Willis adds two, strengthens WCMA’s reinsurance capital markets team

Global insurance and reinsurance broker Willis Group has added two new hires to its capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) unit as it seeks to capitalise on the sector’s growth.

Firstly, WCMA has added a new Senior Vice President in Asia. Rui Huang joins WCMA and will be based in the firms Hong Kong office. He will be tasked with driving the continuing development of WCMA’s capital markets and strategic advisory business in Asia.

Huang’s background is in both investment banking and insurance, most recently working for investment company Temasek in Singapore, where he was responsible for sourcing and originating insurance investments in the Financial Institutions Group. Before that, Huang spent more than eight years as an investment banker with an insurance focus at leading investment banking firms Morgan Stanley, Rothschild, Dresdner Kleinwort and Bank of America.

Michael Guo, Head of WCMA Asia, commented; “Asia represents a key area of growth both in terms of investment banking and insurance, as economies in the region continue to emerge and grow. Rui’s extensive experience in both of these sectors will be a key component in helping us to increase our value proposition to clients in the region.”

The second hire announced at WCMA is Quentin Perrot who will take on the role of Vice President of Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) in London. Perrot joins WCMA at the end of his notice period in May from BNP Paribas where he was responsible for leading the origination and structuring of ILS on a global basis. Before that, Perrot was a Credit Analyst with BNP, where he performed credit analyses and reviews for clients in the insurance sector across the UK, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

Bill Dubinsky, Head of ILS at WCMA, said; “Quentin will play a key role in helping us to continue developing our global ILS practice, in particular in Europe and Asia, where his ILS structuring experience will prove invaluable to Willis as we continue to grow our ILS business by delivering high quality advice, superior service and execution.”

Commenting on both appointments, Tony Ursano, CEO of WCMA, said: “Both our business in Asia and our ILS franchise represent significant growth opportunities. These appointments demonstrate our commitment to continue building a truly world-class insurance investment banking operation. I would like to welcome both Rui and Quentin to the team and express my confidence in the contribution that both will make as we work to deliver ever higher standards of service to our clients.”