies in tax planning and minimization, and he represents clients on tax issues before the Internal Revenue Service and state and local authorities.
Prior to joining Armanino, Alan was a partner in the Tax practice at Brown Smith Wallace, where he also led the Insurance industry group. Alan received his B.S. in accounting from Indiana University- Bloomington and holds a J.D. from the St. Louis University School of Law.
Sherry Doctorian
Vice President
Sherry Doctorian, Vice President
Sherry Doctorian offers individuals, companies and trade associations effective and reputable regulatory representation and lobbying on matters pending before the state legislature and a wide variety of Missouri administrative agencies. By advocating for or against pending legislation, she helps clients achieve their public policy objectives and recognizes that regulatory laws, administrative rules and policy decisions can impact the vitality of both individuals and organizations. Sherry began her career as an assistant attorney general in Missouri representing various state agencies and has lived in Jefferson City for over 25 years. She has a deep understanding of the processes and people in state government and leverages her extensive network of contacts to successfully represent her clients. A former legal counsel to the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance, Sherry serves as a Missouri insurance regulatory attorney for life, health, property and casualty insurance companies with issues involving the department. She regularly handles Form A hearings, market conduct examination and financial examination disputes, receivership and insolvency matters, and agency and agent licensure matters. Sherry has assisted several clients with the formation of captive insurance companies and currently represents the Missouri Captive Insurance Association as its lobbyist at the statehouse. Additionally, she represents professional licensees (primarily physicians and dentists) before the professional licensing boards and the Administrative Hearing Commission. Sherry is also a member of the firm's Marijuana and Hemp Law and Agribusiness and Food industry teams. She regularly represents clients in the medical marijuana industry in Missouri. Most recently, she worked with clients throughout the application process, including successfully securing licenses, filing appeals for rejected licenses, and maintaining good relationships with state regulators. In addition, Sherry lobbies on behalf of clients before the Missouri General Assembly and state agencies regarding various medical marijuana matters. Further experience includes assisting clients with procurement matters and Sunshine Law issues, representing clients before the Public Service Commission, helping business entities who have sales and use tax issues navigate the Department of Revenue, and aiding clients with preparing and filing applications for tax credits and other financial incentives with the Department of Economic Development. She also handles general civil litigation for clients of all sizes, from small businesses to SERVICES AND INDUSTRIES Corporate Government Relations and Public Policy Litigation Health Care and Life Sciences Cannabis and Hemp Law Insurance Coverage Litigation ADMISSIONS Missouri U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri large corporations. Active in firm management, Sherry is a member of the firm's Pension and Nominating Committees, and serves as vice chair of Armstrong Teasdale's Political Contributions Committee. She also serves as executive vice president for government relations subsidiary AT Government Strategies LLC (ATGS).
Ellen Sue Bernards
Treasurer
Ellen Sue Bernards, Treasurer
Ellen Sue is a Senior Vice President in the Alternative Risk Finance Practice at Lockton Companies, the largest independent insurance broker. Born and raised in Southern California, Ellen Sue received her dual B.A. in Business Economics and Chinese from the University of California, Santa Barbara and brings a decade of public and private accounting and finance expertise since joining Lockton in 2015. Her holistic financial knowledge provides invaluable support in her role as a Risk Finance Specialist and help clients to structure efficient programs while considering tax, cash flow, collateral, accounting and regulatory considerations as part of the risk management strategies. Ellen Sue actively works on formation and ongoing consulting on captives in all major domiciles. She is an active CPA and has her ARM and CPCU designations. Ellen Sue and her family moved to Kansas City in June of 2023. They are very excited to eat a lot of barbecue, cheer on the Chiefs and experience the 12 seasons the Midwest has to offer.
Melissa Huenefeldt
Secretary
Melissa Huenefeldt, Secretary
Ms. Huenefeldt is a consulting actuary in the Casualty Practice of Milliman, Chicago Illinois. She joined
the firm in 2021. Melissa’s area of expertise is property and casualty insurance, including loss reserving
and ratemaking. She has extensive experience in commercial lines, including workers’ compensation,
professional liability, general liability, and auto liability. Prior to joining Milliman, Melissa spent 13 years
at a large commercial insurance broker and 2 years at a single-state personal lines insurer. Ms.
