Ceres Life Insurance
Ceres Life Insurance combines purpose-built technology, a growing distribution network, and CCaventus' differentiated investment expertise to build a modern annuity company designed for scale.
Now in its second year in market, Ceres Life has moved from launch to scale.
Built from the ground up on a modern, cloud-native platform, Ceres was designed to make the annuity experience simpler, faster and more responsive for financial professionals and the clients they serve. Its technology-enabled infrastructure, streamlined operations and service-focused model allow the company to grow efficiently while continuing to expand its product capabilities and distribution reach.
That foundation is producing results. Ceres has brought multiple annuity products to market, built strong relationships with national distribution partners and established a growing network of financial professionals. Supported by Arena’s differentiated asset management capabilities, Ceres enters its next phase with the infrastructure, team and partnerships in place to support disciplined growth.
As demand for retirement incomesolutions continues to evolve, Ceres is focused on what comes next: expanding distribution, broadening its product offering and bringing its modern annuity platform to more financial professionals and their clients.
The opportunity isn’t to build another insurance company. It’s to rethink what an insurance company can be. Ceres was built from the ground up to combine modern technology, human judgment and exceptional service — and to create an organization that can move as quickly as the people and partners we serve.
Erik Askelsen
President, acting chief executive officer | ceres life insurance company
Ceres Life Leadership Team
Erik Askelsen
Erik Askelsen is the President and Acting Chief Executive Officer at Ceres Life. He brings more than 25 years of insurance, regulatory and operating leadership experience. He joined Ceres Life in March 2025 as Chief Legal Officer, where he has been a member of the executive team building the company's de novo annuity platform.
Mr. Askelsen has significant experience in the life and annuity industry, serving previously as Chief Legal Officer of American Equity and as General Counsel of Athene and Aviva USA, leading providers of fixed annuity products. He has also served as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Operating Officer of a payments and technology services provider and been a partner in two law firms earlier in his career.
He holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Iowa and a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.
June Guan
June Guan is the Chief Actuary at Ceres Life, bringing over 20 years of experience in the life and annuity insurance sectors. She specializes in asset-liability management (ALM), enterprise risk management (ERM), reinsurance strategy, and capital optimization. June works closely with the investment and finance teams to align pricing and reserving strategies with regulatory requirements and long-term objectives. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). June holds an M.S. from Brigham Young University and a B.S. from Peking University.
Carrie Marlatt
Carrie Marlatt is the Chief Financial Officer at Ceres Life, with deep expertise in corporate finance, strategic planning, and capital management. Her career spans finance leadership roles across the insurance sector, following her early experience in auditing and investment banking. Carrie holds a B.S. from Boston College and an MBA from the University of Chicago, and she is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York.
Tom Olds
Tom Olds brings over two decades of insurance and financial-services experience focused on data- and technology-driven value creation to his role as Chief Innovation Officer at Ceres Life. He drives development of the company’s AI-native vision, bridges business and technology, and drives transformative data and digital initiatives—drawing on a proven track record that includes creating the Enterprise Data Analytics function at Guardian Life and founding a Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Services firm.
Tom holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Toronto, and he earned the Chartered Financial Analyst and Fellow of the Society of Actuaries professional designations.
Deanna Mulligan
Deanna Mulligan is the Strategic Advisor at Ceres Life and a transformational leader in the insurance industry, known for driving growth and innovation. As former CEO and Chairman of Guardian Life, she led the company through more than a decade of substantial expansion and introduced forward-thinking initiatives, including a digital insurance marketplace. Now at the helm of Ceres Life, Deanna leverages her deep industry relationships and regulatory expertise to build a modern life insurance company.
She has served on the boards of DuPont, Vanguard, Arch Capital, and Ethos Financial. Deanna holds a B.S. with High Distinction from the University of Nebraska and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
David Levy
David Levy is Co-Founder of DevAltus and serves as Executive Technology Advisor for Ceres Life, bringing over 25 years of experience in product engineering and technology transformation.
He has held senior technology leadership roles across the insurance and technology sectors, including leading software development at InsurTech startup Zipari, spearheading enterprise cloud migration at Guardian Life, and building infrastructure, security, and product development capabilities at Register.com.
David combines deep engineering and information security expertise with hands-on technical leadership to help drive Ceres Life's technology vision.