JLT Group is expanding its US specialty capabilities and merging JLT Specialty with Lloyd & Partners.
The move will see “significant” expansion for the group’s US activities into its specialty areas, including energy, construction, financial lines, credit, political and security, and aerospace.
JLT will invest £50 million into the expansion between 2015 and 2017. It anticipates seeing a return on that investment from 2018.
It has appointed Michael Rice as CEO and Pat Donnelly as president and deputy CEO of JLT Specialty Insurance Services, subject to the pair fulfilling their existing contractual obligations.
Mark Drummond Brady, deputy group CEO of JLT, an appointment he has been given with immediate effect, and Jonathan Palmer-Brown, a member of the JLT Group executive committee, will support the specialty business’ growth plans.
JLT will also appoint a new non-executive director with specific knowledge and experience of the US insurance market to the JLT Group board.
Mike Reynolds is appointed global CEO of JLT Towers Re with immediate effect. Ross Howard remains as chairman, with Alistair Lockhart-Smith continuing in his role as deputy chairman of the global business.
The group said the success and growth that its specialty-led strategy has enjoyed is a main reason for the expansion drive, as is the support it will give to the JLT’s reinsurance ambitions following its acquisition of Towers Watson Re in 2013.
On top of the US expansion, JLT Specialty is also merging with the group’s wholesale broker, Lloyd & Partners, to create a single specialty business “of scale and distinctive capability”.
JLT believes the merger will create “a business of scale and international reach, an increasingly important factor for both clients and markets”. The Lloyd & Partners brand will be retained to service and develop the group’s independent wholesale client base.
Subject to regulatory approval, John Lloyd, CEO of Lloyd & Partners, will become CEO of JLT Specialty. Adrian Girling, chairman of JLT Specialty, will become chairman of Lloyd & Partners.
The merger will take effect from 1 January 2015, at which point Lloyd and Girling will become CEO and chairman respectively of the combined business, which will trade as JLT Specialty.
Commenting on the announcements, Dominic Burke, CEO of JLT Group, said: “The expansion of JLT’s US specialty capability builds on the success we have had over recent years and is the next natural step in our evolution. Under Michael Rice’s dynamic leadership, we are committed to building the pre-eminent specialty team in the US and anticipate a very positive response from experienced professionals interested in joining us.”
“The US is a market in which we see a significant opportunity and demand for JLT’s distinctive offering and to which we are firmly committed following our successful acquisition of Towers Watson Re last year.”
“The merger of JLT Specialty and Lloyd & Partners creates a real powerhouse in the market in our chosen specialty areas under John Lloyd’s proven leadership. Harnessing their market leading capabilities into a single business promises to enhance their ability to meet their clients’ international demands, pursue our group strategy and deliver market leading organic growth.”
