Our People

Paul Eckbo

Chair of the Board and Founder

Paul is the Founder of PGH and has extensive international management experience in finance, risk management, and international services. He has founded and led several successful multi-national, high-tech, and service companie in shipping, healthcare, and LNG.

Paul received his PhD from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Karin Thorburn

Director

Karin is Research Chair Professor of Finance at NHH Norwegian School of Economics and Adjunct Full Professor of Finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on M&A, raising capital, restructuring, and corporate governance.

Karin is a Director of the Board of Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA, Global LNG Services AS, and Falck Advisory AS, and was previously a board member of SEB Investment Management AB and Nordea Bank Norge ASA. She currently serves on a committee appointed by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance to assess the implications of climate change risk for the $1.1 trillion Government Pension Fund Global’s investment strategies. Karin holds a PhD in financial economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Ted Kalborg

Director

Ted is the founder of Tufton Oceanic Finance Group and today serves as Chairman. He is an independent director and board member at Dorian LPG Ltd, and is on the board of directors at R.W. Chelsea Holdings Ltd and Wade Allied Holdings Ltd. He also served on the board at Hafnia Tankers Inc, Spectron Services Ltd, Nilar International AB, Imarex AS and Yes Television PLC.

Ted specializes in corporate reorganizations and equity investments. He received his undergraduate degree from the Stockholm School of Economics and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Carl Palmstierna

Director

Carl has spent over 40 years in the Financial Services Industry in London, New York, and Stockholm. He spent most of the time in London and New York with Goldman Sachs where he was elected Partner in 1992. After moving back to Sweden in 1998, he was CEO of a Private Equity company before becoming CEO of ABG Sundal Collier, a Nordic Investment Bank, following which he was CEO and subsequently Chairman of Valbay International, the largest independent Family Office operation in the Nordic Region.

Today he specializes in investing and actively supporting early-stage growth companies and serves on the Board of Directors of 10 companies he has invested in. In addition, he serves as Partner of Ceder Capital, a Private Equity Group, and as Senior Advisor to Söderberg & Partners, the largest independent Financial Services Group in the Nordic Region. He received his MSc from Stockholm School of Economics.

Bruce Howe

Director

Bruce has successfully headed strategy, operations, and profitable growth in developed and new businesses in insurance, risk management, governance, and care.

In a career of more than 40 years, Bruce has been CEO for HBSC Insurance in Europe & the Middle East, Chief Risk Officer for QBE Insurance for Emerging Markets based in Hong Kong and a Partner of Deloitte. In recent years, he has worked with several start-ups covering small legal practices and aged care.

Bruce, B.Ec(Hons), M.Ec, FIAA, FIOD, is a qualified Actuary with a post-graduate degree in economics. He co-authored a standard textbook for actuarial education in Australia. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in the UK.

Bruce Howe

CEO

Bruce is responsible for leading PGH’s global business strategy, growth and operations. He is an experienced executive who has headed developed and new businesses in insurance and care.

Currently based in the UK, Bruce has been the CEO of HSBC insurance in Europe and the Middle East, Chief Risk Officer for QBE Insurance Emerging Markets based in Hong Kong, and a Partner in Deloitte, and recently worked with several start-ups in care and legal industry.

Bruce is a qualified Actuary with a post-graduate degree in economics. He co-authored a standard textbook for actuarial education in Australia. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in the UK.

Andrew Sokolov, MS, RN

Global Director Care Management

Andrew drives the Care Management team and competently attends to all aspects of PGH member care, incorporating his medical knowledge into his quest for producing optimal patient care.

He has over 25 years’ experience managing all aspects of medical services operations including regulatory, personnel, insurance, communications, and training.

Andrew is a member of the American Association of Nurse Executives and the American Nurses Association. He is a graduate of Moscow Medical Institute and Northeastern University in Boston.

Donald Hoyt

Executive VP Insurance Operations

Don manages the insurance/reinsurance functions and business development for PGH insurance products developed in-house.

He has over 25 years’ experience in the reinsurance and financial services industry focusing on analytical, underwriting, and supervisory roles.

Previously Don worked at Massachusetts Reinsurance Corporation, Commercial Union Insurance, Constellation Reinsurance and Allendale Mutual Insurance. Don holds a MS in Finance from Boston College Carroll School of Management and a BS in Management from University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Anya Eckbo

Director, Business Development & Communications

Anya is currently based in London. She works with the Asian, Latin American, and European teams and partners across multiple functions including product development, operations, communications, and marketing.

She has more than 12 years’ experience in partner development, project management, communications, and product launches. Anya holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Annika Hedström

Director of Administration

Based in Oslo, Annika leads the office of the Chairman, and holds responsibilities covering administration in Scandinavia. She is the member services contact for PGH.

Annika has over 15 years of experience working in administration for Green LNG Services, Marsoft and AIESEC, as well as starting her career in sales in Eniro.

Nicholas Donne

Senior Advisor

Nick is currently based in Hong Kong and New Zealand. He provides consulting services to PGH for the development of distributor relationships, products and services, particularly in Asia Pacific.

He has over 50 years’ experience in the insurance industry as a CEO in Asia and Africa with HSBC, Cigna, and NZI including many years in health insurance.

Before joining PGH he was General Manager, Strategic Development Asia for HSBC. Since 2015, he has been providing consulting services to PGH as well as a number of other insurance and reinsurance businesses in the Asia Pacific region.