MEET KaranRai
Senior Associate, Retirement
Team Retirement
Segment Human Capital and Benefits
Location Reigate, United Kingdom
Year hired 2013
University/Degree Bristol University, BSc Mathematics
Personal skills or interests:
Knitting, crafting, sewing, cooking and anything else to do with channeling my inner crafter. I live in London and love going out to restaurants and bars.
Can you tell us about your history with Willis Towers Watson?
I was hired after university as part of a graduate intake. I have worked with a large variety of clients and taken on various different roles during my time at Willis Towers Watson. Currently the majority of my work involves acting as a consultant, advising trustees of a wide range of defined benefit pension schemes. I also do a small amount of corporate work and I have also taken on a managerial role in the team.
Can you tell us about the day-to-day responsibilities of your job?
In my role as a people manager, I need to keep in touch with my direct reports daily, allocate work to the appropriate colleagues within my team and help with wider long-term resourcing of projects. Being a manager provides unique challenges different from my consulting role, and no two days are the same.
For my consulting role, I need to make sure I work collaboratively with my client teams in order to complete work efficiently and in line with the required timescales. This can vary between simply providing a quick response to a client with some ad-hoc advice, to delivering a large project that takes place over a number of months.
What are the key challenges of your role? How have you overcome them?
Having lots of things on the go at once can be difficult, but this role has taught me the importance of being organised and prioritising or delegating my work when needed.
What’s been one of your most exciting projects to date?
I worked as a Project Manager on a major project for one of our largest Reigate clients. This involved over 30 people and months of work. My role was to co-ordinate the different sub-teams and keep everything on track. Sending out the final reports to the client after months of effort by the entire team was probably one of the most satisfying and exciting moments of my career. Knowing that the team has produced something that will impact so many people can be daunting, but the level of care taken with deliverables in Willis Towers Watson can give you confidence and pride in the end product.
What is your proudest achievement since joining Willis Towers Watson?
The project described in the previous question was probably my proudest achievement and earned me a Circle Award from our CEO. However, I personally feel that the best sense of pride comes from how we work as a team and help each other. For me, the sense of “team victory” is always when I feel proudest of being a part of Willis Towers Watson.
What training and development opportunities have you enjoyed as a result of your role at Willis Towers Watson?
I completed the graduate training programme during my first two years at the company which was invaluable. This programme provides the vital base of knowledge which underlies the work that we do. More informally, a huge amount of training and development comes from working on the job day-to-day and, in particular, from working closely with senior colleagues and learning from their experience. Being in such a large company enables me to work with a wide variety of people and therefore learn new things from each of them. I am still learning new things each day.
How would you describe the culture at Willis Towers Watson?
Like the rest of the world, 2020 has been an odd year for us. I think that the collaborative culture at Willis Towers Watson was highlighted during that period. People are so supportive, take time to check on their colleagues and always have time for each other.
Unlike many other companies, to shine here you just need to complete work to a high quality and people will notice and appreciate it. The culture lends itself to this way of working.
What do you like best about working at Willis Towers Watson?
Willis Towers Watson provides so many opportunities and a wide variety of clients and projects to work on. But for me personally, the people are the best part about working here without a doubt. I’ve learnt so much from the people around me and will continue to do so. I can’t remember a day where someone didn’t teach me something, or a day where I didn’t laugh working here. I’ve made lifelong friends at Willis Towers Watson and for that I am very grateful – my graduate year intake still all go away together every year!
Was there anything that surprised you about your role or the company?
For such a large company, there is still a small team feel where everyone knows everyone. We have so many people who are experts in their field, and you will inevitably end up working with many of them at some stage in your career.
What is your hope for your career in the future?
I am looking forward to exploring the various opportunities that are available to me at Willis Towers Watson and hope that in the future I will have a breadth of knowledge and experience in a wide range of work. I hope that in years to come I am still learning and doing new things.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give someone considering employment with Willis Towers Watson?
Do it!
MEET ArsalanNaeem
Associate Director, Retirement
Team Retirement
Segment Human Capital and Benefits
Location London, United Kingdom
Year hired 2015
University/Degree University College London, BSc Mathematics and Statistics
Personal skills or interests:
I am constantly seeking new challenges and skills to learn. At the minute I am learning to ski and kayak. I particularly enjoy scuba diving and my favorite place to dive in the world is Sipadan.
Can you tell us about your history with Willis Towers Watson?
I joined Willis Towers Watson as a professional with three years’ retirement consulting experience. My role was to support Project Managers, Scheme Actuaries and/or Lead Consultants in advising defined benefit pension plans on a range of consulting issues. My interest in programming and building models led me to join the ClientCover team and become an in-house expert on member modelers. In recent years I have taken on more corporate consulting work including benefit exchange exercises, accounting and liability management.
