Willis looks to ‘re-define facultative broking’ with Lloyd’s hire

Broker  Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has hired Lloyd’s syndicate 1856’s active underwriter as head of global facultative business.

Alex Shepherd joins WTW from ERS Group’s Lloyd’s syndicate Arcus 1856, which was rebranded as IQUW in July this year. As active underwriter, he was responsible for driving performance and growth across all classes.

Shepherd has 25 years of experience in the direct and facultative market across a number of lines of business, having held various roles at RenaissanceRe, Canopius, ACE Global Markets and Marsh.

“[Shepherd] has the experience and vision we need to move our Facultative business forward, leveraging the experience we have gained through creating and operating a truly connected and aligned global facultative business,” said Adam Garrard, global head of corporate risk and broking.

“He will also be harnessing our unrivalled in-house analytics capabilities to provide cedants with strategic consultancy combined with transactional broking. I am excited by the possibilities presented by bringing these skills together in a way that no other broking house has managed and the significant value we can create for our cedants. We really are creating something special.”

Alastair Swift, head of CRB for Great Britain at WTW, added: “In talking with our Cedant Customers they are looking for greater value from their Facultative brokers. At WTW we have invested heavily in our in-house analytics, which means we are uniquely placed to provide the advisory services that will enable our customers to buy their Facultative covers far more strategically than they have in the past. Alex’s appointment is a key step for us in redefining the role of the Facultative broker.”

Shepherd commented: “I am excited to be joining WTW to lead the global facultative team and build out the facultative team of the future. I am confident that we will re-define facultative broking, using the data and analytics capability available within WTW. We will be breaking down the traditional barriers that our competitors can’t see past to deliver truly unique products that will benefit our cedants.”

Shepherd will report into Garret Gaughan, WTW's head of global markets P&C hub and facultative.

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