MMC Names New Marsh Chief Executive

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. announced today that Daniel S. Glaser, an American International Group executive, has been named chairman and chief executive officer of its Marsh Inc. brokerage subsidiary

The announcement made this morning said his appointment is effective Dec. 10. Mr. Glaser replaces Brian Storms who left as the chief executive of Marsh in September.

MMC said Mr. Glaser is currently the managing director of American International Group Europe (U.K.) Limited and the regional president of AIG's American International Underwriters, United Kingdom/Ireland division.

Mr. Glaser began his career in the insurance industry as a Marsh broker in 1982. He worked at Marsh for a decade, serving in roles in New York, London and Saudi Arabia. He then spent eight years at Willis, where he served as president and chief operating officer of Willis Risk Solutions, the large accounts practice.

In 2000, he joined AIG as president of the global energy division and, in 2002, was named managing director of AIG Europe (U.K.).

“Dan has broad expertise in the insurance industry as well as first-hand knowledge of the Marsh organization,” said Michael G. Cherkasky, MMC's president and CEO. “His perspectives as both a broker and an underwriter, coupled with his extensive international experience, make him the ideal candidate to take Marsh forward.”

Mr. Glaser commented, “In returning to Marsh, I will come full circle to the start of my career in the insurance industry 25 years ago.”

Mr. Glaser called Marsh a strong and resilient organization “with great people, the strongest client base in the world and a bright future.”

He acknowledged the firm has “challenges” that must be addressed

Since Marsh agreed to eliminate contingent commissions to end a civil suit by New York's attorney general the company has struggled with profitability. For the third quarter of this year the company reported income from continuing operations was down 40 percent or $53 million, to $80 million.

The new appointee said despite challenges, “There are also tremendous opportunities, and with the support of thousands of Marsh employees, I intend to move promptly to seize those opportunities.”

Mr. Glaser currently lives in London and will relocate to MMC's corporate headquarters in New York. He will report to Mr. Cherkasky.

In an analyst's note David Small at Bear Stearns said one of Mr. Glaser's first challenges will be to reengage the employee base that never brought into prior restructuring efforts under Mr. Storms. He will also have to deal with continued defections from the workforce and ameliorating the feelings of senior executives who felt they should have his job.

Mr. Glaser will also have to tackle the broker's “bloated cost structure” but considering the number of past efforts at restructuring employees “may already have restructuring fatigue.”

Alain Karaoglan, an analyst with Bank of America, said in his note that Mr. Glaser's appointment was a positive development because of his background and understanding of the industry. While he will have to deal with financials, Mr. Karaoglan said employees at Marsh should be more open to accepting him than they were of his predecessor.

(This story was updated on Dec. 4 at 10:40 a.m.)