Meet Our Team
Distinguished experts deeply devoted to the premium real estate and hospitality markets, we are driven by our unwavering commitment to delivering unparalleled service and comprehensive solutions.
Shadi Albert
President
Mr. Albert is a highly-experienced property and casualty insurance executive with over 20 years of industry experience. Most recently, he served as the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Selective Insurance and prior to that held senior leadership roles in field operations, commercial underwriting and ceded reinsurance with the firm. Earlier in his career, Mr. Albert held a number of positions in strategy and capital advisory as well as treaty reinsurance brokerage with Guy Carpenter, Aon Benfield and Willis Towers Watson. Over the years, he has demonstrated a track record of sustained strong performance and positioning operations for profitable growth including developing and leading new territories, products and services along with improving existing business processes and ventures. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Temple University, Fox School of Business, and a Masters of Business Administration from Saint Joseph’s University, Haub School of Business. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He holds the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) and Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designations.
Matt Cliszis
Senior Vice President, Chief Underwriting Officer
Matt joined Berkley Luxury Group in June 2022 with over 20 years of experience in underwriting, product management, risk management, as well as sales and marketing at Chubb, AIG and PURE Insurance across both domestic and international markets, both admitted and non-admitted. All of his experience has been focused on bringing specialized solutions to a targeted niche. He graduated with a BA from Mary Washington University and is a board member of the John Street Insurance Association.
Susan Clemson
Senior Vice President, Chief Claims Officer
Susan Clemson joined the Berkley Luxury Group team in January 2023 and has over 30 years of experience managing property and casualty claims, with 20 years in a senior management role. Her diverse background includes supervising and managing General Liability, Property, Construction Defect, Medical Malpractice, Errors and Omissions, Directors and Officers, Senior Care Liability, Environmental and Toxic Tort claims. Susan is a graduate of Lehigh University with a B.A. in Economics.
Jessica Somerfeld
Senior Vice President, Strategic Operations & Chief Actuary
Jessica Somerfeld joined the Berkley Luxury Group team in November 2023 and has over 27 years of business experience in the property & casualty insurance and reinsurance industry. She joined W.R. Berkley Corporation as a Corporate Actuary in 2005 and most recently was responsible for Berkley’s Alternative Market Segment companies in the areas of reserving, pricing and actuarial special projects. She previously had similar responsibilities with other Berkley Segments including Regional, Excess & Surplus lines and Professional Liability. Before joining W.R. Berkley, Jessica held a number of leadership positions with several leading firms including Aon and Deloitte. She is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and has attained the Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst designation. Jessica graduated with distinction from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Statistics.
Justin Lash
Vice President, Head Of Business Development
Justin Lash joined the Berkley Luxury Group team in January 2024 with 20 years of insurance expertise. He joins Berkley Luxury Group with a diverse background of Regional, Underwriting, Sales & Distribution leadership with a track record of helping firms grow profitably and delivering innovative solutions. Most recently he served as the Vice President for Liberty Mutual in the Carolinas region. Prior to Liberty, Justin held multiple Field and Underwriting Leadership positions with CNA Insurance and started his career with The Hartford. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from The University of Cincinnati, Lindner College of Business and a Master of Business Administration from Xavier University, Williams College of Business.
David D. Wessel
Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
David joined Berkley Luxury Group in August 2013 in the role of Controller. He was promoted to the Vice President, Finance and Accounting position in February, 2016 and to Chief Financial Officer in February, 2018. David brings over 20 years of experience in financial services to Berkley Luxury Group, all with leading insurance and reinsurance organizations, and has held various leadership positions at these organizations. David is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo with a B.S. in Business Administration/Accounting.
Amy A. Gobetz
Vice President, Human Resources
Amy joined the Berkley Luxury Group team in May 2011 and has more than 30 years of Human Resources experience. During her career she held various Human Resources leadership positions in both the financial services and insurance industries. Amy is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Binghamton University and received her Master of Arts degree in Organization/Industrial Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Keith O'Loughlin
Vice President, Information Technology
Keith joined Berkley Luxury Group in January 2013 and was promoted to Vice President, Information Technology in October 2016. He brings over 25 years of technical experience to his role with expertise in application, database and data warehouse design and development. Over his career he has held leadership roles and has provided IT consulting expertise to Fortune 500 companies. Keith is a graduate of Lafayette College with a BS degree in Computer Science.
Keith Poopor
Vice President, Underwriting, Eastern Region Field Operations
Keith Poopor joined the Berkley Luxury Group team in august 2024 with over 25 years of insurance experience. He’s held underwriting leadership positions with a global insurance organization, a worldwide insurance company that specializes in excess and surplus insurance solutions, and one of the largest global property and casualty insurers, and most recently served as Regional Branch Executive for their NYC/NJ territory. Throughout his career, Keith has consistently focused on bringing creative insurance solutions and services to strategic broker partners and clients. Keith resides in Summit, NJ, and is a graduate of Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics.
Rise And Thrive At Berkley Luxury Group
We are always looking for individuals who boldly share our excitement for growth. Our team of hyper-specialized experts is ready to actively support advancement and foster entrepreneurial ideas.