Marcus Bowser, Willis Towers Watson
Marcus Bowser leads the UK life sales and practice for Willis Towers Watson, having joined the firm in 2015 following senior roles with PwC, Standard & Poor's and Aviva. His focus has been on deriving value from embedding risk-based decision making, and a passion for enterprise risk management has seen him play a prominent role within the UK Actuarial Profession – notably as the current chair of the risk board, having previously sat on the board's research committee.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
It is incredibly rewarding to work with the world's leading insurers and the huge variety of work certainly keeps it interesting. But the best part is a job well done. It's fantastic when clients pick up the phone to say thanks for the insight the team has provided; it makes all the hard work worthwhile.
What are the major challenges ahead?
Our key concern should be how we collectively ensure the industry remains relevant and progressively more successful in our digital age. Alongside work to optimise insurers' Solvency II balance sheets and what I see as inevitable consolidation, critical success factors include excelling at underwriting, price optimisation, and differentiation through brand and values. This means significant investment in data analytics accessing ever larger pools of information on customers to better understand their risks and behaviours.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to emulate your success?
First and foremost I recommend working in areas that you feel passionate about. There are always going to be tough days, but they are a lot easier to get through if you passionately believe in what you are doing and the value you're adding.
Second, I suggest working in a wide range of roles across a range of organisations. In my career I've worked for one of the big four, a rating agency, for Aviva (both in their UK life insurance business and group function), and now Willis Towers Watson. In all these roles I've focused on risk, capital and value management.
What are your other interests?
I am a keen landscape photographer, although squeezing in time to shoot is increasingly a challenge with a young family. I'm also into my sport, particularly badminton, and an ardent Spurs fan, although it's painful to admit having narrowly missed out on the title this year.