WTW US Equity☆

10-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark one)

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year endedDecember 31, 2025

or

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number: 001-16503

WILLIS TOWERS WATSON PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class TradingSymbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of ‘large accelerated filer’, ‘accelerated filer’ and ‘smaller reporting company’ in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☑

The aggregate market value of the voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, computed by reference to the last reported price at which the Registrant’s common equity was sold on June 30, 2025 (the last day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second quarter) was $29,918,279,975.

As of February 20, 2026, there were outstanding 94,545,903 ordinary shares, nominal value $0.000304635 per share, of the Registrant.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of Part III will be incorporated by reference in accordance with Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K no later than 120 days after the end of the Company’s fiscal year.

WILLIS TOWERS WATSON PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

INDEX TO FORM 10-K

For the year ended December 31, 2025

Page

Certain Definitions 1

Disclaimer Regarding Forward-looking Statements 2

PART I.

Item 1 Business 3

Item 1A Risk Factors 15

Item 1B Unresolved Staff Comments 39

Item 1C Cybersecurity 40

Item 2 Properties 41

Item 3 Legal Proceedings 41

Item 4 Mine Safety Disclosures 41

PART II.

Item 6 [RESERVED] 45

Item 7A Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 68

Item 8 Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 71

Item 9A Controls and Procedures 129

Item 9B Other Information 131

Item 9C Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 132

PART III.

Item 10 Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 133

Item 11 Executive Compensation 133

Item 14 Principal Accounting Fees and Services 133

PART IV.

Item 15 Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 134

Certain Definitions

The following definitions apply throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K unless the context requires otherwise:

‘Towers Watson’ Towers Watson & Co. and its subsidiaries

‘U.S.’ United States

‘U.K.’ United Kingdom

‘U.S. GAAP’ United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

‘FASB’ Financial Accounting Standards Board

‘ASC’ Accounting Standards Codification

‘ASU’ Accounting Standards Update

‘SEC’ United States Securities and Exchange Commission

‘EBITDA’ Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization

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Disclaimer Regarding Forward-looking Statements

We have included in this document ‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by those laws. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our operations or certain considerations relating to our future results. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that we expect or anticipate may occur in the future, including such things as: our outlook; the potential impact of natural or man-made disasters like health pandemics and other world health crises; the impact of macroeconomic trends, including inflation, changes in interest rates, trade policies and other geopolitical risks; future capital expenditures; ongoing working capital efforts; future share repurchases; financial results (including our revenue, costs or margins) and the impact of changes to tax laws on our financial results; existing and evolving business strategies; our indebtedness; our ability to execute strategic transactions, including both acquisitions and dispositions, including our ability to receive adequate consideration or any earnout proceeds in return for any dispositions or integrate or manage acquired businesses (such as our recent acquisition of Newfront Insurance Holdings, Inc. and our planned acquisition of Cushon) or effect internal reorganizations; demand for our services and competitive strengths; strategic goals; the benefits of new initiatives or investments in technology; growth of our business and operations; the sustained health of our product, service, transaction, client, and talent assessment and management pipelines; our ability to successfully manage ongoing leadership, organizational and technology changes, including investments in improving systems and processes; our cybersecurity and privacy processes; our ability to protect our intellectual property; our compliance with laws and regulations; risks associated with being an Irish-incorporated company; our recognition of future impairment charges; and plans and references to future successes, including our future financial and operating results, short-term and long-term financial goals, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, including with respect to free cash flow generation, adjusted net income, adjusted operating margin and adjusted earnings per share, are forward-looking statements. Also, when we use words such as ‘may’, ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘estimate’, ‘expect’, ‘intend’, ‘plan’, ‘continues’, ‘seek’, ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘focus’, ‘probably’, or similar expressions, we are making forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the Company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking disclosure is speculative by its nature.

A number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results reflected in these forward-looking statements are identified under ‘Risk Factors’ in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These statements are based on assumptions that may not come true and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.

Although we believe that the assumptions underlying our forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of these assumptions, and therefore also the forward-looking statements based on these assumptions, could themselves prove to be inaccurate. Given the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our inclusion of this information is not a representation or guarantee by us that our objectives and plans will be achieved.

Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and we will not update these forward-looking statements unless the securities laws require us to do so. With regard to these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this document may not occur, and we caution you against unduly relying on these forward-looking statements.

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PART I.

