​THE TRADESMAN TEAM

​​THE TRADESMAN TEAM

Founding Partner

Daniel Hickey Jr.

To the International Insurance Industry, Daniel Hickey brings 27 years of diverse insurance experience across the Property & Casualty industry, which includes the independent agency system, Domestic Insurance Company and unprecedented understanding of the Bermuda Re-insurance marketplace.  He graduated from Northeastern University in 1990 with a B.A. in Business Administration, majoring in finance with honors, (Cum Laude).

Daniel served as CEO and Chairman of Majestic Holdings, LLC, a company he took public in 2005. Mr. Hickey led the negotiation and acquisition of Majestic Insurance Company. He succeeded in turning a B++ company into an A- “AM Best” rated company, grew premiums from roughly $50 million to over $150 million, and expanded the business into new states including NJ, NY, NV, and FL.

Daniel Hickey Jr. has a thorough understanding of the intricacies of the insurance model from top to bottom, understands the role each key discipline plays in a successful operation and possesses the keen ability and vision to build and execute an effective company strategy.

Chief Operating Officer

Charles J. Manzo

Charles Manzo has over 35 years of experience in all areas of Insurance Company enterprise wide management. Charles has extensive experience in claims handling and claims management, with a primary focus on General Liability & Workers’ Compensation. He worked for Insurance Company of North America as a multiline adjuster then as a Workers’ Compensation Supervisor for both New York and Connecticut.

For most of his career, Charles worked at Home Insurance Company holding various positions including, management of a Workers’ Compensation claims center and a Liability Claim office (handling more than 2,500 litigated matters), as well as Claim Operation for the Northeast Territory and National Director of 23 multiline claim offices.

Charles brings a disciplined approach to integrating the core disciplines of Underwriting, Claims & Loss Control in a “Silo” free environment has proven effective in assisting clients in controlling the ultimate cost of claims.

Senior Vice President of Claims

Marisol Rodriguez, ARM, AIDA, CRIS

Marisol Rodriguez brings over fifteen years of diversified Claim and Claim Oversight experience. She served five years as a Senior Workers’ Compensation Claim Specialist at Majestic Insurance Company, has spent seven years serving as an independent consultant, participating in quality and financial reserve audits for a variety of insurance carriers and Fortune 500 self-insured employers throughout the Country and has spent the last 3 years heading up the claims department for Tradesman Program managers as the Sr. VP of Claims.

She also assessed safety programs for large entities in the Healthcare industry, with a concentration on loss prevention.

Marisol is a licensed Property & Casualty Adjuster in Florida and New York, a Property and Casualty Broker in New York and Real Estate Broker in New York. Her well rounded and diversified experience has proven effective in assisting clients in controlling the ultimate cost of claims. She has obtained her Associate in Risk Management, Associates in Data Analytics as well as her certification as a Construction Risk Insurance Specialist.

Chief Financial Officer

Rick Ecklord

Rick Ecklord is the Chief Financial Officer and joined in 2019 bringing 25 years of experience to the firm.  Prior to joining TPM, Mr. Ecklord served as the President and COO of Sandell Re, Ltd. a Class 3A Bermuda Reinsurer, which he founded in 2014.  During this period Mr. Ecklord also created a Joint Venture, SOBC Sandell, which focused on mid-cap investments in the insurance run-off space.  He was with Sandell Asset Management, a Global Event Driven Hedge Fund, for 18 years where he was a Partner and Senior Managing Director.  In this capacity he led investments in the Merger Arbitrage universe.

Previously, Mr. Ecklord worked in Equity Derivative roles for Goldman Sachs, SLK Capital Markets and was a member of the American Stock Exchange.  Mr. Ecklord graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in 1995 with a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Defense Counsel

Thomas F. Kelly, III

Tom Kelly is a New York State admitted attorney who has practiced in New York for over 35 years.  He is admitted to the Southern and Northern District Federal Courts as well as the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Tom brings a wide range of experience to the company as his area of expertise is in personal injury litigation, insurance coverage disputes, and regulatory compliance.  Tom has extensive experience in handling Labor Law Claims and will work hand in hand with our TPA and outside counsel to vigorously defend these actions. He is married with three children and sits on various civic minded boards in the Greater New York Area.

Throughout his career, he has represented a number of insurance carriers including Main Street America, Liberty Mutual and Lloyds of London.  He also represents several municipalities in defense of personal injury and constitutional violation claims including the City of Poughkeepsie Police, Town of Poughkeepsie and County of Dutchess.

Director of Marketing

Sam Hickey

Sam Hickey joined TPM May of 2020 and is responsible for heading up all distribution and agency partnerships. Prior to joining Tradesman, Sam attended the University of Tampa Sykes School of Business and graduated in 2017.

Sam had the fortune of interning with RT Specialty Tampa during his college years, and was hired permanently post-grad in RT’s Hartford office. During his time at RT, Sam worked in the binding facility specializing in General Liability and Property placements, learning the fundamentals of ground-up underwriting. Following RT, Sam joined Hotaling Property & Casualty where he handled all large commercial placements and successfully leveraged his experience and relationships with wholesalers and direct carrier partners. After a successful 2 years, Sam joined the TPM team and focuses on aligning TPM’s unique service platform with brokers and our valued end user clients.

Senior Vice President of Loss Control Services

Joe Mercurio Jr.

Joe Mercurio has spent the last eight years of his career with Pro Safety Services, LLC as a Senior Safety Consultant. His experiences there include many big projects, such as:

  • Structure Tone- 10 Columbus Circle (SSM)
  • Roger & Sons/Turner Construction- 66 Hudson Blvd (SSM)
  • AECOM Tishman- Hudson Yards Tower E (CSFSM)
  • W&W Steel Erectors- Hudson Yards Retail and Tower A(Safety Manager)
  • Yonkers Contracting- Montreign Resort Casino at Adelaar (Safety Rep.)
  • Belway Electric- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Safety Rep.)
  • Lendlease- Winthrop University Hospital (Safety Rep.)

He is extremely qualified and has worked hard for his many certifications:

  • Certified Safety Professional (CSP)
  • Licensed NYC Site Safety Manager (SSM)
  • Associate Safety Professional (ASP)
  • Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST)
  • 62 Supervisor SST Card
  • OSHA Authorized Construction Trainer
  • National Safety Council Defensive Driving Instructor
  • Construction Site Fire Safety Manager (CSFSM)
  • ATSSA Certified Flagging Instructor
  • ATSSA Certified Traffic Control Supervisor
  • 32 Hour Signal Person/Rigging Supervisor Trainer
  • 32 Hour Rigging Supervisor
Chief Underwriting Officer

Sean McDonnell

Sean McDonnell has over 30 years of insurance experience and joins TPM after (10) years at RT Specialty where he brokered directors & officers and professional liability coverage. He began his career at Chubb & Son in 1989 as an excess umbrella underwriter, working in offices throughout Upstate NY and New York city. In 1995, Sean then joined Constitution Reinsurance in New York City as a facultative casualty underwriter and concentrated on general liability, umbrella and professional liability. In 2000, Sean then moved back to his hometown of Buffalo, NY and worked for American International Group as a Business Development Manager until late 2001 when joined Compensation Risk Managers, which was founded by Dan Hickey. Sean was regional sales manager and worked with independent agents throughout NY and NJ.

Sean Is a licensed NYS broker and has an extensive underwriting and sales background. He will play a key role in assisting the underwriting and marketing departments as well as TPM’s geographical expansion.