Extensive expertise and proven track record across insurance, reinsurance, and consulting industries in all major jurisdictions
As of November 2025, Youyou has divested her interest from APT Partners and joined Allianz Life as Head of Reinsurance. APT Partners continues its commitment to delivering the excellence clients have come to expect.
Meet our team
Founder
Youyou Tao, FSA, CERA, MBA
As a result-oriented insurance executive with nearly 20 years of experience in the US life insurance industry, Youyou has built a strong track record in leading remediation and executing large and complex cross-functional initiatives. Her most recent experience includes Head of Reinsurance, Chief of Staff to CFO, and Head of ALM with Equitable (2019-2024). As Head of Reinsurance, Youyou oversaw a 30-member reinsurance squad across Reinsurance Admin, Actuarial, and Accounting and led the end-to-end remediation of Individual Life retrocession business where she assumed Chief Actuary responsibilities during the project. Throughout her career working in many prominent companies such as Equitable, Moody’s Analytics, AIG, Sunlife and Nationwide, she has played leadership and technical roles in many strategic initiatives, including building and leading the ALM team, setting up a Bermuda offshore affiliate, driving large VA reinsurance M&A transaction and internal reinsurance transaction as part of capital management initiatives, leading a technological product launch in the North America, and overseeing end-to-end CCAR operation to fulfill Federal Reserve mandate.
Prior to founding APT Partners, Youyou consulted for Converge RE, supporting the management team in building out Finance and Actuarial operations to enable business growth.
Youyou holds an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.
Expertise
Actuarial and Finance Operation, Reinsurance, ALM and Capital Management, In-force Management, Risk Management
Product expertise: Annuity
Partner
Joshua Weintraub, FSA, MAAA
As a seasoned actuary with over 20 years of experience in the U.S. Life and Annuity industry — and former Chief Actuary of Wysh — Josh combines deep technical expertise with practical, actionable insight to deliver robust, user-friendly, and meticulously validated solutions.
His experience spans a full range of life and annuity products, including Term Life, Universal Life, Whole Life, Long-Term Care (LTC), Disability Insurance (DI), Fixed Annuities, and Variable Annuities with GMxBs. Josh also has extensive experience in financial reporting under multiple regulatory frameworks (STAT, GAAP, and IFRS), helping organizations meet evolving standards with confidence and precision.
Driven by a commitment to excellence and an innovative, solutions-oriented approach, Josh is a trusted partner to companies seeking dependable and forward-thinking actuarial expertise.
Josh holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and an M.S. in Engineering Management from Northeastern University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA).
Expertise
Product & Pricing, Modeling, Valuation & Forecasting, Reinsurance, Actuarial Oversight
Product expertise: Life & Annuity
Partner
Michel Perrin
As a global financial services executive with a proven track record of helping complex organizations enhance profitability and operating performance, Michel Perrin is a strategic leader with over 30 years of experience in the insurance, reinsurance, and consulting industries in both the US and Europe. He has spent half of his career at Equitable where he has held several senior leadership roles, including Deputy Chief Risk Officer and Head of Assumptions, Pricing, and Business Partnership. Over his long tenure with AXA-Equitable, Michel has played leadership role in many strategic initiatives, including strengthened the company’s risk management capabilities after the 2008 financial crisis, transformed the financial modeling platform across the full spectrum of Life Insurance and Annuity products, readied the company for the 2018 spin-off of AXA’s US subsidiary, Equitable, led the companywide assumption setting processes and strengthened the governance of the product development processes following the IPO, as well as played a key leadership role in executing the landmark VA reinsurance transaction with Venerable.
Most recently, Michel has been assisting Athora, a bermuda-based, multi-jurisdiction and multi-line life insurance group to enhance its financial reporting processes by strengthening controls, governance, and analytics.
Expertise
Methodology and Assumptions, Product and Pricing, Risk Management, Bermuda Regulation and Financial Reporting
Product expertise: Life and Annuity
Partner
Lina Xu, FSA, PhD
As a well-known and highly respected Actuarial professional in academia, Dr. Lina Xu has played instrumental roles in developing and managing the Actuarial program at Columbia University from 2013.9-2024.9. Under her leadership, the program has been consistently ranked #1 in Master's degrees of Actuarial Science in both North America and Asia for the last decade. In recognition of her contributions, Dr. Xu received the 2020 Society of Actuaries Presidential Award.
Before academia, she had over 16 years of experience working with multiple US life (re)insurance companies across traditional actuarial domains such as valuation, pricing, and modeling and non-traditional areas, including administrative systems and experience studies. Notably, Dr. Xu played a key role in providing the theoretical foundation for China’s first mortality table, designing an annuity management system at Guggenheim, and contributing to similar projects at Athene. Dr. Xu has extensive expertise in managing experience studies and analyzing large databases with Oracle and proprietary systems.
In addition to her current academic role as Deputy Program Director of Actuarial Science in Columbia University, Dr. Xu also serves as an independent board of director for PICC (People’s Insurance Company of China) and has been appointed Doctoral Supervisor at the Hong Kong Financial Services Institute.
Dr. Xu holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, and she is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries with over 30 years of teaching experience in mathematics, statistics, and actuarial science.
