Willis Re has appointed Rikki Hornett to its Bermuda market team, the reinsurance broker announced, as it presses ahead with an island hiring drive that has sparked a high-profile legal battle with an industry rival.
Hornett brings more than 40 years of industry experience, including over 25 years in the Bermuda market. He joins from Guy Carpenter, where he spent 20 years working on the placement of complex reinsurance and retrocession programs spanning catastrophe analytics, catastrophe bonds, and industry-loss-warranty transactions.
Earlier in his career, Hornett led the initial Bermuda build-out for Prentis Donegan & Partners, which was later acquired by Price Forbes.
Lucy Clarke, a Willis Re board member, called the hire part of the firm's continued push to build out its capabilities and client offerings on the island.
Willis Re was launched in late 2024 as a joint venture between WTW and Bain Capital, marking WTW's return to reinsurance broking after selling its legacy reinsurance arm to Arthur J Gallagher in 2021. The minority-stake structure was designed to shield WTW's quarterly earnings from the costs of an organic build-out.
Since mid-2025, Willis Re has hired heavily in Bermuda — the world's largest supplier of catastrophe reinsurance to US insurers. Among the recruits were Guy Carpenter's former Bermuda chief executive John Fletcher, property retro specialist Richard Keegan, and director Neville Ching.
Court filings placed Clarke's recruitment ambitions at approximately 100 employees, with around 80 drawn from Guy Carpenter.
The hiring spree prompted Guy Carpenter to file suit in London's High Court in July 2025, alleging Willis Re orchestrated a coordinated recruitment drive across three continents.
Clarke traveled to Bermuda on May 29 to meet Guy Carpenter staff at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, where she outlined the hiring plan and described a recruitment sequence beginning on the island before moving to London and then the United States.
The filings also alleged Fletcher shared confidential staff compensation data with Clarke – including details on Hornett's remuneration – which were used to shape Willis Re's employment offers.
By July 10, Willis Re had approached at least 43 Guy Carpenter employees, with 22 having resigned, the amended complaint stated. The departures included three senior leaders and 10 managing directors.
Separately, Willis Re last year added four senior Guy Carpenter professionals – as Jonno Bryan, Andrew Hitchings, Graham Devlin, and Nicola McIntosh – to its specialty reinsurance unit covering marine and energy lines.
