Aetna's Williams to retire, Bertolini to be new chief at Health Insurer

Aetna Inc., the third-largest U.S. health insurer, said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ronald A. Williams will step down and be replaced by Mark T. Bertolini, the company’s president.

Bertolini, 54, joined Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna in February 2003 from Cigna Corp. He was appointed president in 2007, and will take over from Williams at the end of next month. The new CEO will be paid a salary of $1 million, $95,000 less than Williams, said Fred Laberge, an Aetna spokesman today. Bertolini will be eligible for a bonus of at least three times his salary if he meets “performance goals,” Laberge said.