People Moves: Eckert Lands With Willis Re as CEO

Willis Re said it has hired Neil Eckert as CEO one day after Conduit Holdings announced Eckert would be leaving as CEO of Conduit Re.

Willis Re said Eckert will lead its global broking and advisory strategy to drive growth across all platforms.

Eckert will join London-based Willis Re once he completes his contractual obligations at Conduit, which said Sept. 8 that Eckert will step down on Match 1, 2027. Eckert was a founder of the Bermuda-based reinsurer in 2020 and served as executive chair before being appointed CEO in May 2025.

Eckert began his career as a reinsurance broker, joining Benfield Group plc in 1986, and becoming a board member in 1988. In 1995, he founded Benfield & Rea Investment Trust, a listed vehicle raising capital to back Lloyd’s and insurance-company underwriting capacity, which was relisted in 1999 as Brit Insurance Holdings plc. Eckert served as founding CEO until 2005 and remained a non-executive director of the company until 2008. He also co-founded Climate Exchange plc, a leading global platform for carbon-emissions trading, in 2005, serving as CEO, until its sale in 2010.

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Of Eckert, Willis Re board member Lucy Clarke said, “He is one of the most experienced, entrepreneurial, driven and technologically astute people in our industry. His career is grounded in the reinsurance industry, but also spans insurance broking, capital, technology and climate ventures, as well as founding and scaling businesses across public markets and private ventures. That breadth of perspective is exactly what our clients and trading partners need as the market continues to evolve.”