BrazilJames Addington-Smith and Peta Latimer lead Marsh and Mercer
Global professional services firm Marsh McLennan has made two top level appointments in Asia, installing James Addington-Smith as the new Asia President of Marsh, and Peta Latimer as Asia President for Mercer.
New Marsh regional leader Addington-Smith has been with the insurance advisory and broking group since 2010, holding a series of leadership positions across the firm’s Specialty business until his appointment of South Asia CEO in 2019.
Prior to that, Addington-Smith served as the Asia Specialties Leader, and was part of the company’s global Energy and Marine executive team. He brings over two decades of experience to the top role.
Addington-Smith started his career as a British Army Officer in the Royal Armoured Corps, after which he moved into the world of insurance. Prior to joining Marsh, he was the General Manager of an international broker in Hong Kong, responsible for growing energy and marine related portfolios in Asia.
Peta Latimer has been with Mercer since 2018, when she joined the human capital consultancy from KMGG to take on the role of CEO for Singapore.
At KPMG, Latimer led the People & Change Advisory practice, and before that, she held several leadership positions at IBM Consulting (and pre-acquisition predecessor Kenexa). She specialises in organisational change, workforce transformation, diversity & inclusion, and people-driven performance improvement.
In her new President role, Latimer will be responsible for Mercer’s growth and operations across the region.
Addington-Smith and Latimer, who are both based in Singapore, will have also been tasked with driving greater collaboration across the two businesses to support joint clients with their evolving health, wealth and career needs. In some markets, this closer collaboration has led to the establishment of joint offerings, such as Mercer Marsh Benefits.
Last month, Marsh McLennan named David Jacob as its CEO for the Asia division. He oversees all four of the group’s business units: Marsh, Mercer, Guy Carpenter and Oliver Wyman.
“I am also delighted to work with James and Peta,” said Jacob. “Both have strong track records of delivering outstanding client results, and I look forward to working with them as we deliver the services and solutions our clients need.”
