David Singh and Pardeep Bassi join WTW’s insurance consulting arm
Global consulting firm Willis Towers Watson has appointed David Singh and Pardeep Bassi to its insurance advisory wing. The pair join the investment consulting specialist as it seeks to bolster its global leadership team.
In September 2021, Willis Towers Watson, one of the world’s largest HR consulting and insurance broking firms, announced a new leadership team. As the firm sought to drive itself forward for new growth – after a merger with Aon fell through – the new team included incoming CEO Carl Hess, who succeeded John Haley upon his retirement on January 1, 2022.
Now, as the firm looks to build further momentum from these changes, it has installed two new departmental heads. Pardeep Bassi will work to grow the company’s global data science and insurance analytics capabilities, while David Singh will advance the company’s climate analytics and exposure management capabilities.
As Global Proposition Leader in Data Science, Bassi will build on the firm’s market-leading analytics and data science software, Emblem and Radar. This will see the department work to develop and delivering cutting edge data driven solutions within insurance.
Bassi commented, “I am very excited to join the hugely experienced and talented individuals at WTW and am looking forward to collaborating to drive global industry wide machine learning adoption. We will turn theory into practice to unlock the enormous potential of machine learning and transform Insurance.”
Most recently he served as Chief Data Science officer at LV= General Insurance, where he was responsible for creating and delivering the insurer’s advanced analytics and machine learning strategy; working across all business functions to identify and implement solutions for new opportunities where machine learning can provide value to the business. Prior to LV= General Insurance, Bassi also spent time at AXA and Domestic & General, where he built and led data science teams and initiatives.
Commenting on the appointment, Charlie Kefford, Global Product Leader, P&C Insurance Technology, at Willis Towers Watson, said, “WTW is a market leader in insurance analytics with decades of experience of drawing insights from data to support client decision making. We continue to invest, to ensure that our data science capability remains at the cutting-edge of market practice. I am delighted that Pardeep has joined our team to drive further market adoption of AI. He has an outstanding track record of applying innovative techniques to P&C insurance challenges, unlocking significant value.”
Meanwhile, as Head of Climate Analytics & Exposure Management, David Singh will oversee the provision of climate analytical capabilities to assist insurers in understanding and managing exposure and financial risks from climate change. At the same time, the team will devise and implement risk management frameworks and methodologies to help transform businesses and operating models in line with internal and external stakeholders' expectations.
Singh said, “I am delighted to be joining the team at WTW, which has been at the forefront of innovation around understanding and managing climate risk. By harnessing WTW’s unique skill set and cutting-edge climate analytics capabilities, we are well placed to help insurers understand and manage their exposure to climate change, transforming their business models to drive innovation in underwriting and product design, delivering significant value and reduced corporate risk.”
With over 20 years of modelling and reporting experience across multiple underwriting classes and regulatory regimes, Singh served as the Group Head of Exposure & Portfolio Management at global insurer MS Amlin, where he was responsible for the Group’s risk aggregation and reporting activities across all its legal entities. He previously also worked for Lloyd’s of London with senior responsibilities that included managing the Society’s catastrophe risk appetite, managing multiple regulatory filings to and from the market, and ensuring Managing Agents exceed Lloyd’s expectations and exposure management standards.
Adhiraj Maitra, Global Head of ESG and Climate Change, Insurance Consulting and Technology at Willis Towers Watson, remarked, “David brings an exceptional level of expertise and experience in exposure management to this new role. Insurers are under increasing pressure to understand and tackle the growing uncertainty around climate change-related risks as they look to evolve the role of exposure management in the business.”