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

The Company

WTW is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that provides data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk and capital. Utilizing the global view and local expertise of our approximately 47,000 colleagues serving more than 140 countries and markets, we help organizations sharpen strategies, enhance resilience, motivate workforces and maximize performance. 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. Working closely with our clients, we uncover opportunities for sustainable success.

Our clients operate on a global and local scale in a multitude of businesses and industries throughout the world and generally range in size from large, major multinational corporations to middle-market domestic and international companies. Our clients include many of the world’s leading corporations, including approximately 93% of the FTSE 100, 89% of the Fortune 1000, and 92% of the Fortune Global 500 companies. We also advise the majority of the world’s leading insurance companies. We work with major corporations, emerging growth companies, governmental agencies and not-for-profit institutions in a wide variety of industries, with many of our client relationships spanning decades. None of the Company’s clients individually represented more than 10% of its consolidated revenue for each of the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023. We place insurance with approximately 2,500 insurance carriers, none of which individually accounted for a significant concentration of the total premiums we placed on behalf of our clients in 2025, 2024 or 2023.

Available Information

The Company files annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website that contains annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information that issuers (including WTW) file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s website is www.sec.gov.

The Company makes available, free of charge through our website, www.wtwco.com, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our proxy statement, current reports on Form 8-K and Forms 3, 4, and 5 filed on behalf of directors and Section 16 officers, as well as any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ‘Exchange Act’) as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Unless specifically incorporated by reference, information on our website is not a part of this Form 10-K.

The Company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association,Corporate Governance Guidelines, Audit Committee Charter, Risk and Operational Oversight Committee Charter, Human Capital and Compensation Committee Charter, and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee Charter are available on our website, www.wtwco.com, in the Investor Relations section, or upon request. Requests for copies of these documents should be directed in writing to the Company Secretary c/o Office of General Counsel, Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company, Brookfield Place, 200 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281.

General Information

WTW offers its clients a broad range of services and solutions designed to help them identify and control risks, while also enhancing business performance by improving their ability to attract, retain and engage a talented workforce. Our risk control services span from strategic risk consulting, including actuarial analysis and various due diligence services, to practical on-site support such as health and safety or property loss control consulting, alongside analytical and advisory services like hazard modeling and climate risk quantification. We also assist clients in planning for and managing incidents or crises through services like contingency planning, security audits and product tampering plans. To further enhance business performance, we deliver consulting services, technology and solutions that help clients anticipate, identify and capitalize on emerging opportunities in human capital management, as well as offer investment guidance to help them develop disciplined and efficient strategies to meet their financial goals.

As an insurance broker, we act as an intermediary between our clients and insurance carriers by advising our clients on their risk management requirements, helping them to determine the best means of managing risk and negotiating and placing insurance with insurance carriers through our global distribution network.

We operate a private Medicare marketplace in the U.S. through which, along with our active employee marketplace, we help our clients move to a more sustainable economic model by capping and controlling the costs associated with healthcare benefits.

We are not an insurance company, and therefore we do not underwrite insurable risks for our own account. We help sharpen strategies, enhance organizational resilience, motivate workforces and maximize performance to uncover opportunities for sustainable success.

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We derive the majority of our revenue from either commissions or fees for brokerage or from consulting services. We do not determine the insurance premiums on which our commissions are generally based. Commission levels generally follow the same trend as premium levels as they are derived from a percentage of the premiums paid by the insureds. Fluctuations in these premiums charged by the insurance carriers can therefore have a direct and potentially material impact on our results of operations. Our fees for consulting services are spread across a variety of complementary businesses that generally remain steady during times of uncertainty. We have some businesses, such as our health and benefits and administration businesses, which can be counter cyclical during the early period of a significant economic change.

Business Strategy

We believe that a unified and integrated approach to advisory, broking and solutions can be a path to growth for organizations around the world. We harness our collective power as ‘One WTW’ to make smart connections to serve and support our clients.

We operate in attractive markets – both growing and mature – with a diversified platform across industries, segments and businesses globally.

Our strategy is focused on extending and amplifying WTW’s strengths to deliver sustainable growth and profitability.

We believe we can achieve this through executing on three strategic objectives:

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Accelerate performance: By executing on the segment growth strategies to strengthen business fundamentals, advance innovative solutions and capitalize on our global footprint.

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Enhance efficiency: By having a continuous improvement mindset, delivering operating leverage in our segments and leveraging WTW Enterprise Delivery Organization (WE DO) to focus on right work, right place, right tools and real estate optimization.

