Willis Re launches global life reinsurance practice
The London-headquartered broker, a joint venture between Bain Capital Insurance and Willis Towers Watson, established the practice to support life insurers, reinsurers, and pension providers in a challenging market environment.
Willis Re has established a Global Life Reinsurance Practice to deliver independent advisory and broking services to life insurers, reinsurers, and pension and annuity providers worldwide. The initiative follows the appointment of Christian Howells as head of life reinsurance and is designed to address growing demand for advanced risk transfer, capital management, and balance sheet optimisation support.
Developed in collaboration with Willis Towers Watson’s insurance consulting and technology division, the new practice leverages analytical resources across mortality, morbidity, longevity, and pension risk transfer. Its scope encompasses analytics, funded and capital-motivated transactions, in-force risk management, portfolio structuring, pricing support, strategic risk transfer advice, and both traditional and structured reinsurance.
Howells joins Willis Re from Macquarie Asset Management, where he served as head of international insurance solutions. Prior to his tenure at Macquarie, he spent more than 16 years at Schroders in senior roles focused on global insurance clients and initiatives within the Asia-Pacific region.
In a statement, Howells noted that life insurers are operating in a market defined by capital pressures, regulatory change, longevity risk, and accelerating product innovation. He described the new life practice as a mechanism to support clients beyond the transaction itself, combining market insight, analytical rigour, and strategic advice to help businesses capitalise on opportunities and strengthen overall performance.
Willis Re, which was established in 2024 as a joint venture between Bain Capital Insurance and Willis Towers Watson, stated that the new unit broadens its position in the international reinsurance market. The London-headquartered broker operates in an environment characterised by capital pressures and regulatory change, where the role of a technically differentiated reinsurance broker is increasingly critical for companies seeking to manage risk and unlock capital.
Separately, Willis, another business within the Willis Towers Watson group, has partnered with embedded insurance infrastructure provider Kayna and construction workforce platform Kwant to launch KwantSure. This digital insurance programme is integrated into Kwant's workforce management platform, allowing subcontractors to obtain necessary insurance cover for project compliance through the same system used by general contractors for workforce operations and certificate of insurance tracking.
The original article was created and published by Life Insurance International, a brand owned by GlobalData.
