Willis Towers Watson PLC

A new Willis survey finds that facultative reinsurance is helping insurers pursue growth in a rapidly softening market, with 60% of insurers expecting to increase their use of it over the next two years against just 13% who plan to buy less. The Facultative Reinsurance Report 2026, published by Willis, a WTW business, and conducted with Coleman Parkes Research, drew responses from 380 senior decision makers at leading insurance companies across North America, Europe, Middle East, APAC and Latin America. More than half, 52%, of insurers identified capital management as a key reason for buying facultative reinsurance, up from 44% in 2024, while 56% said global expansion was among their greatest opportunities in the next two years, up from 39%. 52% named entering new markets and risk areas among their top strategic objectives, up from 45%, and 55% named increasing capacity as a top objective, up from 48%. 82% saw facultative as a key part of their strategies for managing risk, capacity, capital and appetite, while only 22% said they used facultative as a last resort, down from 28% in the 2024 survey. On emerging risks, 57% cited geopolitics, up from 52%, 54% said cyber, up from 24%, and 40% said climate, up from 30%. Garret Gaughan, Global Head of Direct and Facultative at Willis, said the research shows facultative reinsurance is increasingly being used as a strategic tool to help insurers expand capacity, enter new markets and manage capital efficiently.

The Zacks Brokerage Insurance industry is showing resilient organic growth even as commercial insurance pricing softens, with brokers transitioning from rate-driven to execution-driven growth. Key players Willis Towers Watson, Arthur J. Gallagher, and Aon are best positioned to sustain over 5% organic growth, according to second-quarter 2026 results. Willis Towers Watson delivered 5% organic growth, with its Risk & Broking segment up 7%, and its 2026 earnings per share consensus estimate indicates a 16% year-over-year increase. Arthur J. Gallagher achieved 6% organic growth in the second quarter, up from 5% in the first, and expects 5.5% organic growth in Brokerage and 9% in Risk Management for 2026. Aon generated 5% organic growth for the second consecutive quarter, with broad-based growth across its businesses despite lower treaty pricing. The industry has lost 15.1% in the past year, underperforming the Finance sector's 11.9% gain and the S&P 500's 20.6% rise.

WTW, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, announced that its Board of Directors approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.96 per common share for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. The dividend is payable on or about October 15, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 30, 2026.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. projects total company organic growth of 6% for 2026, with brokerage at 5.5% and risk management at 9%. The company reported 24% total revenue growth in the second quarter of 2026 for its combined Brokerage and Risk Management segments, including 6% organic growth. Management highlighted its 25th consecutive quarter of double-digit adjusted EBITDAC growth and continued underlying margin expansion. The integration of AssuredPartners is nearly a year along, with strong retention and collaboration reported. Peers Brown & Brown and Willis Towers Watson posted mixed organic results, with Brown & Brown declining 0.7% and Willis Towers Watson growing 5% in the same period.

Aon plc expects U.S. employer health-care costs to rise 9.5% in 2027, pushing average plan costs above $19,000 per employee. The forecast, based on its Health Value Initiative database covering more than 1,100 employers, 7.9 million employees and $135 billion of 2026 health-care spending, points to higher medical service use, chronic illness, expensive claims and prescription drugs, especially specialty medicines and GLP-1 therapies, as key drivers. Employers' average cost rose 8.8% in 2026 to $14,432 per employee, while employee payroll contributions increased 6.4% to $3,130, and Aon says employers now fund about 82% of total plan costs. The projected increase would mark a fourth straight year of employer health-cost growth close to double digits, with total plan costs up 8.3% in 2026 to $17,562 per employee. Aon's Health Solutions generated $818 million of second-quarter 2026 revenues and 5% organic growth, while Willis Towers Watson's Health business posted 8% organic growth in the same period, and UnitedHealth Group and Centene Corporation are managing medical costs through pricing and benefit design.

WTW Investments and SEI have expanded their strategic relationship to develop private markets solutions for the 401(k) and broader U.S. defined contribution market. The collaboration combines WTW's investment research and portfolio implementation capabilities with SEI's trust and platform capabilities through SEI Trust Company, a leading provider of trustee, operational, and administrative services for collective investment trusts. The firms aim to help plan sponsors and participants access more diversified sources of return through structures designed for the operational, governance, and liquidity needs of the defined contribution market. As part of the expanded relationship, WTW selected SEI Trust Company to support the delivery of certain WTW retirement solutions through collective investment trust structures. The firms are also collaborating on the design of new products and structures intended to broaden access to private markets through vehicles suited to the needs of defined contribution plans.

Willis Towers Watson reported second-quarter results featuring 5% organic revenue growth, a 100-basis-point expansion in adjusted operating margin to 19.5%, and a 17% increase in adjusted diluted earnings per share to $3.35. The company also unveiled Propel, an AI acceleration plan expected to generate $400 million in run-rate savings and deliver $350 million in net savings by 2028, providing a path to an adjusted operating margin of approximately 30% in 2028. Within its segments, Risk and Broking achieved 7% organic growth driven by broad-based strength, while Health, Wealth and Career grew 4% organically, led by an 8% increase in Health. Free cash flow for the first half reached $360 million, up from $217 million a year earlier, and the company repurchased $450 million in shares during the quarter. The Propel plan will require about $625 million in cash investment, creating free cash flow headwinds until 2029, but management expressed confidence in mid-single-digit organic growth guidance and highlighted early AI-driven efficiencies such as reducing schedule generation from four hours to five minutes.

