Staff
Aon and Willis Towers Watson have reached an agreement to sell Willis Re and a set of Willis Towers Watson’s corporate risk and broking, as well as health and benefits services, to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for $US3.57 billion.
The agreement resolves questions raised by the European Commission and is intended to address certain questions raised by regulators in certain other jurisdictions, said a press release. The merger, first announced in March 2020, will see Aon and Willis Towers Watson combine under the Aon name.
“This agreement demonstrates strong momentum on the path to close our proposed combination with Willis Towers Watson,” said Greg Case, Aon’s chief executive officer, in the release. “We’ve used this time to align our future leadership team around a one-firm culture that will create new opportunities for colleagues, accelerate innovation on behalf of clients and deliver shareholders the long-term value creation they have come to expect from our te
CAAT Pension Plan Names Asif Haque CIO
Julie Cays, current CIO of the C$13.5 billion pension plan, will retire at the end of April.
Asif Haque
The C$13.5 billion (US$10.8 billion) Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan has named Asif Haque as its new CIO as of May 1. He will succeed Julie Cays, who plans to retire at the end of April.
Asif, who is the pension fund’s managing director of public markets, joined CAAT in 2010 and has been responsible for its C$11 billion public markets portfolio. The plan says Asif’s team has outperformed market benchmarks over the long-term thanks to effective external manager selection and strategic internal structuring decisions.
Staff
The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan is appointing Asif Haque as chief investment officer, effective May 1.
Haque has worked at the CAAT for over 10 years as managing director of public markets, where his team was responsible for the plan’s $11 billion public markets portfolio. Prior to joining the organization, he held leadership roles at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board for eight years, first as director of performance measurement, then as vice-president of external manager search and monitoring. He was also assistant vice-president of performance and analytics with State Street Corp. in Canada for six years.
Feedback from stakeholders is favourable, for the most part.
“On the whole, pension regulators have been sensible and reasonable,” says Gavin Benjamin, partner in Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s retirement solutions business.
They’ve been responsive as well, which could help account for the positive reviews. “Regulators have been very engaged in consultations with stakeholders,” says Andrea Boctor, a pension partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.
Hindsight (on 2020) is 20/20
Indeed, experts recognized the unfairness of using hindsight to evaluate decisions taken in uncertain times and fluid conditions. Still, opinions vary somewhat depending on the performance of individual regulators and regional sensitivities.
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