Evercore has announced that Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi has agreed to join the firm as a senior advisor with a focus on the insurance industry sector. Mr. Leonardi has nearly 40 years of experience as an investment banker, venture capitalist, attorney, and insurance company president, and is widely regarded as a leading expert on systemic risk, group supervision, and international regulatory issues.
Roger Altman, Evercore’s Executive Chairman, said, “At a time of intense regulatory changes in the insurance industry, both here and abroad, Tom’s professionalism, knowledge and experience, coupled with his personal character and integrity, will prove invaluable to a wide range of Evercore clients.”
Ralph Schlosstein, Evercore’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted to welcome Tom to Evercore. His deep knowledge of the sector, broad experience and relationships across the industry will further enhance Evercore’s leading global insurance advisory franchise. Tom will work closely with our teams in New York and London and joins an insurance practice that has an excellent track record of success and has built an outstanding reputation for high quality, specialist advice and creativity. We look forward to continuing to build on this success with Tom’s technical expertise, strong understanding of the regulatory environment and global perspective on the industry.”
Thomas Leonardi said, “The insurance industry continues to go through a period of extraordinary challenges in regulation, global competition, systemic risk designations, storms of increasing frequency and severity, and a prolonged low-interest-rate environment. Evercore has a world-class platform, a team of professionals that are among the most talented and experienced in the business, and a commitment to delivering extraordinary service. Perhaps most important to me, Evercore places the interests of the client above all else and they do all of this while adhering to the highest ethical standards. I look forward to contributing to Evercore’s continued growth and broadening and deepening its client relationships.”
Mr. Leonardi is head of the Connecticut Insurance Department, a regulatory agency with jurisdiction over one of the largest insurance industries in the United States. He has been a member of the executive committee of both the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. He was a member of the U.S. Treasury’s inaugural Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance and was selected to serve on the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on Insurance and Asset Management.
For 22 years prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Mr. Leonardi was Chairman and CEO of Northington Partners Inc., a Connecticut-based venture capital, private equity and investment banking boutique that specialized in the insurance industry. Before Northington, he was head of the investment banking and venture capital divisions of Conning & Company in Hartford, Connecticut; President of Beneficial Corporation’s insurance subsidiaries; and began his career as a litigation attorney in Connecticut. He received a J.D. from University of Connecticut and a B.S in history from Boston University.
Evercore’s Investment Banking business advises its clients on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, financings, public offerings, private placements and other strategic transactions and also provides institutional investors with high quality equity research, sales and trading execution that is free of the conflicts created by proprietary activities. Evercore’s Investment Management business comprises wealth management, institutional asset management and private equity investing. Evercore serves a diverse set of clients around the world from 28 offices in North America, Europe, South America and Asia.