Willis Towers Watson has hired Kemp Ross to lead its $75
billion global outsourced-CIO (OCIO) business.
He joins from Aon Hewitt where he was head of solutions and operations for investment. Prior to joining in 2008, he worked at Mercer for 15 years.
In his new role, Ross will remain in Chicago and report to Global Head of Investments Chris Ford. In a statement, Ford praised Ross’ “proven business and leadership experience as well as strong investment experience.”
“Pension plans and other institutional investors around the world, of all sizes, continue to believe that the best way to achieve their investment objectives in the current environment is to outsource,” Ford said.
Ross added that “the trend towards outsourcing is clear, as investors try to match their investment ambition with the right level and quality of resources.”
A qualified actuary, Ross has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s degree in Applied Statistics from North Carolina State University.
The merger of Willis Group and Towers Watson was completed at the start of this year despite vocal opposition from shareholders including BlackRock and Driehaus Capital.