Willis Towers Watson

Willis Towers Watson plc (branded as WTW) is a British-American multinational advisory, broking and solutions company. Its operations span commercial insurance brokerage and risk advisory, employee benefits and rewards consulting, retirement and actuarial services, and investment advice for pension funds and institutional investors.

The company is legally domiciled in Ireland and has its principal executive offices at the Willis Building in London. In 2024 WTW reported revenue of US$9.93 billion and employed about 48,900 people. Following completion of the Willis Group - Towers Watson merger, the company was added to the S&P 500 index in January 2016. WTW ranks among the largest global insurance brokers by revenue.

History

Origins and predecessor firms

WTW’s roots trace to nineteenth- and twentieth-century insurance broking and actuarial consultancies that later combined to form Willis Group and Towers Watson.

Willis Group

Operations

key people	Paul Reilly (Chairman) Carl Hess (CEO)

services	Commercial insurance broking Risk consulting Actuarial and pensions Benefits administration Human resources and rewards Investment advisory

revenue	US$9.93 billion

revenue year	2024

operating income	US$627 million

income year	2024

net income	US$−98 million

net income year	2024

assets	US$27.68 billion

assets year	2024

equity	US$7.94 billion

equity year	2024

num employees	48,900

num employees year	2024

website	https://www.wtwco.com

Segments

WTW reports two operating segments. Risk & Broking provides risk advice, insurance brokerage and related consulting to clients from small firms to multinationals. Health, Wealth & Career provides benefits administration and technology, health and benefits brokerage, retirement and actuarial consulting, investment advice and human capital and rewards services.

Risk and broking

The segment comprises two primary businesses: Corporate Risk & Broking and Insurance Consulting and Technology. Corporate Risk & Broking places and services commercial and specialty risks for corporate and institutional clients.

Insurance consulting and technology

Within Risk & Broking, Insurance Consulting and Technology provides advisory services to insurers and develops software used for pricing, reserving and capital modelling, including the Radar pricing suite, ResQ reserving and the Igloo modelling platform used by general insurers.

Health, wealth and career

Health, Wealth & Career covers benefits administration and technology, health and benefits brokerage, retirement and actuarial consulting, investment advisory for institutional investors, and workforce and rewards advisory.

Markets and geography

In 2024 the revenue mix by segment was 59 percent Health, Wealth & Career and 41 percent Risk & Broking. Revenue by geography was 55 percent North America, 34 percent Europe and 11 percent International.

Defined contribution master trust

In the United Kingdom, WTW sponsors LifeSight, a multi-employer defined contribution master trust open to participating employers. LifeSight was the first master trust to be granted authorisation under The Pensions Regulator’s regime in February 2019, confirming that it met the regulator’s standards on governance and financial sustainability.

LifeSight has grown through employer onboarding and consolidation. By July 2024 it had passed £20 billion in assets under management and covered more than 400,000 members. By September 2025 assets reached above £24 billion with about 430,000 members. The master trust offers an in-scheme drawdown arrangement, in September 2025 over 7,500 members had used this option, with drawdown assets exceeding £1 billion.

The scheme is governed by an independent trustee board with an independent chair, separate from WTW’s management. Its Statement of investment principles states that the standard default is a medium-risk drawdown lifecycle that gradually de-risks as members approach retirement. The trustee permits use of certain illiquid assets within the default where appropriate. Earlier reporting highlighted an increased allocation to ESG strategies within the default from 2018. In August 2025 LifeSight announced an allocation to a renewables long-term asset fund as part of its default’s long-term growth exposure.

Legal issues

In 2005 U.S. authorities examined the use of contingent commissions in commercial insurance broking. Willis Group said it would cease the practice and improve transparency in the wake of wider industry settlements that followed the Marsh & McLennan probe.

In July 2011 the UK Financial Services Authority fined Willis Limited £6.895 million after finding that anti-bribery and corruption systems and controls were inadequate between 2005 and 2009.

During the Willis Group and Towers Watson merger process in 2015 some Towers Watson investors objected to the original terms. A first shareholder vote on 18 November 2015 did not secure sufficient support, and reporting highlighted concerns about valuation and potential conflicts of interest. Towers Watson shareholder Driehaus Capital Management urged other shareholders to vote against the proposed merger, calculating that Towers Watson was worth between 39% and 53% more as a standalone company. Towers Watson CEO John Haley was accused of having a conflict of interest since he was to receive $165 million from the completion of the deal. Haley had disposed of 55% of his shares in the company for a $10 million profit in early March 2015 while the merger negotiations were ongoing and before the stock price dropped on the news of the acquisition. Willis then increased a special cash dividend payable to Towers Watson shareholders and the revised offer was approved on 11 December 2015.

Following completion, stockholders brought litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery and related federal actions concerning the merger process and disclosures. In 2019 the Court of Chancery allowed certain claims to proceed. In 2024 the parties reported settlements totaling about US$90 million across the federal proxy action and related Delaware proceedings.

A separate insurance coverage dispute concerned whether directors’ and officers’ policies covered the merger-related settlements. On 9 August 2024 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a district court ruling that had applied a “bump-up” exclusion and remanded for further proceedings. Commentary discussed possible implications for coverage of merger-related settlements.

type	Public
traded as	nasdaq: WTW S&P 500 component
isin	IE00BDB6Q211
industry	Human resource consulting Insurance brokerage Risk management
predecessors	Willis Group Towers Watson
founded	January 5, 2016 in Ireland
hq location	London
hq location country	United Kingdom
area served

Willis Towers Watson

History

Origins and predecessor firms

Willis Group

Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Towers Perrin and Towers Watson

Formation of Willis Towers Watson (2016)

Proposed acquisition by Aon

Rebranding since 2020

Operations

Segments

Risk and broking

Insurance consulting and technology

Health, wealth and career

Markets and geography

Defined contribution master trust

Governance

Financials

Selected annual results

Legal issues

Notable office locations

See also

External links

References