ZURICH, 19 October 2017 – Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW) has founded a new platform for its facultative reinsurance business in the German-speaking DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). The world-leading company in the area of advisory, broking and solutions enlisted the support of Gerhard Hurek and Željko Panić, two experienced sector specialists, to set up the Munich-based hub.
The new network is aimed at further improving the offering from Willis Towers Watson in the area of corporate risk & broking in Western Europe, by optimising intermediation solutions through facultative reinsurance. The hub is a significant investment in the global corporate strategy of Willis Towers Watson. It is based upon the global reach, the specialised broker network and the company’s analytical expertise.
Gerhard Hurek is responsible for the network since 1 October, as Head of DACH Facultative Reinsurance. Previously, for more than ten years Hurek held a leading position at MAPFRE RE for its facultative reinsurance business for Germany, Austria and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Prior to this he worked for 25 years in various leading underwriting and customer management functions at Swiss Re.
Hurek will also be joined by Željko Panić as Executive Director: Panić is also moving from MAPFRE RE, where he has worked as Head of Treaty Business for the CEE countries for the last ten years, prior to which he also worked at Swiss Re and Bavarian Re. The new hub will report to Mathias Pahl and Ghassan Mansour.
Peter S. Philipp, Head of Corporate Risk & Broking at Willis Towers Watson Switzerland, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Gerhard and Zeljko to the team. Their combined experience and excellent reputation in the market will help us to position us as an enabler for facultative reinsurance in Switzerland and the DACH region. In doing so we are able to offer our customers added value and better solutions in an increasingly challenging market environment."
Ghassan Mansour, Managing Director Corporate Risk & Broking and Regional Head of Facultative Reinsurance for Western Europe at Willis Towers Watson, says: “We are sending a clear message to the market that we have the drive and determination to become the leading facultative broker for the DACH region. Our aim is to support insurance companies with their strategic projects through the implementation of sophisticated solutions. We will achieve this thanks to our analytical know-how combined with the experience of Gerhard and Zeljko as well as our broad regional intermediation services.“
