The Hartford Insurance Group: CEO History

Recruited from Bank of America during the nadir of the 2008 financial crisis, Liam McGee inherited a company that had required a federal bailout to survive. He immediately instituted a severe, defensive restructuring plan, cutting operational expenses and shrinking the company's global footprint. His most consequential decision was to abandon the company's long-standing life insurance and variable annuity businesses, determining that the capital requirements and inherent market volatility of those products were incompatible with the survival of the core property and casualty operations.

A career executive who rose through the ranks over three decades, Ramani Ayer led The Hartford during the economic boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Seeking to accelerate revenue growth beyond traditional commercial insurance, he directed an expansion into the complex, equity-linked variable annuity market. He also authorized the aggressive global expansion of the company's wealth management products, particularly into the Japanese market.

Frahm became chief executive of ITT Hartford in 1988 and led it through its 1995 spin-off from ITT Corporation as an independent listed company.