The Assuris Board of Directors announced Nov. 4 the appointment of Paul Petrelli as the organization's next President & CEO.

Paul Petrelli

Assuris is an independent, not-for-profit, industry-funded compensation organization. Its mission is to protect Canadian policyholders if their life insurance company fails.

Petrelli will join Assuris on Jan. 4, 2021 following Gordon Dunning's retirement at the end of this year. The Assuris board thanked Dunning for his almost 30 years of service with the organization.

Petrelli has more than 20 years of life insurance experience, having held a wide variety of senior leadership roles at Sun Life. Most recently, he was responsible for the global M&A, securities, technology and intellectual property legal teams, corporate secretarial and legal operations. His experience also includes being Sun Life's Global Head of Compliance, CFO of its Canadian business and Head of Investor Relations.

A strong understanding of the regulatory framework

"Mr. Petrelli brings a deep knowledge of the life insurance industry and a strong understanding of the regulatory framework at the Federal and Provincial levels," said Dan Thornton, Chair of the Board. "Mr. Petrelli's unique combination of skills will be a tremendous asset to Assuris as we continue to focus on being prepared and provide better protection for Canadian policyholders in the unlikely event that a member life insurance company fails."

Petrelli holds a B.A. (Honours) from the University of Toronto in 1991, an LL.B. from the University of Windsor School of Law. He became admitted to Law Society of Upper Canada as a member in 1997. He also obtained a Master of Law degree from the University of Toronto School of Law in 2019, specializing in Innovation, Technology and Law.