Andrew Krasner, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Co-head of Corporate Development at global insurance broker WTW, revealed today that the firm is happy with Willis Re’s participation at the recent January 2026 renewals.
After completing the sale of the treaty reinsurance operations of Willis Re to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in late 2021, WTW confirmed in late 2024 that it intended to re-enter the market via a joint venture with private investment firm, Bain Capital.
Since then, Willis Re has made numerous hires as the build-out continues. And in April of last year, WTW’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Carl Hess, stressed that the joint venture is progressing well.
During the recently held WTW fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call with analysts, leaders at WTW were questioned on Willis Re, specifically if anything had been learned from the 1.1 2026 reinsurance renewals.
“So, we’re very happy with the trajectory of the build-out of Willis Re, it is going according to plan. And the business was able to participate in the 1.1 renewal cycle, and we’re very happy with how that went from a business and operational perspective,” said CFO Krasner.
In today’s results announcement, WTW revealed that it expects Willis Re to be a headwind on Adjusted Diluted EPS of ~$0.30 this year, stating that the remaining equity investments in the interest in earnings of associates line are not expected to be material in 2026.
Krasner emphasised on the call that WTW will continue to make investments in its reinsurance joint venture as it scales its newly launched commercial operations.
During the Q&A, WTW was also quizzed on whether a fully operational Willis Re would make the group incrementally competitive in winning some of the digital infrastructure business, an area WTW highlighted a strong and growing presence, supporting five of the 10 largest data centre developers globally.
Lucy Clark, President of Risk & Broking at WTW, responded: “In terms of will the reinsurance business be supportive? Sure. But, we already have a ton of work in that segment, and really using the work that we’ve done with some of our largest global owners and developers, plus many of the top data centre construction companies. The guys have just announced that they’ve developed an integrated global risk framework to respond to this sector’s risk profile, one that is increasingly systemic, interconnected and difficult to address through traditional insurance solutions by themselves.
“Their framework is designed to address the full spectrum of risk facing data centre owners, operators and investors across the entire life cycle of the project, from development and construction through steady-state operations. The framework really gives a holistic view of both current and emerging risks, including those that are systemic, difficult to model or still evolving.
“So, we continue to see high demand for our offering from new business, of course, but also from the strong pipelines that are developed by our existing clients.”
