Mercer Marsh Benefits announces changes to its UK and European leadership

5 November 2021

Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) has announced a change in leadership for the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe. In the UK & Ireland, Chris Bailey takes the helm as new MMB Leader, reporting to Sylvia Pozezanac, President and CEO Mercer UK. Mr Bailey replaces Tony Wood, who steps into the role of MMB’s Regional Leader and Managing Director for Continental Europe, reporting to Hervé Balzano, President, Health at Mercer and MMB Leader globally. In their new roles, Mr Bailey and Mr Wood will be responsible for driving growth, and helping clients design, deliver and finance health and risk protection benefit programmes that are affordable and competitive, supports the workforce and attracts and retains top talent.

In his new role, Mr Bailey will be in charge of a team of 800 UK based colleagues and he will join the leadership teams for Mercer UK, Marsh UK & Ireland and MMB International. Since joining MMB in 2000, he has held a number of both client facing and operational roles working with large clients across their organisational healthcare needs. Most recently he served as Partner and Head of Corporate Consulting in the UK.

As Regional Leader for Continental Europe Mr Wood will be responsible for MMB’s financial performance, people management and governance across 32 countries. He will also sit on the MMB international leadership team. Mr Wood joined MMB in 2014 as UK Leader and has for the last year also lead its UK Career business. Prior to joining MMB, Tony spent six years with BUPA, holding numerous roles in Australia and the UK, as well as several years in senior roles with AMP, the Australian Wealth Management and Financial Planning Group.

Sylvia Pozezanac, President & CEO, Mercer UK said: “We are delighted to announce these new appointments to further strengthen our MMB leadership team in the UK and Europe. Chris and Tony have played significant roles in the growth of the business by delivering solutions and expertise that truly benefit our clients. We look forward to collaborating across our Marsh McLennan enterprise to deliver the best outcomes for our clients.”

Commenting on the appointments Hervé Balzano, President, Health at Mercer and MMB Leader added: “As one of Mercer and Marsh’s key growth drivers, MMB continues to gain momentum in its ambition to achieve continued growth and deliver specialist and strategy expertise that meet the needs of our clients and their employees. We are pleased to announce the appointments of Tony and Chris, which will make a real difference to our clients as they seek to solve their most complex health and wellbeing challenges.”

Source: Mercer