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Optimize portfolio: By intentionally managing our portfolio through inorganic and organic investment in areas of strength and deepen our large and high-growth businesses with strategic investments in corporate risk and broking, health and benefits and wealth. Also, by divesting businesses that are no longer a strategic fit or do not align with our desired financial profile.

These objectives are enabled by a focused investment framework and capital allocation strategy.

Through this strategy, we aim to grow revenue, improve margins and increase free cash flow, EBITDA and earnings. In turn, we’ll be able to fulfill our shared company purpose: We transform tomorrows.

We care as much about how we work as we do about the impact that we make. This means commitment to our shared purpose and values, a foundational framework that guides how we run our business and serve our clients. Our values of client focus, teamwork, integrity, respect and excellence underpin all that we do, and how we behave and interact with each other, our clients and our partners.

For more information about risks to our strategic plans, see Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors of this Form 10-K.

Principal Services

We manage our business across two integrated reportable operating segments: Health, Wealth & Career and Risk & Broking. Below are the percentages of revenue generated by each segment for each of the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023.

Year ended December 31,

Health, Wealth & Career 55 % 59 % 60 %

The following presents descriptions of our segments:

Health, Wealth & Career

The Health, Wealth & Career (‘HWC’) segment provides an array of advice, broking, solutions and technology for employee benefit plans, institutional investors, compensation and career programs, and the employee experience overall. Our portfolio of services support the interrelated challenges that the management teams of our clients face across human resources (‘HR’) and finance.

HWC is the larger of the two segments of the Company. Addressing four key areas, Health, Wealth, Career and Benefits Delivery & Outsourcing, the segment is focused on addressing our clients’ people and risk needs to help them succeed in a global marketplace.

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Health

The Health & Benefits (‘H&B’) business provides strategy and design consulting,plan management service and support, broking and administration across the full spectrum of health, wellbeing and other group benefit programs, including medical, dental, disability, life, voluntary benefits and other coverage. Our reach extends from small/mid-market clients to large-market and multinational clients, across the full geographic footprint of the Company, and to most industries. We can address our clients’ needs in more than 160 countries.

Our colleagues help clients make strategic decisions on topics such as optimizing program spend; evaluating emerging vendors, point solutions and coverage options (including publicly-subsidized health insurance exchanges and private exchanges in the U.S.); and dealing with above-inflation-rate increases in healthcare costs. We also assist clients in selecting the appropriate insurance carriers to cover benefit risks and administer the programs. In addition to our consulting and broking services, we manage a number of collective purchasing initiatives, such as pharmacy and stop-loss, that allow employers to realize greater value from third-party service providers than they can achieve on their own.

With Global Benefits Management, our suite of global services supporting medical, dental and risk (e.g., life, disability) programs, we have a tailored offering for multinationals. This offering includes a flexible set of ready-made solutions, proven technology and an integrated approach to service delivery that translates to a globally consistent, high-quality experience for our clients.

A meaningful portion of revenue in this business is from recurring work, though contracts may be annual or multi-year. Given the balance of revenue across consulting, broking and solutions, our revenue is somewhat weighted to the first half of the year.

Wealth

Our wealth-related businesses include Retirement and Investments.

Retirement — Our Retirement business provides actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for all forms of pension and retirement savings plans. Our colleagues help clients assess the costs and risks of retirement plans on cash flow, earnings and the balance sheet, the effects of changing workforce demographics on their retirement plans, and retiree benefit adequacy and security. We offer clients a full range of integrated retirement consulting services and solutions to meet the needs of all types of employers. We help multinationals coordinate plan design and actuarial services across their complex global plans. We bring in-depth data analysis and perspective to their decision-making process as we have tracked the retirement designs and financing strategies of companies around the world over many decades.

For clients that want to outsource some or all of their pension plan management, we offer broking services as well as integrated solutions that can combine investment discretionary management, pension administration, core actuarial services, and communication and change management assistance.

Retirement relationships are generally long-term in nature, and client retention rates for this business are high. A significant portion of the revenue in this business is from recurring work, with multi-year contracts that are driven by the heavily regulated nature of pension plans and our clients’ annual needs for these services.

