Willis Towers Watson’s Insurance Consultancy Hires Mei-Chee Shum to Lead Life, Sales Practice in Greater China

HONGKONG, July 4 -- Willis Towers Watson, an advisory, broking and solutions company, issued the following news release:

Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, today announced the appointment of Mei-Chee Shum as Greater China Life Sales & Practice Leader in its insurance consulting and software business.

Mei-Chee's newly created divisional role is an effort by Willis Towers Watson to address vast client, geographical, cultural and regulatory differences across the Asia region. With these variations in mind, Mei-Chee will focus on the mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets (Greater China) and support clients through her deep understanding of their needs and challenges, coupled with her strong experience in dealing with regulators and regulatory requirements across Asian markets.

Starting on 1 June 2017, Mei-Chee is responsible for leading and developing the Life Insurance Consulting Practice across Greater China. With more than 20 years' experience in the life insurance industry, she brings extensive Asia experience and expertise in M&A evaluation, business development, strategic counsel and project management, along with new product implementation and strategy, and customer centricity. Mei-Chee is passionate about providing genuinely different perspectives, insights and solutions to clients, through addressing organisational efficiencies and strategic needs, helping them transform during times of difficulty, and creating competitive advantage and value to improve their business propositions.

Based in Hong Kong, Mei-Chee reports to Richard Collis, Managing Director for Willis Towers Watson's insurance consulting and software business in Asia Pacific. She joins 240 insurance-focussed consultants and specialists, and is a part of the workforce of 7,000 colleagues located across 15 countries in Asia. They operate across all major Asia Pacific markets, as well as emerging markets across the Asia region.

Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Mei-Chee held a number of senior positions across Asia, most recently as Chief Marketing Officer for AIA's operations in the Philippines and Group Head of Product Strategy for AIA Group based in Hong Kong. Prior to this, Mei-Chee was Chief Financial Officer and later Chief Executive Officer for Manulife Taiwan. Mei-Chee also has insurance consultancy experience, and in her new role returns to her consulting roots, having previously worked at Tillinghast - Towers Perrin (now forming part of Willis Towers Watson, as part of the Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt merger in 2010) as Actuarial Consultant in the UK.

"Mei-Chee's mix of skills and experience make her a very valuable addition to the regional team as we adapt our business to meet the specific local needs of our clients in a rapidly changing market environment. This new appointment continues our strong hiring pipeline, supplementing the senior client-focussed hires of Ken Brown, Kevin Angelini, Siaowearn Leong, among others over the past year," said Richard Collis. "Market size, the participants, technology and operational process are all transforming the industry."

The Asia market is a major revenue driver for global insurers, as the region's growing middle classes seek to reduce risk, attain greater financial security and put capital to better use elsewhere given the ongoing low yield environment. Willis Towers Watson's global insurance consulting and software business services 97 of the top 100 global insurers and has been involved in all the major Hong Kong insurance IPOs.

"We see growing market sophistication and the need for better use of technology," said Collis. "Instead of focusing on past trends and, implicitly, causes of death, insurers are seeking new ways to model disease-based processes of mortality and their drivers by using medical data and input from medical experts about factors that are likely to cause variations in future mortality. With these dynamics, we continue to build our talent base to meet the changing needs of the insurance industry."

Mei-Chee holds a PhD in Mathematics from Macquarie University, Australia and is a fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries.

About Willis Towers Watson

Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW) is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. With roots dating to 1828, Willis Towers Watson has 40,000 employees serving more than 140 countries. We design and deliver solutions that manage risk, optimize benefits, cultivate talent, and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions and individuals. Our unique perspective allows us to see the critical intersections between talent, assets and ideas -- the dynamic formula that drives business performance. Together, we unlock potential. Learn more at willistowerswatson.com.