Willis refreshes global aviation line-up as it braces for 'challenging' market

Re/insurance broker Willis Towers Watson has bolstered its global aviation team by hiring a number of senior executives from Chubb, Marsh, AIG, Antares and Aon, in a bid to provide better renewals for clients in a challenging market environment.

In Great Britain, a new managing director John Wadhams has joined WTW from Chubb where he was chief underwriting officer for 15 years.

Paul Baker, previously from Marsh, and Aon's Neil Black have both been appointed executive directors of global aerospace, based in GB.

Ed Louth from Antares has made a move to WTW GB as head of airline broking.

A new US general aviation practice leader Lauren Escher has been appointed, who previously worked at both AIG and XL.

Lastly, David Boyle has been named new regional director for aerospace in Asia. Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, he was at Aon, Marsh and AIG Singapore.

The company stated that despite the challenging environment for aviation in general it has managed to strengthen its team with 45 appointments across all levels over the past 18 months.

John Rooley, chief executive of global aerospace at Willis Towers Watson, said: “Despite the intense competition in the insurance broker marketplace for talent and the current economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, our long-term strategy to build a diverse and innovative client-facing team, has established a first-class aerospace team of over 300 professionals across the globe.

"In a challenging market environment, our ability to draw on a vast resource of talent enables us to provide deep expertise and support to our clients across the aviation sector.”