Bob Collie to join the Thinking Ahead Institute

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 09, 2018 -- Bob Collie has joined the Thinking Ahead Institute, a global not-for-profit investment research institute with over 40 institutional investment organization members who have combined responsibility for over $13 trillion. In this role, Collie will head research for the Thinking Ahead Group, the executive team of the Institute. He will be based in the U.K.

Collie has over 30 years of experience in the actuarial, investment and consulting industries. He joins from Russell Investments where he worked for over 20 years, most recently as chief research strategist responsible for the generation, capture and delivery of strategic research to institutional clients in the U.S. Prior to this, he led Russell Investment’s London-based consulting practice, covering all EMEA relationships. Before that, he was a consultant at Mercer Consulting for eight years. Collie has an M.A. in mathematics from the University of Oxford and is a fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

“I am very pleased to welcome Bob to the team,” said Tim Hodgson, head of the Thinking Ahead Group. “He is a highly regarded author of research covering a wide range of investment topics* and is a proven leader of consulting and research practices. He joins us at a time of accelerating change in the investment industry where our research is gaining traction because it points to a better investment world in which the end saver is prioritized.”

Last year, in its research paper The search for a long-term premium, the Thinking Ahead Institute quantified, and provided evidence for, the size of the long-term investment premium that can be exploited by investors. In addition, the Institute recently developed the first sustainability beliefs benchmarking tool to test the relative strength of these beliefs among peers to assess if and where an investment edge can be developed.

*Topics include corporate pension finance; liability-responsive asset allocation (the earliest description of the de-risking glide path approach); performance measurement during portfolio transitions (the T Standard); and the five tests of an effective environmental, social and governance policy. Bob Collie also co-authored The Retirement Plan Solution: The Reinvention of Defined Contribution, a book that sets out a vision for a transformation of the defined contribution system, describing opportunities for greater effectiveness in the pre- and postretirement phases.

About the Thinking Ahead Institute

The Thinking Ahead Institute is a global not-for-profit member organization whose aim is to influence change in the investment world for the benefit of savers. The Institute’s members comprise asset owners, investment managers and other groups who are motivated to influence the industry for the good of savers worldwide. It has over 40 members with combined responsibility for over US$13 trillion and is an outgrowth of Willis Towers Watson Investments’ Thinking Ahead Group.

About Willis Towers Watson

Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ:WLTW) is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. With roots dating to 1828, Willis Towers Watson 40,000 employees serving more than 140 countries. We design and deliver solutions that manage risk, optimize benefits, cultivate talent, and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions and individuals. Our unique perspective allows us to see the critical intersections between talent, assets and ideas — the dynamic formula that drives business performance. Together, we unlock potential. Learn more at willistowerswatson.com.

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