I like to take opportunities to get involved in various projects and diversify my skill sets. Expressing such interests has led me to take on a number of roles including being an editor for the ‘Hot Topics’ publication which is circulated to clients and supporting the Willis Towers Watson Master trust offering ‘LifeSight’ with its operations including pricing and reserving. I am also the Defined Contribution Implementation Manager for ‘RetireAble’.
I spent ten months on secondment at a large retail client, where my role was to support their Pensions Systems team with development and testing of their administration systems and processes. This was a great opportunity for me to demonstrate my skills and expertise to the client, strengthen the client relationship and at the same time gain exposure to the in-house work environment and challenges in the industry.
Can you tell us about the day-to-day responsibilities of your job?
My day to day job varies depending on the work I am involved with that week. I generally project manage my clients to ensure that work of the highest quality is delivered on time. This involves speaking with colleagues who have roles as Work Managers and Hub Managers to ensure that my client teams have enough expertise and resource to be able to deliver work to expectations. I set aside some time in the week for learning and development which can include training on regulatory changes as well as new consulting issues, which I can then discuss with Senior Consultants to decide on how to best approach these topics with our clients.
What are the key challenges of your role? How have you overcome them?
The key challenges of my work are managing expectations both internally and externally. Managing deadlines on multiple projects means that time can sometimes be in short supply. Good project management enables me to prioritise and manage my work to ensure that I maintain a good work-life balance.
What’s been one of your most exciting projects to date?
One of the most interesting projects to date has been providing support to a client through a benefit exchange exercise. This involved collaboration amongst several internal teams including Communications and Change Management, Talent and Reward and the Retirement Actuarial team. As part of this project I was also involved in client discussions on their long-term benefit offerings, liaising with trade unions, educating members on the implications of proposed changes via workshops and building a member modeler to illustrate the impact on their benefits.
How would you describe the culture at Willis Towers Watson?
The culture of the company is essentially its people. I have found that all Willis Towers Watson colleagues I have worked with have been exceptionally friendly, collaborative and supportive. All my colleagues are dedicated to supporting one another, putting clients first and achieving the best results. There are several events throughout the year that promote teamwork.
What do you like best about working at Willis Towers Watson?
I love the work culture at Willis Towers Watson. This ensures that I personally strive for excellence alongside having a real sense of teamwork.
What is your hope for your career in the future?
I hope to continue doing a job I love. Willis Towers Watson continues to challenge me and I know that it is such a big company that it can continue to provide opportunities and can accommodate my future interests and goals.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give someone considering employment with Willis Towers Watson?
Apply! Joining Willis Towers Watson was one of the best decisions I have made. You will love the people and culture of this firm.
MEET Jasmin Bedi
Retirement Associate
(former Intern)
Team Retirement
Segment Human Capital and Benefits
Location Reigate, United Kingdom
Experience level Intern
University St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, India, BSc (honors) Mathematics
Why did you pursue an internship with Willis Towers Watson?
Having studied for some actuarial exams at university, I was keen to understand the practical aspect of the theoretical knowledge I was gaining. Willis Towers Watson gave me the opportunity to work for some of the biggest pension schemes in the country, which was a perfect opportunity to learn the essence of the industry.
Can you tell us about your career progression with Willis Towers Watson, starting as an intern?
I started my career as an intern with Willis Towers Watson India a few years ago and now I work as an associate with Willis Towers Watson UK. Having worked as an associate on defined benefit schemes in India, I wanted to get exposure to the pension industry in another country. As one of the largest actuarial companies with a presence in multiple countries, Willis Towers Watson made getting an opportunity to work in another country easier. I applied for a position in the UK, was contacted by HR and after a few in-depth interviews, was made an offer to transfer.
Willis Towers Watson’s Global Mobility team made the transition a smooth one, and I felt supported at every step. It was definitely a big change driven primarily for the purpose of career advancement. Now that I have been in the UK for almost 10 months, I feel the move has helped me grow both professionally and personally.
What were your responsibilities as an intern?
As an intern I was responsible for shadowing consultants in the preparation of valuation reports for clients for accounting purposes. It gave me a good understanding of how pension liabilities impact the ledger for multinational corporations. I also got an opportunity to sharpen my Excel skills by creating a spreadsheet for automating a process.
What training and development opportunities have you enjoyed as a result of the internship?
Willis Towers Watson has an extensive training programme, along with great study support. To succeed an actuary, we need to maintain a balance between work, study and social life. Having a generous study policy made things easier. Also there were frequent social events with the team where I got to interact with senior consultants and actuaries; learning from their experiences was definitely an added benefit.
What were the highlights of your Willis Towers Watson career experience?
At a very early stage in my career, I had an opportunity to work closely with a senior consultant supporting a client that was implementing a government-driven defined contribution pension scheme. It involved managing a project with multiple stakeholders and tight timelines. We started by selecting a third-party administrator, and then had discussions with senior management at the client company to ensure they had the platform required to introduce the new pension scheme to employees.
