Candace Straight is a private investor and investment-banking consultant specializing in the insurance industry.  Throughout her successful career she has worked for numerous corporations including, Merck & Co. Inc., headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and Bankers Trust Company.  In addition, Straight has recently served as an Advisory Director of Securitas Capital, L.L.C., a global private equity investment firm specializing in insurance and financial services related industries.  Straight is also a director of Providence Washington, a property and casualty insurance company, Summit Global Partners, an insurance brokerage firm, Proformance Insurance Company, a NJ based personal and commercial lines insurer, and Neuberger and Berman’s mutual funds which have assets of approximately $25 billion.   

From 1987 to 1996, Straight was a principal of Head Company, a merchant banking firm specializing in the insurance industry. The Head Group acquired numerous companies including Integon Corporation, Sphere Drake, Marketing One, and Ango American. Straight was President of Integon Corporation from 1990 to 1992 and served as a director until 1995. Straight also served as a Director of Integon Life, Marketing One, and Drake Holdings.

In 1982, Straight was appointed by Governor Thomas Kean to be a Trustee of the Public Employees Retirement System of the State of New Jersey, serving until 1988.  Straight was Co-Chair of Governor Christine Todd Whitman’s Budget Advisory Committee and served on Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s Budget Transition Team. 

Appointed by Governor Whitman to the Board of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in 1994, Straight was Vice Chairman from 1996 to January 2003.  She also served on Mayor Guiliani and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Private/Public Initiatives Council and is a former trustee of the New Jersey Network Foundation and a past President of the Financial Women’s Association of New York. 

Straight served as the Co-Chair of the Republican Party of the State of New Jersey in 2004 and was a member of the Bush-Cheney 2004 National Finance Committee. Straight is the past President and co-founder of the WISH List, a national donor network that supports pro-choice Republican women for high political office. Straight is also a founder of the Christine Todd Whitman Series Excellence in Public Service.