Willis Towers Watson is expected to report an earnings beat for the second quarter of 2026, according to Zacks Investment Research. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is $3.13 per share, while the Most Accurate Estimate is $3.21, giving the company an Earnings ESP of +2.42%. Revenue is estimated at $2.43 billion, a 7.4% increase from the prior year. The company carries a Zacks Rank of 3, and the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank of 3 historically increases the likelihood of an earnings beat. Willis Towers Watson is scheduled to release its results on July 30 before the market opens.

Willis, a WTW business, is urging data center owners, developers, builders, operators, and investors to shift from capacity-led to risk-led insurance buying, warning that many may be securing coverage beyond their actual exposure. The global marketplace can provide up to US$15 billion of insurance capacity for large-scale data center risks, but Willis emphasizes that the more important question is how much capacity is truly needed based on a robust view of exposures. Alastair Swift, Head of Global Specialties and the Global Digital Infrastructure Group at Willis, stated that the focus should be on using data-led analysis to quantify and differentiate exposure to secure appropriate limits. The firm’s eight-point digital infrastructure risk framework helps organizations optimize programs, reduce unnecessary spend, and give lenders and investors greater confidence that coverage aligns with actual exposures. Willis has helped clients improve credit and financing outcomes, insurance efficiency, resilience to natural hazards, and operational continuity planning through this approach.

Willis Re has formed a Global Life Reinsurance Practice to provide independent advisory and broking services to life insurers, reinsurers, and pension and annuity providers worldwide. The move follows the appointment of Christian Howells as head of life reinsurance, who joined from Macquarie Asset Management where he was head of international insurance solutions. The new practice, developed with Willis Towers Watson's insurance consulting and technology division, will offer analytics, funded and capital-motivated transactions, in-force risk management, and strategic risk transfer advice. Willis Re, a London-headquartered broker established in 2024 as a joint venture between Bain Capital Insurance and WTW, said the unit broadens its position in the international reinsurance market.

Five insurance companies are positioned to outperform second-quarter earnings expectations, according to Zacks Investment Research. The firms—Cincinnati Financial Corporation, Reinsurance Group of America, Oscar Health, Willis Towers Watson, and Aflac—each carry a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank of 1, 2, or 3, a combination that historically signals a higher likelihood of an earnings beat. The industry’s results are expected to benefit from prudent pricing, exposure growth, portfolio optimization, strong retention, and ongoing digital acceleration, along with a relatively subdued catastrophe environment. Consensus estimates show Reinsurance Group of America at $6.52 per share, up 38.1% year over year, and Oscar Health at 45 cents, up 150.6%, while Cincinnati Financial is pegged at $1.82, Willis Towers Watson at $3.13, and Aflac at $1.77.

Willis Towers Watson has launched a new Deferred Pension Annuity application for insurers and pension risk transfer markets, alongside a next-generation Geospatial Mortality Model for the U.S. pension risk transfer market. The company also entered a new digital insurance partnership to embed compliance and coverage solutions for subcontractors into workforce management platforms. These product launches position Willis Towers Watson amid key shifts in the life insurance and pension sectors, where more clients are seeking data-driven tools to price and manage long-term liabilities. For pension risk transfer providers and insurers, the new modeling platforms may help refine longevity and geographic risk assessments, areas central to PRT deal economics and capital planning. The combination of upgraded analytics and embedded digital insurance distribution could matter over time if clients adopt these tools at scale, highlighting how Willis Towers Watson is focusing on software, data, and partnerships as part of its broader risk and human capital advisory business.

Willis, a WTW business, and embedded insurance infrastructure partner Kayna have partnered with construction workforce platform Kwant to introduce KwantSure, an embedded digital insurance programme within Kwant's workforce management platform. The programme gives subcontractors access to insurance cover needed for project compliance through the same platform general contractors use for workforce operations and certificate of insurance tracking. Kwant's platform supports 160,000 workers across the US and has tracked more than 45 million hours to date. KwantSure combines Kwant's workforce and compliance technology, Kayna's embedded insurance technology, and Willis' affinity advice and expertise, offering coverages including general liability, professional liability, cyber, business owner's policies, and pay-as-you-go workers' compensation. Embedding insurance procurement into the COI workflow is intended to cut administrative work, allowing subcontractors to receive quotes and bind cover within minutes, while improving compliance visibility and risk mitigation for general contractors.

Willis Towers Watson plans to pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.96 per share on July 15, following first-quarter 2026 results that showed an 8% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.4 billion. Adjusted earnings per share rose 19% to $3.72, and adjusted operating margin improved by 70 basis points to 22.3%. The company closed the quarter with $5.4 billion in cash, spent $88 million on dividends and $300 million on share repurchases, and aims for at least $1 billion in buybacks in 2026. CEO Carl Hess said investments in AI are driving client value and supporting confidence in full-year commitments.

Willis Towers Watson has agreed to acquire Redefind, a firm specializing in insurance products for crypto and digital assets, and has entered into a reinsurance joint venture with Bain Capital, marking its return to the reinsurance market. The acquisition and joint venture are expected to reshape the company's business mix by expanding into digital risk coverage and large-scale risk transfer. Willis Towers Watson's stock is currently trading around $292.58, with a 6.4% gain over the past week and a 13.4% increase over the past month, though it remains down 10.3% year to date. The company's move into digital asset insurance and reinsurance introduces new potential risks and opportunities, with key questions centered on how quickly these segments scale and their impact on the overall risk profile and earnings mix.