From having the opportunity to attend client meetings and work with communication experts to prepare content for employee awareness, this experience provided incredible exposure to project management and to the client.
How would you describe the culture at Willis Towers Watson?
The culture is diverse, with something for everyone. One of the best things about my job is the ability to interact with members of the team at all different levels. I love that I get to learn new things from highly experienced actuaries. I also enjoy the sincere appreciation I receive from not only my manager, but from the people I work with directly.
MEET Suzanne Vaughan
Head of Retirement, Edinburgh
Team Retirement
Segment Human Capital and Benefits
Location Edinburgh, Scotland
Year hired 2009
University/Degree Heriot-Watt University, BSc Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics
Personal skills or interests:
Reconnecting with my creative side through music classes, messy play and macaroni pictures — with my one-year-old daughter.
Can you tell us about your history with Willis Towers Watson?
I was hired as a consultant, advising trustees of defined benefit pension schemes and supporting the scheme actuary lead consultant. From there, I became a scheme actuary leading client accounts. I’ve also completed secondment work, in which I worked in-house for a large banking client supporting their internal pension function through a significant period of change in regulations affecting their pension scheme. I then moved my career focus to de-risking pension schemes, i.e., removing pension scheme risk through the purchase of bulk annuities in the insurance market. Today as head of Edinburgh, Retirement, I am responsible for the strategic direction of our team, revenue and growth, and overall team performance.
Can you tell us about the day-to-day responsibilities of your job?
As head of the Edinburgh office, my day-to-day job is varied and unpredictable — which I love. One week I am on the road going around Scotland fronting external events in the local market, promoting our brand and the work and solutions we provide. The next week I can be behind closed doors with key members of my senior team considering business strategy for the year.
What are the key challenges of your role? How have you overcome them?
Time is always in short supply — as it is with most jobs these days. And having my first child, a one-year-old daughter, can put additional pressure on the time I have available to give to my role. But the company has been exceptionally supportive during this time of change for me, and I have been able to reshape various work priorities to ensure I can still achieve the best outcome for the local team.
What training and development opportunities have you enjoyed as a result of your role at Willis Towers Watson?
I was fortunate to be selected for our Emerging Leaders training programme a few years ago. This was a two-year programme that brought together more than 30 colleagues from across Europe. I met some incredibly talented individuals and, importantly, some great friends along the way. I’ve learned to be open to opportunities, such as this one, as you never know where they will take you.
If you remain open to new things, you develop along the way. You need to be brave and sometimes take a less obvious move (maybe sideways) rather than always aiming straight up. Working for an organisation like Willis Towers Watson allows you this flexibility, given the breadth of services we offer. The skills you start with develop along the journey, and the roles you end up taking may differ greatly from your original career path or plans.
What’s been one of your most exciting projects to date?
As part of the Emerging Leaders experience, we were split into smaller project teams and my group was tasked with considering the benefit package of 2025. We were given access to senior leaders and research facilities across our company. This also involved travel across Europe (Madrid, Munich, London), culminating in a proposal to our company’s leadership committee offering ways to help shape where we take our business in the future. It was fantastic to be given the opportunity to add our voice to the future direction of our company and enjoy the freedom to pursue such an ambitious initiative.
What is your proudest achievement since joining Willis Towers Watson?
I’m proud to have been given the flexibility to make a difference in how we drive our team forward locally by becoming head of the Edinburgh office and being entrusted to run a team of 40 colleagues. The role allows me to hire top talent, and then I’m tasked with putting them in the right scenarios to ensure both they — and as a result, we as a team — reach our full potential.
How would you describe the culture at Willis Towers Watson?
The culture is exceptionally collaborative and supportive. I continue to be amazed at the lengths colleagues will go to in supporting each other, putting clients first and getting results.
What do you like best about working at Willis Towers Watson?
Being part of such a large organisation means you have access to the very best ideas to take to your client base. But somehow, we have not lost the friendly feel of a small company, and there is a real sense of team here.
Was there anything that surprised you about your role or the company?
The degree to which the environment is collaborative. Given the size of the company, it continues to surprise me how supported and connected you are to so many people across different fields.
What is your hope for your career in the future?
My hope now is to continue doing a job I genuinely love. I know that working at Willis Towers Watson will continue to challenge and stretch me, and allow me the flexibility to take my career wherever my future skills and interests go. I love working with our clients and our team so whatever it is, it will involve both of these.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give someone considering employment with Willis Towers Watson?
Do it! I’m so glad I did. I was very happy with my previous employer and it took quite a bit for me to convince myself to move — but I’ve never looked back. The breadth of opportunity is unbelievable and, most importantly to me, the culture is fantastic.
