Willis poaches Marsh MD

Willis has appointed Alastair Burns as managing director of its insurance facilities practice, part of Willis Global Placement, the division that co-ordinates the broker's worldwide insurance placement strategy.

Burns, who will be based in London, will join the Willis global placement team in early September, and will report to global placement chief executive Dominic Samengo-Turner.

Burns has spent the last 20 years at Marsh, most recently as managing director of its UK affinity and mergers and acquisition businesses.

Samengo-Turner said: "We are delighted to welcome Alastair, who is well known in the industry, and has huge experience working with clients and carriers to develop market-leading propositions.

"As part of the global llacement management team, Alastair’s skills will help us deliver on the many facets of our placement strategy.”

Willis president Grahame Millwater said: ‘‘Since the creation of our global placement unit in early 2009, our strategy has been to achieve greater global coordination of Willis' placement activities in the best interest of our clients.

"An area of success has been our ability to consolidate certain books of business into facilities to give clients broader terms and eliminate inefficiencies. Alastair is the right person to drive this forward and we are convinced that dedicated coordination in this area will significantly benefit our clients."