After a 47-year career in the global reinsurance industry, James Vickers, Chairman International, Reinsurance at ICMIF Supporting Member Gallagher Re, has announced his retirement, effective 31 May 2025.
Vickers shared the news in a personal LinkedIn post, reflecting on the transformative journey he witnessed in the reinsurance industry since the start of his career in the late 1970s. “Reinsurance broking was very much a transactional and relationship-driven business back then, with any technical analysis limited to rules of thumb and historic loss analysis,” Vickers recalled. He highlighted the early 1990s as a pivotal period when the industry began embracing catastrophe models and advanced financial and actuarial modelling, describing the opportunity to be part of this analytical revolution as “a huge privilege and a source of endless intellectual and commercial stimulation for me over the last 30 years.”
Throughout his career, Vickers has played a significant role in the globalisation of reinsurance broking. “My generation of reinsurance brokers had the great good fortune of working at a time when the globalisation of the reinsurance broking industry took hold, transforming the industry from a series of fragmented localised firms into a limited number of truly global powerhouses,” he shared.
Over the past 25 years, with Willis Towers Watson and then more recently (through the sale of Willis Re) with Gallagher Re, Vickers has contributed to growing a network of local offices in over 30 countries, embracing the many challenges and opportunities that came with this expansion.
In his post, Vickers expressed gratitude to colleagues and clients, saying: “I have been hugely fortunate throughout my career to have worked with wonderfully talented colleagues and extremely supportive clients who have all been kind enough to freely share their knowledge, skills and friendship with me.”
Vickers shared his confidence in the next generation of leaders at Gallagher Re and his ongoing passion for the industry saying: “I retire from Gallagher Re with great confidence that the next generation of leaders will drive the business forward and surpass any success that I and my peers may have enjoyed in our careers. My enthusiasm and confidence for the future of reinsurance broking remains undimmed, and if I have only one regret on retiring, it is that I am not 20 years younger as I truly believe that the outlook for the industry is brighter now than at any time in my career.”
Speaking about the announcement, Liz Green, CEO, ICMIF said: “James Vickers’ remarkable career leaves a lasting legacy, and his contributions to the reinsurance industry will continue to inspire future generations. He has been a great supporter of ICMIF and the mutual/cooperative insurance sector since Willis Re (then Gallagher Re) became one of our Supporting Members. James has spoken at many of our flagship events including, notably, at the ICMIF Biennial Conference in Rome in 2022. My team and I thank James for his many contributions and wish him all the best for the future.”
