Board of Directors

Mark A. Casale is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT). Mr. Casale has more than 25 years of financial services experience, which includes senior roles in mortgage banking, mortgage insurance, bond insurance and capital markets.

Founded in 2008 by Mr. Casale with $500 million of equity funding, Essent Group Ltd. has grown to a market capitalization of approximately $6B and manages approximately $240B of insurance in force. Under Mr. Casale’s leadership, Essent has become a leading mortgage insurer and reinsurer serving as a trusted and strong counterparty to lenders and GSEs and has enabled more than three million borrowers to become successful homeowners. Mr. Casale continues to evolve the franchise using risk-based pricing and AI-driven analytics to support Essent’s core mission of prudently growing shareholder value and promoting affordable and sustainable homeownership.

Mr. Casale actively champions Essent’s philanthropic mission to support local and national organizations centered around children, housing, health and education. Additionally, Mr. Casale has served on the boards of several educational organizations in the Philadelphia area, most notably the Board of Trustees at St. Joseph’s University from 2014 to 2023, La Salle College High School as Trustee from 2017 to 2023 and elected to Emeritus Trustee in 2024, and the Board of Trustees for the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Philadelphia from 2019 to 2025.

A native of the Philadelphia region, Mr. Casale holds a BS in accounting from St. Joseph’s University and an MBA in finance from New York University.

David Benson has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2025 and serves as a member of the Audit Committee and Risk Committee. Mr. Benson has over 30 years of management and operational experience in the areas of mortgage credit, finance and capital markets. From 2002 to 2024, Mr. Benson held a succession of senior executive positions with Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the largest provider of mortgage credit in the United States with over $4 trillion in assets. Most recently, Mr. Benson served as the president of Fannie Mae from August 2018 until his retirement in May 2024, overseeing each of Fannie Mae’s business units, single-family residential and multifamily, as well as several corporate functions, including finance, IT, operations, strategy, human resources and communications. Mr. Benson also served as Fannie Mae’s interim chief executive officer from May 2022 to December 2022. Prior to that, Mr. Benson held a range of leadership roles with Fannie Mae, including executive vice president and chief financial officer, executive vice president—capital markets, securitization & corporate strategy, and treasurer. From 1988 to 2002, Mr. Benson held various roles with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., including in the areas of risk management, trading, debt syndication and e-commerce. Mr. Benson currently serves as a director of Opendoor Technologies, Inc., an e-commerce platform for residential real estate transactions. Mr. Benson holds a BS in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MBA from Stanford University, and an MD from Harvard Medical School.

Martin P. Connor has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2026. Mr. Connor has been employed by Toll Brothers, Inc., a publicly traded national homebuilder, since 2008, where he currently serves as a senior advisor. From 2010 to 2025, Mr. Connor served as the Chief Financial Officer of Toll Brothers, and prior to that as Vice President and Assistant Chief Financial Officer. From June 2008 to December 2008, Mr. Connor was President of Marcon Advisors LLC, a finance and accounting consulting firm that he founded. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Connor was Chief Financial Officer and Director of Operations for O'Neill Properties, a diversified commercial real estate developer in the Mid-Atlantic area. Prior to that, Mr. Connor spent over 20 years at Ernst & Young LLP, where he was ultimately an Audit and Advisory Business Services Partner responsible for its real estate practice in the Philadelphia marketplace. Mr. Connor currently serves as a director of Univest Financial Corporation, a publicly traded banking and financial services provider serving customers primarily in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mr. Connor holds a BBA in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Aditya Dutt has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2010 and serves as a member of the Compensation Committee, the Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee and the Audit Committee. Mr. Dutt has served as a Partner and the President of Aeolus Capital Management Ltd., a Bermuda-based reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused investment fund manager, since July 2021. Mr. Dutt previously held various roles with RenaissanceRe Ltd., a Bermuda-based reinsurance company, from 2008 to July 2020 including most recently serving as the senior vice president of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., president of RenaissanceRe Underwriting Managers, Ltd. and a member of RenaissanceRe's executive committee. Mr. Dutt's responsibilities with RenaissanceRe included managing RenaissanceRe's reinsurance joint ventures, and portfolio of strategic investments and leading the company's corporate development and M&A efforts. Prior to joining RenaissanceRe, Mr. Dutt served as executive director in Morgan Stanley's investment banking division in New York and Hong Kong, responsible for executing strategic transactions including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and capital-raising for the insurance and reinsurance industry. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Dutt worked at Salomon Brothers in the corporate finance and fixed income departments in Hong Kong. Mr. Dutt holds a BA in mathematics from Dartmouth College.

Angela Heise has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2018 and serves as the chairperson of the Technology, Innovation and Operations Committee. Ms. Heise has served as Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector of Microsoft Corporation since September 2022, having previously served as Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Defense and Intelligence since June 2021. Ms. Heise previously served as the president of civil group at Leidos Holdings, Inc., a provider of services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets, from 2016 to 2019, where she was responsible for providing solutions to US Cabinet-level civil agencies and major elements of the public sector across the globe. Her areas of focus include air traffic automation, energy and the environment, federal infrastructure and logistics, information technology and cybersecurity, and transportation security. Prior to her role with Leidos, Ms. Heise held a number of positions with Lockheed Martin between 1997 and 2016, including vice president of enterprise information technology solutions. Most recently, from 2015 to 2016, Ms. Heise served as vice president of commercial cyber, where she was responsible for the delivery of a portfolio of cybersecurity and information technology solutions and services to Global 1000 customers. Ms. Heise holds a BS in computer science from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

