Willis CEO Joe Plumeri Reiterates Company
Stance on Contingent Commissions
“We Abolished Them and We’re Not Going Back,” Willis Chief Says
Plumeri Supports Concept of New York Insurance Exchange
if It Helps Clients
London, UK, February 12, 2010 – Joe Plumeri, Chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings plc
(NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, told a meeting of insurance executives here this week
that simply disclosing broker and agent compensation is not "true transparency" because it doesn't eliminate the
conflicts of interest inherent in accepting contingent commissions. His remarks came at a major
industry event held before a capacity crowd on Wednesday at The Willis Building in London.
“Simply telling clients that you are taking contingents does not make it okay,” Plumeri said
in remarks prepared for delivery. “It does not change the fact that you have an
incentive to act in the interests of someone other than your client – and that
when push comes to shove you might not fight for the best deal in the
marketplace or advocate fiercely to recover a claim if you know your compensation from the
insurer will suffer. It sounds like transparency, but it can never be true transparency.
“I am convinced that the only way to resolve the conflicts inherent in contingent commissions
is not to take them,” Plumeri said. “We stopped taking them because we want to
be paid for the value we provide our clients, not the insurance companies.”
In October 2004, Willis became the first and only insurance broker to refuse contingent commissions
from insurance carriers when working for retail clients. Regulators later banned the major brokers from
taking such commissions.
“We actually took a big step forward to building trust with our clients when contingent
commissions were banned for the largest brokers in 2005. At Willis, we’ve abolished them, and we’re
not going back. We’re a better company for it,” Plumeri said.
Citing a lack of public trust in the insurance industry, Plumeri said that a return of
contingent commissions – payments from insurance companies to brokers based on the volume or
profitability of business placed with clients – would overshadow the integral role that insurance plays
in rebuilding lives and business after disaster.
“How will we look as an industry if brokers can earn commissions from insurers for giving
them business and not for the value we provide to our clients? We’re already one
of the least trusted industries globally,” he told the 400 delegates at the annual Insurance
Insider event. “People aren’t focusing on how we as an industry provide the capital and
help pick up the pieces in San Francisco, Northridge, New Orleans, Cumbria and Lower
Manhattan. Instead, they’re looking at how we are compensated, and they’re not happy, with good
reason.”
Another major topic of discussion at the event was the establishment of a New York Insurance
Exchange, which Plumeri welcomed. “If ideas such as the New York Insurance Exchange take
off, I hope they will be implemented in a way that allows us to place
business with greater speed through smart technology. Ultimately, that’s our job: to place our clients’
unique risks with the best markets, prices and terms.”
Plumeri, however, cautioned that, “The architects behind the re-emergence of the New York Insurance Exchange should
be mindful that people will think about the past and why previous attempts at
establishing such an exchange failed. So they need to act quickly to change that perception.”
Plumeri was one of four speakers at the event. The others were James Wrynn, Superintendent of
the New York State Insurance Department; Tom Bolt, Director of Performance Management at Lloyd’s,
and Martin Albers, Swiss Re’s Head of Client Markets for Europe.
Click here for the full prepared text of Joe Plumeri’s speech.
Willis Group Holdings plc is a leading global insurance broker, developing and delivering professional insurance,
reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities
and institutions around the world. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120
countries, with a global team of approximately 20,000 Associates serving clients in approximately 190 countries.
Additional information on Willis may be found at www.willis.com.
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