Willis Shuffles Willis Re Execs

London-based insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings repositioned three more executives with the announcement that John Ehinger, president of Willis Re U.S., has been named chief operating officer for Willis Re.

Mr. Ehinger will continue as president of Willis Re U.S. through the end of 2008. A successor will be named later, the firm said.

Mark Lever was promoted from managing director for operations, international and specialty, to chief administrative officer for Willis Re. Based in London, Mr. Lever will continue in his current role as the key operational interface for Willis Re's international and specialty arms, the firm said.

Iain Pocock will continue as chief financial officer of Willis Re with increased responsibilities. He will be based in Ipswich, England, and London.

Willis said the moves are designed to accelerate the firm's growth strategy that it call's “Shaping Our Future.”

Commenting on the appointments, Peter Hearn, CEO of Willis Re, said in a statement that Mr. Ehinger and Mr. Lever had maintained “the operational excellence of Willis Re's business model” and driven improvements in core operations that would contribute to progress with “Shaping our Future.”

He said Mr. Pocock had assumed a key leadership role “in several important initiatives, including developing a number of products on a global basis, and will work closely with John and Mark to deliver excellent results for Willis Re.”

Yesterday, Willis announced the appointment of Allan Gribben, the chief executive officer of Willis International, to the position of global sales and marketing director. Four executives also saw their portfolio of responsibility expanded.