Tom Wakefield is set to become the CEO of reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, after James Kent was promoted to a new role within Gallagher, as CEO of Global Insurance Strategic Relationships.
Kent will take responsibility for establishing and driving a framework that determines how Gallagher connects with its major strategic partners across the insurance and reinsurance eco-system.
This new role will include Kent having a focus on further investment in Gallagher’s capital advisory and portfolio solutions, with alternative capital relevance as well.
In his new position as CEO, Global Insurance Strategic Relationships, Kent will report jointly to Doug Howell and Tom Gallagher in this new role.
After a necessary transition period, Tom Wakefield, the current reinsurance CEO of Gallagher Re UK, will be appointed as successor to James Kent in the position of CEO of Gallagher Re.
Commenting on James’ new appointment, Pat Gallagher, Chairman, President and CEO of Gallagher, explained, “The acquisition of Willis Re has accelerated our ambition in the reinsurance space. Our goal to be the leading reinsurance intermediary is now stronger than ever, as it is evident that our carrier partners are faced with increasingly complicated challenges across the entire risk to capital spectrum and they need us to help them solve those challenges. By doing this, we will ensure an effective and competitive market for our clients.”
Tom Gallagher, CEO of Gallagher Global Brokerage, commented, “James has done an outstanding job leading and integrating Willis Re into Gallagher, which has Gallagher Re primed for continued growth and innovation. The newly formed global role will bring a single point of contact to Gallagher’s carrier relationships, to support growth ambitions across our core trading partnerships. I am delighted that James has agreed to drive this initiative forward across our organization and look forward to working even more closely together.”
Doug Howell, Gallagher Chief Financial Officer, said, “Gallagher Re analytics and insights have transformed and delivered many benefits to the Gallagher business that allow us to better serve our clients and our carrier partners. I am delighted to be working with James to formulate our capital advisory strategy to support (re)insurers seeking access to alternative sources of risk finance and investors seeking access to insurance risk as an asset class.”
James Kent stated, “Leading our reinsurance business for the last six years has been an honor, and it will continue to be so until I step into the new role. The most gratifying aspect has been the chance to represent our key stakeholders – our clients, markets and colleagues – who have remained fastidiously supportive of our
business. This new role allows the opportunity to spend more time with these stakeholders to bring an integrated platform for future success.”
