INSURANCE ESSENTIALS TRACK: Risk to Resilience – Evolving Dynamics of Insurance Coverage

EVP, Specialty Lending, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc.

Michael is one-part insurance nerd, one-part red bull. After his work at Countrywide/Bank of America, he decided the insurance industry was a thrilling challenge, understanding his body would soon give out from playing hockey. His passion is pioneering insurance capital solutions for lenders while providing banks & non-banks a comprehensive loan-level to enterprise risk analysis. He enjoys bridging the communication gap between lenders, secondary markets, & insurance markets, with an occasional dad joke for flare. As an EVP within Alliant’s Financial Institutions Group, Michael leads the national Specialty Lending brokerage practice. His coverage expertise includes: Traditional Insurance Placements, Specialty Lending Insurance, & Lender/Investor Sponsored Master Insurance Programs.

Assistant Vice President, PNC Real Estate

Sarah Hall is an Assistant Vice President and Operations Manager II within PNC Real Estate’s Insurance Department. She leads a Specialty team responsible for force-placed insurance operations, claims oversight, and third‑party vendor management. With a background in insurance loan servicing, Sarah brings a strong operational and borrower‑focused perspective, informed by hands‑on experience resolving risk, coverage, and servicing challenges across diverse real estate portfolios.

President, Fortress Risk Consultants, LLC

McDaniel founded Fortress Risk Consultants in 2012 with a vision to bring clarity, precision, and confidence to the commercial real estate closing process. With more than 25 years of combined experience in insurance and banking, he leads Fortress with a deep understanding of how risk, coverage, and credit intersect to shape successful transactions. Before founding Fortress, McDaniel spent 15 years with national and regional insurance brokerage firms including Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Wachovia Insurance Services, and Hamilton Dorsey Alston Company. As a Client Executive, he managed all aspects of risk strategy — from coverage design and placement to claims management and loss prevention — for clients ranging from large national portfolios to regional enterprises. His expertise lies in finding risk-based solutions to complex insurance challenges that consider more than just insurance requirements. Earlier in his career, McDaniel spent over a decade in banking, performing complex financial analysis and credit modeling for large corporate borrowers in the areas of mergers, acquisitions, and loan workouts. This foundation gives him unique insight into how insurance costs and exposures affect deal economics and long-term asset performance.

Associate Managing Director, North American CMBS Ratings, Morningstar DBRS

Gwen Roush is a Chicago-based Associate Managing Director at Morningstar DBRS, where she leads the North American CMBS surveillance team. She has almost 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate and CMBS sectors, with prior roles at Midland Loan Services and PNC Multifamily Capital. Her team covers Morningstar DBRS’ North American CMBS credit ratings book, which is composed of over 800 deals, including multi-borrower conduit, single asset single borrower, CRE CLO, Agency finance and data center transaction types.