Three senior Marsh Canada executives move to Willis Towers Watson

Alexandra (Lexie) Kindbom, until recently managing director of Marsh Canada, is now in charge of financial, executive and professional risks in Canada for Willis Towers Watson, a major competitor to Marsh.

Two other former Marsh Canada executives – Susan Finbow and Andrew Brown – are also joining Willis Towers Watson Canada.

Kindbom will oversee all financial, executive and professional (FINEX) as well as property and casualty placements in Canada, the commercial brokerage said in a press release Wednesday, which does not identify the new executives’ previous employer by name.

A former insurance defence lawyer, Kindbom says on her LinkedIn profile that she joined Marsh in 2003.

Kindbom is a “nationally-recognized expert in the field of director and officer liability, risk and insurance,” says CPA Canada, which accredits chartered professional accountants, on its website.

Brown is now FINEX FI lead relationship manager for Willis Towers Watson Canada. He will be responsible for servicing large and complex clients as well as overseeing new business development, the brokerage says.

Brown says on his LinkedIn profile he was Marsh Canada’s senior vice president, financial institutions and professional services from November, 2014 until now.

Finbow is now Willis Towers Watson’s head of FI Industry, Canada. Until recently she was Marsh’s financial institutions practice leader, Canada.

“Finbow will oversee a growth strategy for the region and assist with developing creative risk solutions and alternative risk financing strategies for financial institutions across the FINEX and Property and Casualty (P&C) product lines,” Willis Towers Watson said Wednesday.

Marsh’s parent company – Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. – bought rival Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc. That US$5.6 billion deal closed this past April. Both Marsh and JLT have numerous commercial brokerage offices in Canada.

In the P&C brokerage market in 2018, Marsh & McLennan and Willis Towers Watson ranked first and third worldwide, A.M. Best Company Inc. said in an article published July 1.

Worldwide, Marsh & McLennan and Willis Towers Watson had US$14.95 billion and US$8.61 billion in revenue respectively. Aon PLC placed second with US$10.77 billion.

The hiring this month of Kindbom, Brown and Finbow “strengthens our position as trusted risk advisors to Canada’s leading financial institutions for exceptional insurance products, programs and risk solutions,” John Haas, Willis Towers Watson’s head of corporate risk and broking (CRB) Canada, stated Wednesday in the release.

“As we grow our financial institutions capabilities across Canada, we are committed to investing in outstanding talent who will deliver meaningful results to clients in the region and across the globe,” stated Allison Barrett, global head of FINEX FI for Willis Towers Watson.

Findbow, Brown and Kindbom will report to Haas and Barrett.