Willis reinsurance arm appoints CEO

Faber Global, the facultative and wholesale reinsurance arm of Willis Group, has appointed Alistair Lester as chief executive officer (CEO). The current Faber CEO, Jason Howard, will become CEO of the newly-formed Acappella Group.

Acappella is funded by Willis and property and casualty insurer Ironshore. Once fully established, it will combine underwriting, capital markets, analytical and distribution capabilities to the market.

Lester will report to Steve Hearn, chairman and CEO of Willis Global.

Lester joined Willis in 2004, initially as head of the European merger and acquisition (M&A) practice and subsequently international head of M&A. He then held positions as a member of Willis’s FINEX Global executive committee, CEO Willis Global Solutions and most recently as interim CEO of Willis Netherlands.

Howard’s appointment as CEO Acappella Group follows three years as Faber CEO. Previously, he was CEO of Willis Re’s international and specialty reinsurance broking arm.

David Indge recently joined from Lloyd’s of London where he spent over a decade working in the performance management directorate, first as head of underwriting performance and then head of class of business. Prior to Lloyd’s he spent twenty years in underwriting roles at a variety of reinsurers.

Hearn said: “Faber has made tremendous progress in recent years, using a world class platform and well developed distribution network to bring the benefits of global market access and on the ground expertise to clients around the world. Alistair brings a wealth of global client expertise, essential to continuing Faber’s impressive growth in international markets.”

Lester said: “Faber has established itself as a world leader in both facultative and wholesale reinsurance. It brings the powerful combination of an independent trading ethos backed by the resources of a global industry leader to our clients. I look forward to building on Faber’s strong growth record.”