WTW to slow divestitures as it reverses post-Aon deal talent drain: CEO

Global insurance broker  WTW, formerly  Willis Towers Watson, will put the brakes on selling books of business now it has stemmed staff losses following the break-down of the planned merger with rival Aon, the group’s chief executive officer has said.

“We believe that book sales should revert to historical levels,” CEO Carl Hess (pictured) told analysts and investors at an industry conference hosted by Bank of America Securities. “We don’t anticipate that being a feature going forward.”

These divestitures may have padded financial results in 2021, but the lost revenue will now constitute a “headwind for us in 2022,” Hess admitted.

He explain that the broker had pursued this strategy in response to talent scouts plucking WTW production staff while the Aon merger faltered. WTW sold books of business on the assumption that business would otherwise leave anyway, following departing colleagues.

“The cow is already well out of the barn and you are talking about how to make sure you are getting some value for a book that is leaving anyway,” Hess explained. He called the practice “pretty standard to the US producer model”.

WTW has been keen to replace lost staff since mid-year 2021, a recruitment process that continues full-steam, Hess reiterated. “While we are making good headway, we have a way to go yet,” he said of talent onboarding.

“We anticipate that over the course of the year, it will cease to be as large of a headwind as it has been.”

Hess had stressed the hiring story as recently as the February 8 announcement of Q4 earnings.

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