Gov. Dannel Malloy has picked Thomas Leonardi, an investment banker and former Conning & Company executive, to be commssioner of the Connecticut Department of Insurance.
Leonardi is chairman of Northington Partners Inc., Avon, Conn., an insurance specialty investment firm.
In the past, Leonardi handled mergers, acquisitions and venture capital activities at Conning, Hartford. He also has been president of the insurance subsidiaries of Beneficial Corp., Peapack, N.J., and he has been active in helping nonprofit groups in Connecticut get life, health and disability benefits.
Leonardi notes in a statement that insurance industry employment in Connecticut has fallen about 25% over the past 20 years, to 65,000.
"The insurance industry has been such a key part of the fabric of our economy and our state for over 150 years," Leonardi says. "We need to reverse this decline."
Malloy, a Democrat., says he believes Leonardi can strike an appropriate balance between consumer protection and business development.
Barbara Spear has been the acting Connecticut commissioner.
The previous fully confirmed commissioner was Thomas Sullivan. Sullivan recently left the Connecticut department to take a job in the Hartford office of PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P.
- Allison Bell
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.