Marsh Offices Destroyed In NZ Earthquake

February 24, 2011

1quake2011wikiThe Christchurch office of Marsh — a unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies [MMC] headed by Bermudian Brian Duperreault– collapsed as a result of the 6. 3 magnitude earthquake that struck the South Island of New Zealand on Tuesday [Feb. 22]

Marsh is tenanted at the Pyne Gould building in downtown Christchurch.

Pacific Region Head of Marsh John Clayton said today [Feb.24] “our immediate concerns are for the safety and wellbeing of our staff”.

“I can confirm that we have particular concerns about three of our colleagues, one of whom we believe has passed away, although we are awaiting official confirmation from the authorities,” said Mr. Clayton. “The other two colleagues remain unaccounted for. We have made contact with all other staff members who were situated in Christchurch at the time and we know that they and their families are safe.

“We will continue to carefully monitor the progress of the rescue effort at the site of the collapsed building.

“This is a very sad time for our company and many of us are in shock. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected by this devastating earthquake,” added Mr. Clayton.

Marsh has more than 24,000 employees and provides advice and transactional capabilities to clients in over 100 countries. It has a strong presence in Bermuda and acquired International Advisory Services Ltd. (IAS) — the largest independent manager of captive and third-party insurance companies on the island – from founder David Ezekiel in 2009.

At the time Marsh said the acquisition strengthened its “position as a global leader in managing captive insurance companies and its rank as Bermuda’s largest captive management organization.” Worldwide, Marsh manages more than 1,100 captives, headquartered in 31 countries and other jurisdictions. IAS managed more than 150 captives at the time of the sale, nearly all of them located in Bermuda.

A global professional services and insurance firm with over 50,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue of $10 billion, MMC is also the parent company of Guy Carpenter, the risk and reinsurance specialist; Mercer, the provider of HR and related financial advice and services; and Oliver Wyman, the management consultancy.

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