Investments — Our Investments business provides advice and discretionary investment management solutions to defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans as well as to a range of other client types including insurers, endowments and foundations, and private wealth investors. We provide a solution to a significant business problem faced by our clients, namely sustaining the resources and skills required to deliver a financial services product in highly competitive capital markets. We offer a flexible approach that adapts to a wide range of client needs and circumstances, with the objective of higher returns, lower risk and lower costs within each client’s unique situation.

Our solutions range from single asset class activity, through complete management of entire pension plan assets including sophisticated liability hedging programs as well as pooled employer plans/Master Trust under our LifeSight branding.

We bring together a broad array of specialist investment knowledge and skills across all asset classes, a high-quality execution platform, a cost advantage through our scale, and expert advisors with experience across all client types from the largest plans in the world to small corporate pension plans.

We have long-term relationships with our Investments clients, with the majority of our revenue driven by retainer contracts.

Career

Ourcareer-related offerings include advice, data, software and products to address clients’ total rewards and talent issues across the globe delivered through our Work & Rewards and Employee Experience businesses.

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Work & Rewards — Within our Work & Rewards business, we help clients determine the best ways to get work done, the skills needed for jobs, and how to reward employees. We address executive compensation and broad-based rewards. We advise our clients’ management and boards of directors on all aspects of executive pay programs, including base pay, annual bonuses, long-term incentives, perquisites and other benefits. Our focus is on aligning pay plans with an organization’s business strategy and driving desired performance. Our solutions incorporate proprietary market benchmarking data and software to support compensation administration.

Employee Experience — Our Employee Experience business focuses on the provision of solutions including employee insight and listening tools, a technology platform that serves as a gateway for employees and plan participants to access their benefits and career information, communication and change management services.

Revenue for our career-related businesses is partly seasonal in nature, with heightened activity in the second half of the calendar year during the annual compensation, benefits and survey cycles. While these businesses enjoy long-term relationships with many clients, work in some parts of the businesses is project-based and can be sensitive to economic changes. We are increasingly adding tech-enabled solutions to our offerings across HWC, and in particular in Career. The businesses benefit from regulatory changes affecting our clients that require strategic advice, program changes and communication, the redefinition of jobs, work location and career paths as technology disaggregates work, and the recalibration of pay and the employee experience amidst shifting labor markets.

Benefits Delivery & Outsourcing

Our Benefits Delivery & Outsourcing businesses include Individual Marketplace and Global Outsourcing.

Individual Marketplace — Individual Marketplace offers decision support processes and tools to connect consumers with insurance carriers in private individual and Medicare markets. By leveraging multiple distribution channels and a diverse product portfolio, Individual Marketplace offers solutions to a broad consumer base, helping individuals compare, purchase and use health insurance products, tools and information. Individual Marketplace also provides Benefits Accounts to employees and retirees. These are tax-advantaged medical spending and savings accounts including health savings accounts (‘HSA’), health reimbursement accounts (‘HRA’) and flexible spending accounts (‘FSA’), such as dependent care/commuting flexible spending accounts.

Global Outsourcing — Global Outsourcing administers the health, welfare and retirement plans of clients using our proprietary technology for benefit modeling, decision support, enrollment and benefit choice, records management and self-service. Drawing on expertise in H&B and Retirement to create high-performing benefit plan designs, we believe we are well-positioned to help clients of all sizes simplify their benefits delivery, while lowering the total costs of benefits and related administration. Our technology also provides trustees and HR teams with timely management information to monitor activity and service levels and reduce administration costs.

With ongoing servicing requirements and multi-year contracts in place, we have high client retention rates. We provide plan administration services in North America, the U.K., Ireland and Germany.

A significant portion of the revenue in Benefits Delivery & Outsourcing is recurring in nature, driven by either the commissions from the policies we sell, or from long-term service contracts with our clients that typically range from three to five years. Revenue across this business is seasonal and is generally higher in the fourth quarter as it is driven when typical annual enrollment activity occurs.

Risk & Broking

The Risk & Broking (‘R&B’) segment provides a broad range of risk advice, insurance brokerage and consulting services to clients globally, ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations.

The segment comprises two primary businesses: our Corporate Risk & Broking and our Insurance Consulting and Technology businesses.

Corporate Risk & Broking (‘CRB’)

TheCRB business places more than $34 billion of premiums into the insurance markets on an annual basis and delivers integrated global solutions tailored to client needs. This is underpinned by data and analytics through a balanced matrix of global lines of business and local Property and Casualty businesses, across four geographical areas: North America, Great Britain, Western Europe and International. Globally, and across the businesses, our specialized and data-driven approach is underpinned by our risk analytics and climate analytics propositions.

