Guy Carpenter launches new facultative unit under Willis Towers Watson hire

Reinsurance broker  Guy Carpenter & Company, a business of Marsh & McLennan Companies, has launched a new hybrid solutions UK, a division of GC Fac, with the appointment of Laurence Upton to lead the operation.

Upton has been appointed as managing director and head of hybrid solutions UK. He joins from Willis Towers Watson where he was head of London Market fac. He will be responsible for growing the new division, enhancing existing relationships and developing innovative facultative solutions. Based in London, he will report to Dominic Samengo-Turner, global head of facultative, Guy Carpenter.

The senior team will also include Jason Higgins, who has been appointed as deputy head of hybrid solutions UK, and Alex Groves as senior vice president. Higgins joins from Thompson Heath and Bond, and Groves from Willis Towers Watson.

The hybrid solutions UK team will focus on the development of semi-automatic facultative solutions that sit between traditional facultative transactions and treaty programmes. The company said developing hybrid products will enable GC Fac to provide greater customisation opportunities to its clients in response to their evolving coverage requirements.

Samengo-Turner said: “Hybrid Solutions UK has been established in response to increasing cedent demand for more efficient and flexible solutions that effectively bridge the gap between traditional facultative solutions and treaty products. We have brought together a market-leading team in the facultative arena and under Laurence’s leadership we aim to deliver precisely structured and highly cost-effective risk transfer solutions.”