Expertise
Data Science, Predictive Analytics, Experience Studies, Administrative System
Business Development
Yifan Zhang, FSA
Yifan Zhang is an actuarial leader with deep expertise in annuity pricing, reinsurance, and structured transactions. At Munich Re Markets, Yifan served as Head of North American Actuarial and Co-Head of the Global Structuring Actuarial Function, where he led pricing and assumption-setting for variable and fixed indexed annuity (FIA) reinsurance and M&A transactions worldwide. He drove deal structuring, actuarial negotiations, and pricing innovations that supported high-impact transactions and strategic client objectives.
Before joining APT Partners, Yifan worked with Prudential Financial, where he developed innovative product design and pricing frameworks for VA, FIA, and RILA products, optimized ALM and capital efficiency, and advised senior leadership on reinsurance and growth strategies. A strong advocate for actuarial innovation, he has led initiatives integrating machine learning and automation into pricing and assumption frameworks and contributes actively to Society of Actuaries committees focused on technology and experience studies.
Expertise
Annuity Pricing, M&A and Reinsurance, Experience Study and Assumption Setting, ALM and Capital Optimization, Machine Learning and Automation, Business Development
Product Expertise: Annuity
Actuarial Support
Nina Bernstein, ASA
Results-driven actuarial professional with over a decade of experience in the Life Insurance and Retirement Consulting sectors, including leadership roles at Equitable, Guardian Life, and Aon.
Nina has led initiatives in capital management and model governance, with deep expertise spanning policy and methodology development, financial modeling, and valuation. She has a proven track record of streamlining actuarial processes, enhancing efficiency, and fostering collaboration across cross-functional teams to achieve organizational goals.
Nina earned her Associateship from the Society of Actuaries (ASA) in 2017.
Expertise
Governance and Risk Management, Financial Modeling, Valuation
Product expertise: Life & Annuity
Accounting
Brian Davis, CPA
As a seasoned professional in the life insurance sector, Brian carries over 28 years of dedicated expertise in accounting and finance. Throughout his extensive career, Brian has established himself as a leader in strategic transactions, reinsurance, investment accounting, and financial reporting, providing expert guidance in shaping business strategy and decision-making. Having held leadership positions in Brighthouse, Genworth and Equitable, Brian has demonstrated a remarkable ability to lead capital strategy transactions from an accounting perspective, mobilize cross-functional teams to implement transactions, enhance internal controls, and ensure compliance with U.S. GAAP accounting standards. His proficiency in reinsurance accounting and statutory compliance, particularly with the implementation of innovative financial reporting processes, has been instrumental in managing and guiding complex multi-billion dollar transactions and reporting processes.
Brian's comprehensive understanding of technical accounting and his ability to provide actionable insights have consistently contributed to the success of the organizations he has served. Over his career, Brian has played a pivotal role in managing emerging accounting guidance and statutory reporting, authoring technical memos, and influencing industry trade groups to advance financial objectives and compliance.
Brian received a Master degree in Accounting from North Carolina State University and is actively involved as a CPA and member of esteemed professional bodies.
Expertise
Reinsurance Accounting, Investment Accounting, Financial Reporting, US STAT and GAAP Accounting, Accounting Policy
Innovation
Xiao Qi, PhD
Dr. Qi is a seasoned engineer with extensive experience in artificial intelligence (AI), specializing in designing and implementing machine learning algorithms, deep learning models, and data-driven solutions. With a strong foundation in computer science and a passion for innovation, Dr. Qi excels in developing AI-driven solutions to solve real-world problems, including computer vision and conversational agents, and is adept at transforming complex datasets into actionable insights. As a lifelong learner, Dr. Qi stays at the forefront of AI advancements, contributing to the community through research, mentorship, and thought leadership. As an advisor to APT Partners, Dr. Qi will bring his expertise in AI-driven solutions to support research, implement deep learning models within the team, and digitalize content marketing.
Dr. Qi holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and has worked on diverse projects across various industries, including healthcare, finance, and natural language processing.
Actuarial Intern
Abigail Zhao
Abigail is a rising sophomore at Columbia University pursuing a B.A. in Economics-Statistics with a prospective minor in Political Science. Growing up in Columbus Ohio with both parents working as actuaries, she developed an early appreciation for data-driven decision making and risk analysis - qualities she now applies to her academic and professional pursuits.
On campus, Abigail contributes to the university newspaper and volunteers, while also managing her own tutoring business where she helps students with writing and quantitative subjects. Building on her unique upbringing and academic training, she is particularly interested in exploring consulting and wealth management sphere.
Actuarial Intern
Jing Lu
Jing is currently in the second year of the M.S. in Actuarial Science program at Columbia University. Having earned dual bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and Statistics, as well as a master degree in Applied Statistics, Jing has built a strong foundation in programming and statistical modeling.
Through diverse academic projects, Jing has worked on credit portfolio modeling, including loss distribution estimation, dependency structure analysis, and the simulation of correlated defaults. With hands-on experience in Python, R, and SQL, she has implemented end-to-end data and modeling solutions, including statistical models, Monte Carlo simulations, and interactive tools to support decision-making. She also contributed to the translation of the best-selling book Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers.
Currently advancing through the ASA pathway toward actuarial fellowship, Jing is seeking a full-time opportunity in the field of quantitative finance and investment.