CHICAGO - Chicago Treasurer Stephanie Neely will join Allstate as a vice president responsible for the firm's strategic direction and management of liquidity, capital, ratings and corporate structure issues.
"We are pleased that Stephanie is joining Allstate and look forward to benefiting from her financial management expertise and broad leadership capabilities, which she demonstrated most recently in pioneering financial literacy programs on behalf of the city of Chicago and its schools," the firm's chief financial officer, Steven Shebik, said in a statement.
Neely, a former public finance banker, announced in October that she was stepping down from the elected post but did not say where she was headed.
Former Mayor Richard Daley tapped Neely for the post in 2006 as the city headed into election season after then-treasurer Judy Rice resigned. She was elected in her own right in 2007 and re-elected in 2011.
Neely's resignation takes effect Nov. 30 and she will join Allstate the next day.
She previously worked for Northern Trust Global Investments, Blaylock & Partners LP, the former LaSalle Financial Services Inc., Jackson Securities LLC and the former Banc One Capital Markets Inc.
As treasurer, Neely manages the city's $6.5 billion investment portfolio and sits on the city's pension fund boards. She led a micro-loan program that provides affordable capital to small businesses and started the Office of Financial Inclusion to help people re-enter the financial mainstream. She also sits on the Chicago Infrastructure Trust's advisory board.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has tapped Kurt Summers, a former chief-of-staff to County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, to replace Neely. Summers currently is a senior vice-president at Grosvenor Capital Management.
"Kurt Summers has the experience, the values, and the integrity we need of everyone who holds public office," Emanuel said in a statement formally announcing Summer's selection Wednesday. "I am confident that he will become a vital member of the city's financial team and help manage the city's investments effectively, efficiently, and in a way that promotes opportunity for every Chicagoan."
Prior to his positions at Grosvenor and the county, he was a managing director at Ryan Specialty Group, a specialty insurance services firm. In addition, he previously served as director, chief financial officer, and head of business development at the Balton Corporation.
