By Aidan Gregory

March 18 - (The Insurer) - More than three months have now passed since WTW confirmed its intention to return to treaty reinsurance broking via a joint venture with Bain Capital, with no further news to date regarding the broker's plans.

• Willis Re 2.0 faces intense competition for talent and market share

• Reinsurance broking market highly consolidated; top four players hold 90% share

• Success depends on targeting new thematics like cyber and climate risks

WTW has yet to announce who will lead the business, and how it intends to develop a competitive position in what remains a highly consolidated market.

Whoever does take charge will be tasked with building market share in what is already an intensively competitive landscape for top talent.

WTW previously owned the third-largest reinsurance broker prior to the $3.25 billion sale of Willis Re to Arthur J Gallagher in 2021. With Howden Re having since consolidated its position as the fourth-largest reinsurance broker, the top four (led by Aon and Guy Carpenter) now hold a 90% market share, based on The Insurer's most recent survey of the marketplace compiled in September 2024.

Disrupting the status quo via organic growth will as a result be challenging, prompting speculation around whether WTW, with Bain's backing, will explore M&A as a route to growth.

While reinsurance broking is dominated by the major players listed above, several smaller brokers have shown it is possible to enjoy success in the space in recent years.

These include BMS's growth in North America, Acrisure Re in advisory and capital markets, and Lockton Re and Miller in specialty.

“It is a relatively short list of brokers with any kind of scale,” Simon Headley, CEO of Acrisure Re, told The Insurer. “Most of that is in the hands of long-term ownership, where I do not see any appetite for them to divest from their reinsurance broker. So that's all the names that we know, which includes ourselves, Lockton, and Howden.”

Lockton Re, which has been built almost from scratch since 2019, hiring over 450 staff, is among the privately-owned brokers that has benefited from the dislocation caused by consolidation at the top end of the market over recent years.

“There was a lack of choice in reinsurance brokers in 2019,” said Keith Harrison, Lockton Re’s international CEO, in an interview at the end of February. “That was really the opportunity for Lockton to invest heavily in the reinsurance business.”

However, in 2025 Harrison believes Willis Re 2.0 will face much more difficulty in terms of the fight for talent in a relatively stable marketplace which has already seen numerous well-established challengers emerge.

“Five years ago it was a lot easier because there was a lot of disruption going on,” he said. “That space is filled by others now already. It’s definitely talent that is the tricky thing; it's not access to capital.”

There is also currently little detail on what lines of business the new incarnation of Willis Re will target.

A London-based FIG advisory banker, who asked not to be named, said that the success or failure of Willis Re 2.0 will depend on whether the venture “targets new thematics,” which are not as well served by the market such as cyber and climate risks, instead of seeking to emulate the past.

“If they’re attacking new thematics they can catch up very quickly, because everyone is close to the start,” they said.

WTW looks set to remain tight-lipped about its reinsurance plans until it is in a position to name who will lead the operation.

“We have yet to announce a leader for that business and when we do, I’m sure we will be in a position to provide more detail around future strategy,” a spokesperson for the broker told The Insurer. “The timeline is determined by finding the right leadership candidate.”

A spokesperson for Bain said via email that it had no update to share on the progress of the joint venture at the present time.

Until further announcements emerge, speculation will likely continue across the industry around how WTW intends to grow the venture, the lines of business it will seek to play in, and whether it go on the hunt for acquisitions.

The banker added that Willis’ return to treaty reinsurance is a “threat” to the established order of the sector and is a “huge opportunity” for WTW with Bain’s financing.

Beyond a few lines in WTW statement last year, the market currently has very few details about what the new venture will look like.

“What everyone's waiting for really at this point is for WTW to announce some further plans around what they want to do in the reinsurance broking space,” said Headley. “It's not going to be easy for them.”