- The Deposit Alternative Executive Team -
Mike Kerce, Chief Executive Officer
H. Michael Kerce, principal and chief executive officer of Deposit Alternatives, LLC, is a financial executive with more than 30 years experience in accounting, finance, and insurance for public and private companies.
After a career start with a CPA firm, Kerce joined First Mississippi Corporation, a NYSE company with operations in agriculture, chemicals, oil and gas, natural resources and other technology startups, where various positions included director of corporate risk management.
He joined the venture capital firm Gulf South Capital, Inc., founded by telecommunications pioneer John N. Palmer Sr., as CFO in 2003, and is now the firm’s CEO, building and managing an investment portfolio of private equities, stocks, oil and gas exploration, real estate, timber and more. Kerce also serves on the board of Bedford Reinsurance Ltd.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mississippi and has completed executive courses at various universities, including the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Steve Shelton, Industry Advisor
Steve Shelton has more than 20 years experience in corporate management and administration.
His broad and extensive business expertise draws from service in areas as diverse as systems development, sales and marketing, and program development with various organizations, including, ultimately, the role of president of a managing general insurance agency.
Over his corporate career, he has overseen rapid growth, implemented and maintained new online applications and introduced new programs on both a direct and retail basis.
Shelton earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Mississippi College and a Master of Business Administration from Millsaps College.
Jason Tuckley, Chief Analytics Officer
Jason Tuckley, chief analytics officer at Deposit Alternatives, LLC, has more than 20 years of insurance-specific experience across multiple disciplines, including financial reporting, systems development and implementation, organizational and process efficiency, complex financial modeling, and project management.
With Deloitte in London, Tuckley trained as a chartered accountant specializing solely in the insurance sector, and then became the senior finance manager of a London-based reinsurance company.
He went on to become a senior director in an insurance consultancy and intermediary operation, based in London but with operations in the United States, which he oversees.
Tuckley has a Master of Science in chemistry from Oxford University in England and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He has a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University.
John Palmer, Chairman
John N. Palmer, a principal and chairman of Deposit Alternatives, LLC, is a telecommunications pioneer, former U.S. Ambassador to Portugal and chairman of the Jackson, Mississippi-based venture capital firm Gulf South Capital, Inc.
His telecommunications career began with the 1965 purchase of a Mississippi radio common carrier. By 1973, his Mobile Communications Corporation of America (MCCA) had become a significant force in the cellular telephone business. He sold MCCA to BellSouth in 1989, retaining certain businesses he then forged into SkyTel Communications, which became a leader in advanced wireless messaging. He served as SkyTel’s chairman until its 1999 sale to MCI WorldCom.
Palmer was a board member of three New York Stock Exchange companies: AmSouth Bancorporation, EastGroup and Entergy Corporation. His civic leadership roles include chairman of the national trustees of the National Symphony Orchestra, trustee of Millsaps College and president and director of the University of Mississippi Foundation as well as board membership of the Institute for Technology Development, Foundation for the Mid-South and more.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Millsaps College.
John Grady Burnett, Special Projects Coordinator-Operations
John Grady Burnett is a recent MBA graduate from the University of Mississippi, where he also received his bachelor’s degree in Business Management.
While working towards his MBA, Burnett supported the Ole Miss MBA office, where he assisted Directors and Coordinators in projects and daily activities.
Before that, Burnett worked for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl as one of their three interns between his undergraduate and MBA degrees. He helped generate thousands of ticket sales through cold-calling and the ARCHTICS technology during that time.
