Born in San Francisco, Al Connell is a native to the Bay Area. He started working with Farmers Insurance Group in 1978 and opened his first office in 1979. His years of experience give Connell & Associates Insurance Brokers a strong foundation of experience and strength. In September of 2015 after over 37 years of operating a very successful Farmers Insurance agency Al left Farmers Insurance Group to pursue and develop more of the Brokerage side of his business in an effort to provide more choices and options from a multitude of insurance companies for his clients. Al felt that this change would not only better serve his client’s needs in the long run but it also leverages Connell & Associates Insurance Brokers many years of experience in the industry to provide customized insurance planning tailored to our client’s needs while giving them the most bang for their buck.

The team at Connell & Associates Insurance Brokers knows people have many choices on where to buy insurance. So why should they choose us? Because we provide them with the most value for their investment and go that extra mile each and every day to provide real value to them. We strive every day to do what’s right for our clients and in doing so we believe we bring valuable advice and support to them – not just at the time they buy the insurance, but even more important is that we will be there when they need us, for example when they have a claim or an insurance problem. And when we make a commitment, we stand by it. Our goal is for every single client to receive second-to-none customer service and have a completely rewarding experience.

We make a promise to each and every one of our clients that we will strive every day to be the very best we can be for our clients.

Where did these values come from? It all started with founder Al Connell’s father, Jack Connell. He also owned his own business for many years and from this stems Al’s own business philosophy: Your Word is Your Bond.

Connell & Associates Insurance Brokers is truly a family business. Our licensed team consists of Jacqueline Machado, Al’s daughter, Customer Success Manager who has been with the agency since 2000. Erik Connell, Al’s son, is an Account Solution Executive and has been with the agency since 2004. Danice Pons, is a Customer Success Representative and has been with us since 2013. Caron Soenen, who recently joined us in September 2025 as our dedicated Commercial Account Manager. Lisa Arens, has rejoined us in November 2025 as our Personal Lines Account Manager. Joe Cruz, joined us in March 2026 as an additional Customer Success Representative to help maintain the same level of service our clients have come to expect over the years.

Our team is built on the philosophy that our clients are the top priority of the agency and deserve the very best we can give them every day and every time we get the opportunity to work with them.