What’s New: In Brief (January 18, 2008)

Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) has partnered with the Executive Development Centre at Queen’s School of Business to launch a new broker education program. The program, Making Partner, has been designed with Queen’s to provide customized senior management leadership and business skills to R&SA brokers who aspire to “make partner” one day in their brokerages, R&SA noted in a release. “We believe in the long-term growth of the broker channel, which is why we’ve made such a significant investment in a high-calibre program,” Shawn DeSantis, senior vice president of commercial and personal insurance at R&SA, said in the release. “In this increasingly competitive market, it is more and more important to have broad business skills to operate a successful business, and we are excited to partner with such an internationally respected business school to deliver those skills to our brokers.”

Willis Group Holdings has approached Marsh & McLennan (MMC) with a view to begin talks about the possible takeover of MMC, according to an unconfirmed report on CNBC TV. According to CNBC, Willis declined to comment and Marsh & McLennan was not immediately available for comment. The news follows a previous statement by MMC that it would “evaluate strategies to boost shareholder value.”CNBC asserts this statement “is often considered code for a possible sale of assets.”MMC in 2006 reportedly rejected overtures from Willis.