Across all businesses, our experts take an industry-focused approach to risk management and assessment, delivering broader perspectives and data-informed decision making to our clients. Our lines of business include Property and Casualty, Affinity, Risk & Analytics and our specialty global lines of business.

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Property and Casualty — Property and Casualty, in each of our geographical areas, provides property and liability insurance brokerage services across a wide range of industries and segments including real estate, healthcare and retail.

Affinity — Through Affinity, we arrange insurance products and services for our affinity client partners to offer to their customers, employees, or members alongside, or in addition to, their principal business offerings.

Risk & Analytics (‘R&A’) — Our R&A offering includes deep expertise on specific client needs. Through the use of holistic analysis, R&A brings value through risk quantification and development of a robust portfolio risk strategy, ultimately delivering a sound financial approach to all clients.

Our specialty global lines of business include:

Aerospace —Aerospaceprovides specialist expertise to the aerospace and space industries. Our aerospace business provides insurance broking, risk management services, contractual and technical advisory expertise to aerospace clients globally, including the world’s leading airlines, aircraft manufacturers, air cargo handlers and other airport and general aviation companies. The specialist InSpace team is also prominent in providing insurance and risk management services to the space industry.

Construction — Our Construction business provides services that include insurance broking, claims, loss control and specialized risk advice for a wide range of construction projects and activities. Clients include contractors, project owners, public entities, project managers, consultants and financiers, among others.

Global Markets Direct & Facultative — Operating in the major wholesale reinsurance hubs across the globe, including London, Bermuda, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, solutions are delivered both directly to clients for the most complex property and casualty risks and as facultative reinsurance placements where we serve as an intermediary for insurance companies. Facultative solutions are provided across various classes of risk for our insurer clients, some of which may also be direct clients of WTW. The aim is to deliver optimum results for our clients by getting the right risk to the right market by the right broker, be it local, wholesale or facultative every time.

Financial, Executive and Professional Risks (‘FINEX’) — FINEX encompasses all financial and executive risks, delivering client solutions that range from management and professional liability, employment practices liability, crime, cyber and M&A-related insurances to risk consulting and advisory services. Specialist teams provide risk consulting and risk transfer solutions to a broad spectrum of clients across a multitude of industries, as well as the financial and professional service sectors.

Credit Risk Solutions (formerly known as Financial Solutions) — Credit Risk Solutions provides insurance broking services and specialized risk advice related to credit and political risk. Clients include international banks, commodity traders, export credit agencies and multinational corporations.

Crisis Management — Our global practice delivers crisis management and contingency risk management to multinational clients, providing comprehensive solutions around terrorism, political violence, accident and health, special crime and active assailant.

Surety —The Global Surety team provides expertise in placing bonds across all industries and around the globe. A surety bond is a financial instrument that guarantees contractual performance, statutory compliance, and financial assurance for domestic and international companies.

Marine —Marineprovides specialist expertise to the maritime and logistics industries. Our Marine business provides insurance broking services related to hull and machinery, cargo, protection and indemnity, fine art and general marine liabilities, among others. Our Marine clients include, but are not limited to, ship owners and operators, shipbuilders, logistics operations, port authorities, traders, shippers, exhibitors and secure transport companies.

Natural Resources — Our Natural Resources practice encompasses the oil, gas and chemicals, mining and metals, power and utilities and renewable energy sectors. It provides sector-specific risk transfer solutions and insights, which include insurance broking, risk engineering, contractual reviews, wording analysis and claims management.

Insurance Consulting and Technology (‘ICT’)

ICT is a global business that provides advice and technology solutions to the insurance industry. We leverage our industry experience, strategic perspective and analytical skills to help clients measure and manage risk and capital, improve business performance and create a sustainable competitive advantage. Our services include software and technology, risk and capital management, products and product pricing, financial and regulatory reporting, financial and capital modeling, M&A, outsourcing and business management.

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Human Capital

Colleague experience – Our colleague experience is an important differentiating factor for WTW and a key enabler of our strategy. It is designed to provide colleagues with a strong sense of purpose and belonging where everyone is heard and valued, the opportunity to build great connections with people and leaders, meaningful and interesting work, and opportunities to grow and thrive with recognition and reward in return. This means we strive to foster an inclusive environment where everyone can be their authentic self, where we encourage curiosity, innovation and a continuous improvement mindset and an environment where we are bold in our thinking and care about the impact we have.

