State insurance commissioner to resign and work for NYC firm

State Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi will be joining Manhattan-based investment banking advisory firm Evercore Partners Inc. as a senior adviser next year. After serving in his current role since 2011, his last day will be Dec. 11. His new job starts Jan. 12.

Leonardi served as the insurance commissioner during the post-financial crisis when the federal government enacted two ambitious pieces of legislation - the Dodd-Frank Act and the Affordable Care Act. During his term, he has provided legal, actuarial and technical assistance for the Connecticut health insurance exchange, which is nationally acclaimed as one of the best state-run exchanges. During Tropical Storm Irene and Hurricane Sandy, he helped integrate the Connecticut Insurance Department's operations into the governor's Emergency Operations Center, addressing insurance issues caused by the storms.

On a national level, Leonardi was the only insurance commissioner invited by Congress to testify in the hearing on the Federal Insurance Office's insurance modernization report, which went before the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. He was one of three insurance commissioners to visit President Barack Obama for a one-hour meeting in the Oval Office last year. Leonardi served on the executive committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and all three International Association of Insurance Supervisors' committees. For three years, he was a member of the U.S. Treasury's inaugural Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance. This year, he was one of 20 chosen to serve on the World Economic Forum'sGlobal Council on Insurance and Asset management.

As Connecticut is home to the second largest financial industry in the nation, Leonardi said he saw his position as an opportunity to engage in something meaningful. He had never held a regulatory role before becoming commissioner, but he said he always wanted to work in an administrative capacity.

"With the adoption of health care laws, a lot of our consumers needed clarity about what was covered and what wasn't," Leonardi said. "We were able to provide wellness care for women and children and get people insured who were uninsured."

Leonardi spent decades as an investment banker, venture capitalist and insurance company president. A lawyer by training, Leonardi was the chairman and CEO of Northington Partners Inc., a Connecticut-based venture capital, private equity and investment banking boutique, for 22 years. Before working at Northington, he was the head of the investment banking and venture capital divisions of Conning & Co. in Hartford. He was president of Beneficial Corp.'s insurance subsidiaries.

At age 56, Leonardi went into what he calls "semiretirement." He sold his home in Connecticut and moved to upstate New York with his wife for 5 1/2 years, serving on the boards of nonprofits. Leonardi was the chairman of the finance committee at The Wild Center, a natural history museum in the Adirondacks. He was also the chairman of the Adirondacks Medical Center Foundation. He and his wife assisted businesses with their financial structuring and consulting services at the time.

He and his wife later moved to Avon, where he decided to come out of retirement and change careers.

"I spent my entire career in the private sector, but I thought I could use my insurance knowledge as a DEDC (Department of Economic and Community Development) or insurance commissioner," Leonardi said. "I found out there was a need for a commissioner, so I sent a letter to the transition committee when Governor (Dannel) Malloy was just inaugurated. I got an interview with the chief of staff, talked to the governor and took the job on the spot."

Leonardi dealt with national, state and international issues. But after serving for three years, he said he's ready to transition back to a corporate environment where he had established his roots in the private sector.

"In Connecticut, there's a law that you can't lobby your department on behalf of your clients at the Insurance Department on matters you dealt with while you were commissioner," Leonardi said. "What Connecticut has is that you can't work for the insurance industry either. It's barred. It includes affiliates of insurance companies and sitting on boards of insurance companies."

The state Insurance Department will play a pivotal role in enforcing new health care laws and monitoring the growing captive insurance marketplace, which provides alternative forms of risk management and protection for parent insurance companies, Leonardi said.

"Over the next five years, (it will) continue to see growth and provide access to insurance," Leonardi said. "The (insurance) department is a tremendous group of dedicated and experienced professionals. The governor has shown commitment to this department and industry."