April Galda Joyce has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2025 and serves as a member of the Risk Committee and the Technology, Innovation and Operations Committee. Ms. Joyce has over 25 years of experience in insurance and financial services in the United States, London and Bermuda. From 2021 to 2023, Ms. Joyce served as the chief executive officer and director of Beat Capital Partners Americas, a subsidiary of Beat Capital Partners Limited, establishing Beat’s U.S. platform, capacity, and initial managing general agent relationships. Prior to that, between 2004 and 2021, she held senior roles with Global Atlantic Financial Group, a global financial services company, formerly the Goldman Sachs Reinsurance Group, including most recently as a managing director and its chief culture officer. She also served as Global Atlantic’s co-head of operations and co-CEO of Global Atlantic Re in Bermuda. Ms. Joyce began her career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York in 1999. She also serves as a member of the board of directors of Symetra Financial Corporation, Mereo Insurance Limited and Cedar Trace Advisors Limited. Ms. Joyce holds a BS in management from Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Henna A. Karna has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2022 and serves as a member of the Technology, Innovation and Operations Committee. Dr. Karna has more than 25 years of experience leading digital, data and analytics innovation across the high-tech, consumer packaged goods, risk management and insurance industries. From 2020 to 2023, Dr. Karna served as the global general manager of industry solutions for insurance, reinsurance and risk management at high-tech firm Google (Alphabet Inc.). From 2017 to 2020, Dr. Karna served as executive vice president and global chief data officer of AXA XL, the property and casualty, specialty risk, risk management and reinsurance subsidiary of AXA, a global insurance company. Prior to that, Dr. Karna served from 2015 to 2016 as a managing director and the global actuarial chief information officer of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), a multinational finance and insurance corporation, and held various roles with Verisk Analytics, Inc., a data and analytics and risk management firm, from 2009 to 2015, including most recently serving as the president of its Verisk Digital Services business unit. Outside of the insurance industry, Dr. Karna has also worked in the fields of artificial intelligence and genetic algorithms for Affinnova Inc., the NSA, and GTE Government Systems. Dr. Karna currently serves as a director of Hamilton Insurance Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty insurance and reinsurance company. Dr. Karna is a Harvard Fellow focused on AI in the workplace, and holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PhD and masters degrees from the University of Massachusetts, and a BS in mathematical sciences from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Roy Kasmar has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2013 and serves as the chairperson of the Risk Committee and a member of the Technology, Innovation and Operations Committee. Mr. Kasmar is currently the president of Kazmar Co. LLC, which provides advisory services to the mortgage and mortgage insurance industry. Mr. Kasmar has over 30 years of experience in the mortgage or mortgage insurance industry. Prior to forming Kazmar Co. LLC, Mr. Kasmar served as the president of Radian Group Inc. and Radian Guaranty Inc., a private mortgage insurer, from 1999 to 2007. Prior to joining Radian, Mr. Kasmar served as the president and chief operating officer of Amerin Guaranty Corporation, a mortgage insurer, from 1996 to 1999. Additionally, Mr. Kasmar has held senior management positions with Prudential Home Mortgage, First Boston Capital Group and Chase Home Mortgage. Mr. Kasmar holds a BS in economics and business administration from Drury College and an MBA in finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Douglas Pauls has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2013 and serves as chairperson of the Audit Committee and member of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee. Mr. Pauls has over 30 years of experience in the areas of finance, accounting, internal controls, and financial reporting for public companies, including most recently senior roles with financial institutions. Mr. Pauls served as chief financial officer of BankUnited, Inc., a bank holding company, from 2009 until his retirement in 2013, and Mr. Pauls currently serves as a director of BankUnited. From 2008 until 2009, Mr. Pauls served as executive vice president of finance for TD Bank, NA following TD Bank's acquisition of Commerce Bancorp, Inc. in March 2008. Prior to that, Mr. Pauls held several positions with Commerce Bancorp, including serving as its chief financial officer from 2002 up until the acquisition by TD Bank and its chief accounting officer from 1995 to 2002. Earlier in his career, Mr. Pauls was a senior manager in the audit department of Ernst & Young in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Pauls holds a BA in economics from Dickinson College, and serves on Dickinson’s Board of Trustees.

William Spiegel has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2008 and serves as the Company’s lead independent director, chairperson of the Compensation Committee and chairperson of the Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee. Mr. Spiegel currently serves as the chief executive officer and a board member of Accredited Insurance Holdings Inc., a specialty insurance business focused on the rapidly growing MGA market. Accredited was acquired by affiliates of Onex Partners in June 2024. Prior to his role at Accredited, Mr. Spiegel held several roles with R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd. since January 2020, including most recently serving as its chief executive officer. Mr. Spiegel has over 30 years of private equity investment experience. Mr. Spiegel was co-president and a founding partner of Pine Brook Road Partners, LLC, an investment firm from 2006 to January 2020, where he was responsible for managing Pine Brook’s financial services investing activities and also served as a member of Pine Brook’s investment committee. Prior to joining Pine Brook, he was with the Cypress Group from its inception in 1994 until 2006, managing its financial services and healthcare investing activities. Before joining the Cypress Group, Mr. Spiegel worked in the Merchant Banking Group at Lehman Brothers. He has served on the boards of directors of numerous companies, including eight publicly traded corporations. Mr. Spiegel is currently a member of The University of Chicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisory Board and the Private Equity Council. Mr. Spiegel holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.