Marsh's woes continue with departure of Americas chief
Today’s news of the resignation of Marsh Americas chief executive Phil Moyles is the latest in a line of setbacks for the troubled company.
However, the axing last month of Michael Cherkasky, global chief executive of MMC, the parent company of Marsh, is the most high profile departure.
Cherkasky had previously lambasted Marsh for a terrible set of third quarter results in 2007, which saw profits down 40% to £38.9m.
Following the release of these results, Marsh UK was discovered to have called in outsourcing firms Capita and Xchanging to its Norwich office, which could spell job losses early this year.
An internal memo to staff, seen by Insurance Times, read: "Marsh UK is undergoing a transformation to achieve its growth ambitions, including boosting revenues to $1bn and margins to 20% by 2010.
"[Capita and Xchanging will] observe what we do…and then provide recommendations on what we should do to operate more effectively."
Other high-ranking executives have also departed of late. Marsh’s global chief executive, Brian Storms, and chief marketing officer Nancy Elder left the company after it missed analysts' earnings estimates in two consecutive quarters last year.
Storms, who started his insurance career as a Marsh broker in 1982, was replaced by Daniel Glaser on 10 December, who moved from his position of managing director at AIG Europe.
He later told Insurance Times that he would be attempting to reduce the complexity of Marsh’s operation, with an MGA model possible, and hinted at the purchase of smaller brokers.
In the meantime, however, it looks likely that heads will continue to roll.
