JLT TAKES AON EXECUTIVES TO EXPAND US SPECIALTY

Jardine Lloyd Thompson has unveiled an expansion of its US specialty business as the basis for its plan to challenge the position of rival global brokers in the US. The broker said it will expand its US activities to cover energy, construction, financial lines, credit, political and security and aerospace. JLT said growth in specialty business over recent years has given the broker the brand, size, geographical reach and staff to become a global specialty business and meet the demands of its clients to create an alternative to other global brokers in the US. The announcement follows JLT’s acquisition of Towers Watson Re at the end of last year. The group said “the opportunity JLT has to drive growth and win market share has allowed us to recruit a very strong leadership team to drive the success of our US expansion plan”. Two Aon executives have been named to head up the US expansion. Michael Rice has been appointed CEO of JLT Specialty Insurance Services Inc and Pat Donnelly has been named as chairman. The group forecast a net investment of £50m between 2015 and 2017 to finance the expansion and expects the business to contribute profits from 2018. At the same time, JLT has announced several senior management appointments. Mark Drummond Brady has been named as Deputy Group CEO and will sit on the executive committee of both the new US specialty operation and the board of the merged JLT Specialty/Lloyd & Partners business. Mike Reynolds has been appointed global CEO of JLT Towers Re.