Insurance and Financial Services Cluster

The Connecticut Insurance and Financial Services (IFS) Cluster, formed in 2002, is a strategic corporate initiative designed to create a stronger insurance and financial services industry and a more robust economy in Connecticut. The IFS Cluster is a partnership of leaders in business, government, and academia who are dedicated to fostering growth among all segments of the state’s insurance and financial services industry.

The Connecticut IFS Cluster’s concrete initiatives will improve the business climate for current and prospective IFS companies. The Connecticut IFS Cluster provides the framework for cooperation and collaboration of industry leaders throughout the state. It works to create competitive advantages in business attraction and retention, recruitment, and education of a trained workforce, increased productivity, nurtured innovation, and enhanced workplace environments.

The Connecticut IFS Cluster, led by Executive Director, Robert Flynn, has grown considerably since its inception and now boasts 31 corporate sponsor organizations.

Collective Initiatives

The Connecticut IFS Cluster is working to strengthen the state’s industry in the following areas:

*"Recruitment Advantage": Extending competitive advantage in the recruitment of trained and talented employees, resulting in an increasingly strong workforce.

*"Business Growth": Attracting IFS businesses to the state, adding vibrancy to the state’s economy.

*"Comprehensive Industry Support": Increasing the number and scope of IFS support firms throughout the state, improving operational efficiencies.

*"Workforce Development": Expanding strengths found within Connecticut’s IFS workforce, preparing Connecticut’s companies for tomorrow’s marketplace.

*"Tax & Regulatory Advantages": Enhancing the business climate for IFS companies, expanding the competitive position of Connecticut’s companies.

*"Continuous Integrated Support": Integrating industry, government, and education into a systematic network of support for Connecticut’s IFS companies, marking Connecticut as a Center of Excellence for the IFS industry.

hared Vision

A dynamic and expanding IFS industry in the State of Connecticut, marked by global recognition of the state as an IFS Center of Excellence. A disciplined system of corporate, education, and government collaboration that enhances the competitive strength of each IFS company, increases employment opportunities, expands workforce diversity in the IFS sector, and develops a pool of qualified and experienced employees in the state by:

*Enhancing and protecting the business climate for insurance and financial services companies in the state of Connecticut, and,

*Collaboratively addressing trends, changes, threats, and opportunities that impact the industry and state.

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