Peter Gunder

Advisor, American Family Insurance

Role: Associate

Site: CDL-Wisconsin

Stream: Risk

Peter Gunder served in multiple senior executive capacities at American Family Insurance from 2008 to 2020. His roles included Executive Vice President, Chief Business Development Officer, and Chief Investment Officer. The American Family Insurance Group is the seventh largest homeowner insurer and ninth largest auto insurer (by premiums) in the United States.

Peter was responsible for leading teams to manage American Family’s invested assets (as of year-end 2020, total assets were $34B). He created and led AmFam’s acquisition teams beginning in 2012, co-founded American Family Ventures in 2010, built the Data Science and Analytics Laboratory in 2014, and in 2018 was founding President of American Family’s Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, AmFam’s social impact venture fund.

During Peter’s tenure, total revenue climbed from approximately $6B to $12.9B (2020) annually, while capital (member’s equity) went from under $6B to $10.6B (year-end 2020). As of the first quarter of 2020, American Family Ventures became the fourth most active insurtech corporate venture capital investor in the world and first in the United States.

Prior to joining American Family, Peter cofounded Cardinal Investment Advisors in 2001. Today, Cardinal serves over 50 insurance companies, with general account assets of more than $241B, making it the largest insurance investment consulting firm in North America.

He is a Chartered Financial Analyst®. Peter earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (now Booth School of Business). Currently, he serves on National Guardian Life Insurance Company’s Board of Directors. He is the board chair of CDL-Risk graduate, RoofMarketplace, a Milwaukee insurtech startup, and is an Executive Committee and board member of Clearcover Insurance Company, an insurance entity within AmFam’s “spinout” auto insurer. He is Executive-in-Residence at Columbia University’s SPS (School of Professional Studies) Master’s degree program in insurance management in New York, and has been a guest lecturer at UCLA, Marquette University, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison.