Willis Towers Watson appoints head of investments for Asia Pacific

Broker Willis Towers Watson has appointed Taro Ogai as head of investments for Asia Pacific, based in Tokyo.

Ogai will succeed Naomi Denning, managing director and head of the Asia Pacific investment business, who is leaving the company after 23 years.

Ogai has most recently led efforts to build the company’s investment solutions capability in Japan while serving a number of large clients as trusted adviser. Previously, he served as managing consultant for the diverse Willis Towers Watson business in Japan for three years, and prior to that he was the leader of the Investment team in Tokyo for six years.

Chris Ford, global head of investment, said: "Taro’s all-round business and client experience make him well suited to take on the role of Asia Pacific regional investment business leader. His appointment comes at an exciting time as we continue our transition from a pure advice business to being a leading investment solutions firm using both advice and implementation capabilities.”

Meanwhile, Jayne Bok has been appointed as head of investments for Asia. Bok will be responsible for Willis Towers Watson’s investment activities in Asia Pacific outside of Japan and Australia. Based in Hong Kong, Bok will start in this newly-created role from July and will report to Ogai.

Bok will transition from her current role as Willis Towers Watson’s head of sovereign advisory for Asia, where she has been responsible for advising a wide range of the most sophisticated sovereign entities in Asia Pacific on their investment arrangements. Previously, she successfully built the company’s Korean investment practice into the leading investment consultancy in Korea.

"The needs of Willis Towers Watson’s clients in Asia Pacific have rapidly evolved in recent years as they face increasingly complex risks in a low yield environment, and wide ranging investment decisions, with limited resources and skills to deal with this,” Ford said.

“Where they have previously turned to us to advise and provide intellectual capital to aid each individual decision, there is a growing realisation that this approach is not manageable or sustainable in the longer term. As a result, clients are now frequently asking us to take on more of the decision making and execution on their behalf, including building better investment solutions. The appointments of Taro and Jayne will help us to meet these needs.”

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