Our values, vision, purpose, and Colleague Value Proposition (‘CVP’) — we’re Authentic, Curious and Bold, sets the tone for what to expect at WTW. In addition, our strategic priorities enhance our focus on how to support and improve our colleague experience. We continually build on our CVP through execution of a colleague experience roadmap and a robust portfolio of colleague listening activities to attract, engage and retain the most accomplished and aspiring talent.

Learning & development – We support professional development and personal growth for our talent. Our colleagues take responsibility to develop their expertise, competencies and professional stature, while the Company invests in the tools and opportunities that allow for our colleagues’ continual development. Our digital-first learning approach enables career development for all our colleagues around the world, complemented by business-specific and technical training. Additionally, we offer targeted development programs for early careers, emerging leaders, managers and experienced leaders.

Colleagues – Our success depends on our ability to bring to our clients the most accomplished and aspiring talent in the industry. We provide our colleagues with meaningful long-term careers across our base of full-time (the majority), part-time and seasonal/temporary colleagues to meet the specific needs of our various businesses.

The number of colleagues by segment as of December 31, 2025 is approximated below:

Health, Wealth & Career 23,100

Corporate and Other 7,000

The number of colleagues by geography as of December 31, 2025 is approximated below:

Voluntary turnover (rolling 12-month attrition) has remained well within target range throughout 2025 (9.8% compared to 10.1% in 2024; for comparative purposes, the prior-year figure has been adjusted for a change in methodology for the seasonal colleague exclusion).

Hiring

With turnover remaining within target range, business areas are primarily focusing on targeted hiring campaigns for mid-senior level hires to support growth, future succession planning and/or as part of their location strategy.

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Hiring into the Early Careers programs remained relatively stable and consistent with 2024. The focus remains on building pipelines of high caliber talent through enhanced employer branding and attraction.

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Hires exceeded 6,700, a decrease of 4% as compared to 2024 (for comparative purposes, the prior-year figure has been adjusted for a change in methodology for the seasonal colleague exclusion) primarily attributable to a volume of colleagues with effective start dates in 2026.

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We continue to have a strong rate of alumni returning to WTW, with rehires representing 7% of total hires in both 2025 and 2024.

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Our continued focus for 2026 will be to increase our global investment in talent across sales and client-facing colleagues.

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Inclusion and Diversity (‘I&D’) – Our people strategy guides our actions to make WTW a destination employer for top talent. Our approach to building and sustaining an inclusive and high-performing culture includes a priority focus on:

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Attraction and Retention – Growing the pipeline for talent with a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

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Development and Promotion – Supporting colleagues in all stages of career development.

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Culture and Brand – Promoting an inclusive culture and work environment.

Our policies, including our Code of Conduct, require that our employment decisions comply with applicable law.

Total Rewards – We invest significant resources in our most important asset, our colleagues, and having the right total rewards programs to support our colleague experience is an important part of our commitment to being the best company we can be. We offer market competitive rewards in aggregate, aligned to a pay-for-performance culture. Alongside our colleague experience, our total rewards programs position WTW as a magnet for the most accomplished and aspiring talent in the industry.

Our total rewards comprise a wide array of programs, including pay, benefits, share ownership, wellbeing, recognition, flexible working arrangements, time off, career development opportunities and other aspects of the work environment. These are intended to enhance business performance in alignment with WTW’s strategy, culture and values.

At its core, our total rewards programs are designed to:

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Attract, engage, retain and develop talent with a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives;

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Enhance and sustain high levels of colleague performance and engagement; and

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Allow for meaningful choice, where appropriate, to address individual needs.

In 2025, WTW expanded key total rewards programs, including the employee share purchase plan, to more countries. We also enhanced our global Recognition Hub platform, celebrating our colleagues’ successes, achievements and milestones to support a culture of recognition and appreciation at WTW.

Work Styles – We have a flexible and adaptable approach to where colleagues work, aligned to the distinct needs of our businesses and leveraging three distinct working solutions: office-based, hybrid and remote. This framework has flexibility at its core and is based on the principle that the work itself drives where and how the work gets done. In-office interactions are encouraged for all colleagues, with some moving to more frequent and regular in-person collaboration, including minimum in-office requirements in some areas of our business. Our flexibility continues to be a key differentiator for us in the market and is an important part of our ongoing strategy to attract, engage and retain top talent.

