Marsh has named James Addington-Smith as its next CEO of Marsh UK, beginning early 2026, subject to regulatory approval, the business announced in a media release on Wednesday, 19 November.
Addington-Smith, who is currently President of Marsh Asia, succeeds Chris Lay, who will retire from the
firm in Q1 2026, after over 40 years of service. Addington-Smith will relocate to London for the new role and report to Flavio Piccolomini, CEO, Marsh McLennan, International.
In line with the move, David Jacob, CEO of Marsh McLennan Asia, will assume the additional role of President of Marsh Asia.
Addington-Smith joined Marsh in 2010 as Marine Leader, Asia and has since held several senior leadership roles at the business, including Leader of Marsh Speciality for the region.
Commenting on the appointment, Martin South, President & CEO of Marsh, labelled Addington-Smith as an exceptional leader with a proven track record of client-focused innovation. “It is very appropriate that someone with such a strong international career will lead our strategically important UK business, a global centre for insurance broking and innovation.”
South also paid tribute to the retiring UK CEO, Chris Lay. “I would also like to thank Chris for his tremendous
contributions and impact on our firm, and his many years of leadership in our industry.”
The new appointments also come amid a series of key, strategic developments from Marsh in recent months. In October, the group announced that Marsh McLennan will rebrand as Marsh from 2026, that its reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter will rebrand as Marsh Re, and that the business would launch a new tech and data focused unit.
Within Asia, Marsh has also made some notable appointments, with Andrea Bono as CEO for India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) and Guy Bessis as Chairman of Energy and Power for the IMEA region. It also partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help launch the Building Resilience Index (BRI), a unified, credible framework for assessing the resilience of buildings in Asia.
Marsh has also undergone a leadership transformation in the Pacific region. Following Damian Schinck’s September appointment as President of Pacific, the business has announced key leadership roles, including Poppy Foxton as Head of Corporate and Commercial, promoted Steven Cakaric as Head of Sales, and named Scott Eccleston as Head of Risk Management.
