Matthew Ford joins Willis Towers Watson as Life Consulting lead

Matthew Ford has joined Willis Towers Watson as a Director from Prudential Assurance. Ford will lead Willis Towers Watson’s London Life Consulting service line, in a client facing role that aims at expanding the capital and risk management solutions proposition of the practice.

Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Matthew Ford worked at Prudential Assurance as an Actuarial Director – a position he was promoted to in 2014 – and in which he was responsible for the firm’s Solvency II IMAP application. Ford was previously the firm’s Business Development Actuary, where he, from London, was the lead for the domestication of the Hong Kong branch. Ford joined the firm in 2004, first taking on the role of Financial Reporting Actuary, following which, between 2008 and 2011 he served as a Management Actuary. Earlier roles include Director of PwC’s UK Life Practice, where he worked from 1997 until 2004; and Actuary at Aviva, where he started his career in 1989.

Ford holds a Master of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. He is an Adviser to Trustees of The Grassroots Trust.

Ford joins Willis Towers Watson as Director and lead of the firm’s London Life Consulting practice. The client facing role will draw on Ford’s more than 25 years of actuary and advisory experience, to further build out the practices’ capital and risk management solutions proposition, particularly in the areas of Solvency II implementation and capital management.

Graham Fulcher, RCS Managing Director and UK and Ireland Leader at Willis Towers Watson, says that the firm is “delighted” to have Ford join the team. Fulcher adds, “We look forward to leveraging his ‘big company’ experience and knowledge to ensure we continue to provide our clients with the innovative insights and business solutions that will deliver improved business performance, as the sector continues to face a volatile and challenging risk environment, exacerbated by regulatory change.”

Matthew Ford says, “Solvency II is forcing insurers to optimise their balance sheet and manage its volatility at a time when other factors – including pensions freedom and digitisation – are causing them to adapt their business models. A key attraction of Willis Towers Watson to me is the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience of its people and I am really looking forward to working with them to address these real issues for clients.”