Willis North America has announced the appointment of Colleen McCarthy as its new director of communications. She joins the firm from leading commercial insurance publication Business Insurance, leaving behind her role as associate editor. Earlier in her career McCarthy worked in television journalism, holding positions as a reporter and news anchor in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. McCarthy, who is to be based in New York City, will be... 

Willis has appointed Alastair Burns as managing director of its Insurance Facilities Practice, which is part of Willis Global Placement, a division that co-ordinates worldwide insurance placement strategy. Mr Burns is moving from a 20-year stint with Marsh and will take up his London-based post in September, reporting to Dominic Samengo-Turner, chief executive officer, Global Placement. According to the broker’s president, Grahame Millwater,... 

Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings plc has reported its financial results for Q2 and the first six months of 2010. Willis earnt net profits of $89m, or $0.52 per diluted share, in the second quarter, a marginal rise on the $87m net profit ($0.52 per diluted share) made in the corresponding period last year. Revenues for the quarter increased by $15m to …  Read More →

Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has announced the appointment of Michael K. Neborak as executive vice president and group chief financial officer. Neborak will join Willis on 6 July, and report directly to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joe Plumeri. He will be based in New York, as well as working from the firm’s London offices, and have a seat on the Executive Committee. In his new position Neborak takes on responsibility... 

Willis Group has received official approval from local authorities to open a representative office in Kazakhstan, the third such office to be opened by the group in the former Soviet Union, in addition to its branches in Russia and the Ukraine. The broker’s London-based Eastern Europe executive director, Simon Aubrey-Jones, is leading the venture, having extensive knowledge of the region. The new office is to be located in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s... 

Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has revealed that the Deepwater Horizon and Aban Pearl drilling rig losses have given upstream energy insurers a record breaking monthly financial hit of $795m. The losses have eroded stability in the market and driven up rates, with insurers now looking to increase rates for new business. The Aban Pearl rig was situated off Venezuela and insured to the tune of $235m, with the now infamous Deepwater... 

Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings plc has reported its financial results for Q1 2010. Willis achieved net income of $204m, equating to $1.2 per diluted share, a modest rise on the $192m ($1.15 per diluted share) recorded in Q1 2009. Quarterly net income was hit by charge of $12m ($0.07 per diluted share) relating to the devaluation of the Venezuelan currency, and a …  Read More →

Aon Corporation has announced its financial results for 2009 and for the final quarter of the year. Attributable net income in Q4 was recorded at $198m, equating to $0.69 per share, comparing very favourably with the $6m loss incurred in the same quarter in 2008. However, for the year as a whole net income fell by almost half from $1.5bn in 2008 to $747m in 2009. President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Case has said that the firm’s quarterly... 

Willis Group Holdings plc has announced the appointment of Stephen E. Wood to the role of interim chief financial officer. He joined the firm four years ago, and brought with him almost two decades of industry experience. Previously, he had worked for Annuities at GE Life (UK), a subsidiary of General Electric, as divisional chief operating officer. Wood, the firm’s global group financial controller, will take up his new position on 19 February.... 

Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings plc has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2009, and for the year as a whole. For the quarter, the firm enjoyed net profits of $79m, or $0.47 per diluted share, significantly better than the $61m or $0.37 per diluted share made in Q4 2008. It was also a marginal improvement on Q3 2009, when the …  Read More →