The American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) has over 100 hundred years of service as the trade association
representing the United States ocean marine insurance industry as an advocate, educator and information center.

The award is co-sponsored by ICIC, AIMU, Inland Marine Underwriters Association,
​Marine Insurance and Claims Association, Association of Average Adjusters of the U.S. and Canada.

​2025 Award Winner

​2025 Award Winner – Anne Makosso, CPCU, AMIM, Senior Claims Specialist – Marine,
XL Specialty Insurance Company,  AXA XL

Anne received her award from Jonathan O’Hara, Senior Vice President, Marine, Energy & Construction Claims, Aspen and ICIC Committee Member

Anne Makosso has a career spanning over 15 years in the marine insurance industry with tenures at brokerage firms, insurance carriers, and claims management firms. Anne’s foundational experience in the marine insurance field began at Gras Savoye France (now part of Willis Towers Watson group), where she honed her skills as a Marine Claims Handler. Currently, Anne holds the position of Senior Claims Specialist Marine at AXA XL, where she has been managing complex and large exposures claims for the past six years. Prior to this role, Anne served as a Section Head at W K Webster New York where she was involved in the handling of cargo claims for various principals mainly located overseas while also mentoring junior staff.
 
Anne holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Law from the University of Lyon 2 (France), a Master’s Degree in Law with a major in Transportation and Logistics from the University of Lyon 3 (France). A fierce believer that continuing education is paramount today, Anne has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to her professional development throughout her career and further advanced her education in the United States by completing Paralegal Studies at the Middlesex County College. With regards to the insurance industry, Anne has earned the Associate in Marine Insurance Management (AMIM), and recently completed the sought-after Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. In addition, Anne holds an active Independent Adjuster License Property & Casualty issued by the Texas Department of Insurance.
 
Anne is involved in the marine insurance community; she is a board member of the MICA NextGen group and was a co-instructor for the Advanced Cargo Claims class in 2024 for the AIMU. In addition, Anne is an active member and contributor of the Claims Interest Group with The CPCU Society. Anne was one of the four claims’ professionals featured in the February 2025 online post in honor of the Insurance Career Month.

​2024 Award Winner

Nathan Ahart has nearly 14 years of experience in marine insurance. Prior to joining the industry, Nathan attended Bradley University in Peoria, IL, where he was a Captain of the Men’s Cross Country Team and President of the Gamma Iota Sigma chapter (a professional insurance, risk management and actuarial fraternity that has partnered with AIMU in the past). He subsequently graduated with a B.A. in Risk Management and Insurance and an M.B.A. (Master in Business Administration) from Bradley. ​

After graduating college, Nathan began his career in the Associate Program at Zurich American Insurance Co. This program provided practical experience in the fields of Risk Engineering, Underwriting and Claims. Upon completion of this program, Nathan relocated to New York City as a Marine Claims Adjuster. After four years with Zurich, Nathan was hired in 2014 at W.K. Webster as Assistant Manager in their Cargo Claims division. During his time working in their New York branch office, Nathan also traveled to W.K. Webster’s home office in Sidcup, U.K. for training and business development. In 2018 Nathan moved to RLI Insurance Co. as a Claim Director – Marine. Besides handling claims within all lines of marine insurance, he also leads a team of three marine claim adjusters located in New York and Illinois.

Within the marine insurance industry, Nathan has taken a leadership role within the American Marine Insurance Forum (AMIF), where he served as President in 2022 after six years on the board. He also has experience working with all of the organizations co-sponsoring this award (AIMU, MICA, IMUA and the Association of Average Adjusters). Nathan is an active instructor for AIMU, a member of MICA’s NextGen group as well as a former Associate member of the Association of Average Adjusters of the U.S. and Canada.​

​2020 Award Winner

The 2020 AIMU Award was won by Bing-Syin (Benson) Ye. Benson is a Marine Claims Supervisor at Mitsui Sumitomo Marine Management. He handles cargo, transit liability, hull, protection and indemnity, and recovery claims, and manages the subrogation team.

2019 Award Winner

The 2019 AIMU Award was won by Patrick McNamara (Marine Claims Adjustor, Starr Companies) and presented by Jonathan O'Hara (Senior Vice President, Marine, Energy & Construction Claims, Aspen Insurance and ICIC Committee Member) at the 2019 ICIC Conference. Patrick's essay was entitled 'The Issue of Legal Costs in Marine Claims Adjustment and Viability of Long-Term, Preferential Fee Agreements Between Underwriters and Law Firms'.

2018 Award Winner

The 2018 AIMU Award was won by Norman Tucker (Marine Claims Consultant, CNA) (pictured right) for his essay entitled Claim Management: An Adjustor's Perspective. At CNA Norman is responsible for handling cargo, hull, commodity, and marine liability claims. Norman is involved with providing ongoing training for the U.S. Marine Claims team. Norman joined CNA in 2009.         

2017 Award Winner

The AIMU Award was won in 2017 by Jacqueline Nolan (Claims Specialist, CNA) (pictured left - middle). Jacqueline participated on a panel debate with the 2017 W.E. Cox Claims Group Award Winner Mr. Alex O'Brien (Chubb) (pictured left). Jacqueline won the award for her written response to the question 'Describe the ideal qualifications and experience that the manager of a global marine claims department should possess and explain why'. 

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