Meet the Team

After graduating college, Serge went to work at a financial services firm. During his tenure there, winning awards and qualifying for annual sales trips, he found a niche that he enjoyed, and that was working with companies. One day, one of his clients asked if he could manage their benefits policies too, since they were very happy with his service on their 401k plan. He went to his boss, who then told him to refer the benefits policies out to a different firm. Not liking the sound of that, he borrowed some money from a friend and started his own agency.
When Serge started Benefit Experts in 1999, he had a philosophy in mind: client first, above all else. This philosophy remains in place today and is a testament to his ethics and business practices. Today over 90% of our clients are referrals, and our retention level is 98%. We have many founders who are still using us for their 4th or 5th venture, and we have many family-owned businesses that have been with us since the beginning.

In 2004 he formed a separate company with a business partner, Johnny Khamis, called Khamis Barbir Insurance Agency to handle their clients’ risk management needs such as general liability, workers compensation, technology errors & omissions, directors & officers, and more. Benefit Experts has absorbed the business to truly become a one stop shop for all your company’s insurance and benefits needs. Serge is involved in all aspects of the business, except accounting, he has the “pros” take care of that aspect.
Serge is Croatian. In the early 70’s he and his parents escaped from Yugoslavia, a communist country at the time, for a better life and better opportunity. In part of the culture he encapsulates at Benefit Experts, he is currently serving on the Advisory Board with the Croatian Scholarship Fund, a non-profit charity, which was co-founded by his father for the sole purpose of providing scholarships to needy students in Croatia and Bosnia Hercegovina.
Serge and his wife Mirjana live in San Jose with their two children. Serge’s interests include reading, indoor soccer, hiking, and “just hanging out” with his family and friends. He also plays in a Croatian Folk Band. He started playing tamburitza (a Croatian folk instrument) when he was 13. When asked, “what do you guys sound like?” He replies, “think of a cross between Italian and Greek traditional music, and there you go.”

Ryan Clarke is Vice President of Risk Management. To those not in the insurance field, this means Ryan is able to write all types of insurance for various types of business; from workers compensation, to general liability, to complex policies to meet unique risk management needs.
Ryan started in the insurance field with Allstate Insurance after working in the commercial escrow field, where he processed purchases of existing businesses and business assets. He was quick to learn the insurance industry which overlapped with many of the skills he gained working in escrow After a period of time writing both personal and commercial insurance, he left Allstate for a brokerage focusing solely in commercial Insurance, where he gained more experience in the commercial insurance field working with all types of businesses, from semiconductor manufacturers to general contractors and everywhere in between.
After leading the brokerage in sales and retention for several years, Ryan joined forces with Benefit Experts in 2015 as the Vice President of Risk Management. His first focus was obtaining access to the best companies to better serve future business clients.
In his spare time, Ryan enjoys spending time with his 2 children and wife, along with trips to the gym, playing sports and watching sports. It’s rare in the household for some sporting event not to be on the TV. Along with sports, there is usually some music following Ryan around, in the office, car and home, at all times possible.

Ingrid Greger is our VP of Benefit Sales. Ingrid manages new employee benefits accounts, from quoting through servicing renewals, as well as managing many agency systems to keep us running efficiently and effectively. Ingrid loves being able to help small businesses become compliant, competitive, and ready for growth through employee benefits programs.
Ingrid’s background is in HR, Training, and Business Expansion / Operations. She has used this experience to roll out many systems and procedures at Benefit Experts, which have helped us become incredibly efficient, meaning we can keep our team small and still provide stellar service.
Once making the decision to move her career to insurance in January 2015, Ingrid immediately became licensed in Life, Health, Property & Casualty and has been working in all sides of the business to develop a rounded insurance education.
Outside of work, Ingrid loves travelling as much as possible, exploring the Bay Area with friends, adventures with her 50-pound rescue mutt, cooking, and tasting and collecting good wine.

Johnny Khamis has worked in the finance and insurance industry for over 22 years. He helped start two firms : Western Benefit Solutions and Khamis Barbir Insurance Agency Inc. He is currently licensed for Health, Life, Property and Casualty insurance and specializes in business risk mitigation.

Philomena Greger is our Director of Client Services. She has been with us since 2010. She oversees our client services team, assisting with any issues that come up for our clients and their employees. If you need help finding a doctor or investigating a claim or locating an invoice, Philomena and her team will assist you.
Philomena has a Bachelor of Science degree from Fresno State University in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Marketing.
Before she joined Benefit Experts, Philomena operated her own seamstress business in which she focused on design and construction of custom theater costumes and special occasion dresses. She has also worked as a classroom tutor, an art docent, and in pharmaceutical sales. We feel her entrepreneurial and creative work history has prepared her for anything!
In her free time, Philomena enjoys sewing, gardening, making jam, traveling, spending time with her family and pets, working on her 120 year old home, and searching for a great Pinot Noir.

Jeanette Moffitt has been a member of the client services team with Benefit Experts since August 2015. Before working at Benefit Experts she worked as a supervisor at Target, a Medical Receptionist, and an active full time Mother.
Jeanette received her degree in Business from San Jose State University. With her free time she enjoys her family, painting, the outdoors, and her Las Madres 1990 families.

Brietta Greger is part of our client services team. She helps with renewals and database maintenance. Brietta has a BM from Chapman University in Orange, CA, and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA. When she is not at Benefit Experts, you might see her performing in the orchestra pit of various regional theaters in the Bay Area, or with the Monterey County Pops Orchestra.