Marsh, an insurance broker and risk adviser, has appointed five professionals to its private equity and mergers and acquisitions practice within its financial and professional operations.
Joining Marsh are James O’Brien, Jason Hawkins and Craig Warnke as managing directors and Jim Beatty and Machua Millett as senior vice presidents.
O’Brien joins Marsh after 18 years with Aon, where he most recently led the broker’s private equity and transaction solutions group. O’Brien brings more than 20 years of experience in investment fund management and professional liability insurance, merger and acquisitions due diligence and portfolio programs. He began his insurance career as a management liability underwriter at AIG.
Hawkins joins Marsh from Aon, where he most recently served as a senior adviser in the private equity group. He also brings more than 20 years of experience advising private equity, hedge fund and Fortune 500 companies on their management liability and general partnership liability programmes. Prior to joining Aon in 2003, Hawkins spent 15 years as a management liability underwriter at Hartford and AIG.
Warnke joins Marsh from Aon, where he most recently served as a transactional advisor in the private equity group. Warnke brings more than seven years of experience in transactional insurance products, including representations and warranties and tax liability insurance, in addition to advising private equity firms and hedge funds on their general partnership liability programmes. Prior to Aon, Warnke was a transactional liability underwriter at AIG and a corporate attorney for Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Beatty joins Marsh from Aon, where he most recently served as a client adviser in the private equity group. He brings more than ten years of experience in advising private equity and hedge fund clients in their management liability and general partnership liability programmes. Prior to joining Aon in 2006, he was a senior underwriter at AIG.
Millett joins Marsh from the law firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, where he served as coverage and defence counsel for directors and officers, general partners, financial institutions, insurers and corporations in a wide variety of industries. At Marsh, Millett will serve as a senior advisory specialist and general partnership liability product leader.
O’Brien, Hawkins, Warnke and Beatty will be based in New York and Millett will be based in Boston.
"The changing legal and financial landscape has heightened focus on risk management among private equity, hedge funds, and other financial sponsors," says Lou Ann Layton, Marsh’s US financial and professional operations practice leader. "The addition of James, Jason, Craig, Jim and Machua to our private equity and mergers and acquisitions practice puts Marsh in an even better position to deliver unique solutions to our clients and prospective clients. We are delighted to add such high-caliber talent, expanding on our already significant footprint in the private equity and mergers and acquisition space."