Huenedfeldt’s Professional Designations are: Fellow, Casualty Actuarial Society’ Member, American
Academy of Actuaries and Associate in Risk Management, The Institutes. She received her Bachelor of
Science Degree in Mathematics and in Psychology from the University of Central Missouri. She also has
a Master’s degree in applied mathematics from University of Central Missouri.
Nick Meriage
Board Member
Nick Meriage, Board Member
Nick Meriage is an attorney at Pitzer Snodgrass, PC, in St. Louis, Missouri. His civil litigation practice is mainly comprised of professional liability, products liability, and premises liability defense. He represents product manufacturers, property owners, design professionals, real estate professionals, and medical professionals in Missouri and Illinois. Responsible for handling all phases of a case, from initial pleadings, depositions and discovery to preparing jury instructions and for trial, he enjoys the problem solving aspect of the job, as every case, no matter how big or small, involves new and unique problems to conquer.
He is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law where he was awarded the Allen H. Parker Memorial Scholarship, the MU Grant, the JB Reynolds Student Award in Insurance Law, and CALI awards in: Insurance Law, Land Use
Controls, and Agricultural Law. Along with his Juris Doctor, he received a Certificate in Dispute Resolution, and he utilizes the tools developed in obtaining the certificate to negotiate complicated problems for his clients, including successful settlements at mediation. He also has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
John Talley
Board Member
John Talley, Board Member
John M. Talley, J.D., is the founder and President of TAL Consulting, LLC (TAL). Prior to TAL’s formation April 1, 2021, John was the Captive Program Manager for the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance for over five years. John was responsible for overseeing Missouri’s captive domicile and assisting those who desire to form captives in Missouri to meet all the requirements of captive laws and regulations. Before coming to Missouri, John was the Chief of the Office of Captive Insurance for the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance for nearly five years. Prior to New Jersey, he worked for the insurance departments of New Hampshire and Alaska and was in private legal practice in Alaska.
A native Missourian, John received his B.S. and J.D. degrees from the University of Kansas and is admitted to practice law in Kansas, Alaska, and New Hampshire (inactive or retired status in all jurisdictions). After several years in corporate and private practice, John accumulated 30 years of experience as an insurance regulator in captive, property and casualty, life and health and surplus lines insurance.
TAL was formed to aid businesses and captive insurance professionals with their captive insurance questions and unique issues from concept inception, formation, and dissolution. With John at the helm, TAL has over 30 years of insurance statutory and regulatory knowledge, including interpretation and promulgation of captive insurance law. John has the knowledge and contacts help navigate the laws and idiosyncrasies of US domiciles. TAL does not provide legal or tax opinions but can guide clients through the maze of captive issues and, if needed, direct them to the appropriate professional.
Trish Staub
Board Member
St. Louis RIMS Chapter Representative
Trish Staub, Board Member – St. Louis RIMS Chapter Representative
More information coming soon.
Sandra Meyers
Board Member
Ozark RIMS Chapter Representative
Sandra Meyers, Board Member – Ozark RIMS Chapter Representative
More information coming soon.
Member-At-Large
Sam Komo, Advisory Member
Sam Komo, Advisory Member
Missouri is known as the Show-Me state. We believe, in addition to our perfect location and the availability of leading service providers in the industry, it is the best place to domicile a captive insurance company. It’s our job to show you why Missouri is the right business decision.
So, why ask, “Show-Me Missouri” before you domicile?
We are an established domicile that has experience licensing all types and sizes of captives. We believe sound regulation is beneficial – overregulation is not. Our law is competitive and allows multiple useful options and flexibility. We utilize that flexibility in our captive laws to the fullest extent allowed to satisfy the unique needs of each captive. We have a simple fee structure with no hidden costs – the $7,500 application or annual renewal fee is 100% deductible from premium tax. The fee structure ensures we have dedicated staff to be responsive to our captive’s needs. We use only dedicated in-house staff to conduct examinations, reducing your captive’s operational costs. And most important, you’re not just a number on a spreadsheet. Your business is personal to us and you’ll know the person who answers the phone is here to help YOU.
Just a few reasons to say: “Show-Me Missouri!”
For more information, please contact our Captive Manager Sam Komo.
Staff
Annette Wallace, Event Planner
Staff Annette Wallace, Event Planner
More information coming soon.