WTW Global Captive Practice CEO Paul Owens To Retire

Paul Owens, the CEO of Willis Towers Watson PLC's (WTW) Global Captive Practice unit in London, will retire later this year, WTW announced.

Mr. Owens, who has been with WTW and predecessor companies for more than 30 years, has held the CEO position since January 1, 2014, when he was named to that role by Willis Group Holdings PLC. Willis and Towers Watson merged at the start of 2016.

WTW executives praised Mr. Owens for his role in boosting the company's captive insurance company practice.

"Over his 30 years, Paul has held numerous roles, and he was unambiguously successful in each. In his role, he successfully grew and strengthened our captive business into the leading global practice it is today," John Merkovsky, WTW's head of risk and analytics in New York, said in a statement.

"It has been an enormous privilege to lead the captive business from its inception and to see it grow into the powerhouse it is today," Mr. Owens said.

A successor to Mr. Owens has not yet been named.

In 2018, WTW managed 420 captives, making it the fourth-largest captive manager, according to statistics released earlier this year by Business Insurance. 

Also, earlier this year, Aon PLC, whose captive unit managed 919 captives in 2018, said it was considering buying WTW, which would have resulted in the creation of the world's largest captive manager, a position now held by Marsh Captive Solutions, which managed 1,270 captives last year.

But after news reports surfaced about the potential buyout, Aon quickly dropped the plan.