Willis Group Holdings announced the establishment of a new business unit within Willis Global Markets International (GMI) for the insurance of companies involved in Life Sciences. It also announced the appointment of Tom Teixeira as the Practice Leader, effective immediately. He is based in London and will focus on major accounts outside the U.S., reporting to Toby Wemyss, Managing Director, GMI.
Willis explained: “Life Sciences industries including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and medical devices are not only faced with the risks of globalization, supply chain liability and litigious operating environments, but they are also exposed to cash flow issues as a result of falling volumes, while trying to mitigate against emerging risks like healthcare reform and intellectual property theft.”
Willis established the Life Sciences Practice in response to these new risks and the changing business model of the industry. “In the past, Life Sciences companies did everything in-house from research and development through to commercialization,” explained Teixeira. “The expense and complexity of such an integrated model is no longer sustainable in the current environment. Life Science companies are moving towards a more collective approach by transferring parts of the process to other smaller specialist firms.
“This development exposes pharmaceutical and chemical companies to a whole new sphere of risk and our goal is to get ahead of the market and provide an integrated service proposition coupled with innovative products that will respond to the needs of the new Life Sciences business model.”
Teixeira started his career in the UK’s Ministry of Defence in project risk management. He left the public sector to help set up a business unit in IT risk management tools and professional services at technology provider Strategic Thought Group (STG). Following the company’s successful float in 2005 on the AIM market, Teixeira joined Rolls-Royce Group as Head of Enterprise Risk Management. In 2008, he re-joined STG as VP Enterprise Risk Solutions, with responsibility for providing risk advisory services to senior management at FTSE100 and Fortune 500 companies aimed at business performance improvement, with a focus on the Life Sciences, Mining and Aerospace and Defence sectors.
Wemyss characterized Teixera’s appointment as representing “GMI’s continued drive to appoint experts who thoroughly understand our clients’ needs and industries. With his industry knowledge, expertise in enterprise risk management and his experience as a risk manager, Tom provides us with a different perspective on the subject of risk which we believe will be invaluable to our existing clients, new prospects and our global network.”
GMI is Willis’ center of excellence for International P/C risks. It incorporates a number of Industry Practice Groups including Power and Utilities, Renewable Energy, Leisure and Hospitality and Metals and Mining. With 250 Associates based in London, Singapore, Melbourne, Ipswich and Mumbai, GMI uses market-leading products and specialist expertise to deliver services in risk and captive management, claims, policy wordings and risk transfer to meet the needs of its clients.
Source: Willis Group Holdings
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