The failure to successfully attract and retain qualified personnel could materially adversely affect our results of operations and prospects. For more information see Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Competition

We face competition in all fields in which we operate, based on factors including global capability, product breadth, innovation, quality of service and price. We compete with companies such as Aon plc, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Brown & Brown Inc., Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (‘Marsh & McLennan’) and Robert Half International Inc., as well as with numerous specialty, regional and local firms.

Competition on premium rates has also exacerbated the pressures caused by a continuing reduction in demand in some classes of business. For example, rather than purchase additional insurance through brokers, some insureds have been retaining a greater proportion of their risk portfolios than previously. Industrial and commercial companies increasingly rely upon their own subsidiary insurance companies, known as captive insurance companies, self-insurance pools, risk retention groups, mutual insurance companies and other mechanisms for funding their risks, rather than buy insurance. Additional competitive pressures have arisen and are expected to continue to arise from the entry and expansion of new market participants, such as banks, accounting firms, new brokers and insurance carriers themselves, offering risk management or transfer services.

The human capital and risk management consulting industries are highly competitive. We believe we have developed competitive advantages in providing HR consulting and risk management consulting services. We face strong competition from numerous sources, including from large consulting firms, accounting firms and specialized firms focused on these services as further identified below. See Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors – ‘Demand for our services could decrease for various reasons, including a general economic downturn, increased competition, or a decline in a client’s or an industry’s financial condition or prospects, all of which could

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substantially and negatively affect us’, for a description of competition-related risks that may affect demand for the Company’s services.

Our largest competitors in the pension consulting industry are Mercer HR Consulting (a Marsh & McLennan company) and Aon plc. In addition, we face vigorous competition from numerous other companies in the global HR consulting industry.

Our major competitors in the insurance consulting and software industry include Milliman, Oliver Wyman (a Marsh & McLennan company), the big four accounting firms (Deloitte LLP, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and KPMG), and SunGard. Aon plc, Mercer (a Marsh & McLennan company), Automatic Data Processing and Fidelity are among our largest competitors in the insurance exchange industry. We also compete with the public health insurance exchanges currently run by the U.S. federal and state governments, as well as providers of account-based health plans and consumer-directed benefits such as WageWorks and HealthEquity.

The market for our services is subject to change as a result of economic, regulatory and legislative changes, technological developments and increased competition from established and new competitors. Regulatory and legislative actions, along with continuously evolving technological developments, will likely have the greatest impact on the overall market for our exchange products. See Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors – ‘Our business will be negatively affected if we are not able to anticipate and keep pace with rapid changes in government laws or regulations, or if government laws or regulations decrease the need for our services, increase our costs or limit our compensation’ and related risk factors for a description of legal, non-financial/-regulatory and compliance risks to the Company.

We believe the primary factors in selecting an HR consulting or risk management services firm include reputation; the ability to provide measurable increases to shareholder value and return on investment; geographic scope; quality of service; innovative ideas; and the ability to tailor services to clients’ unique needs.

With regard to the marketplace for active employee exchanges, we believe that clients base their decisions on a variety of factors that include the ability of the provider to deliver measurable cost savings, a strong reputation for efficient execution, a provider’s capability in delivering a broad number of configurations to serve various population segments and an innovative service delivery model and platform.

For our traditional consulting and risk management services and the rapidly evolving exchange products, we believe we compete favorably with respect to these factors.

Regulation

Our business activities are subject to legal requirements and governmental and quasi-governmental regulatory supervision in all countries in which we operate. Also, such regulations may require individual or company licensing to conduct our business activities. While these requirements may vary from location to location, they are generally designed to protect our clients by establishing minimum standards of conduct and practice, particularly regarding the provision of advice and product information, as well as financial criteria. We are also subject to data privacy regulations that apply to health, medical, financial and other types of personal information belonging to our employees, clients and their employees and other third parties across most jurisdictions, including, among others, the E.U. and U.K. General Data Protection Regulations, the Personal Information Protection Law (‘PIPL’) in China and privacy legislation in certain U.S. states, including the California Privacy Rights Act (‘CPRA’). Sustainable investing and environmental, social and governance initiatives continue to be the focus of increased regulatory scrutiny across jurisdictions, with emerging regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and disclosures of their impact on the climate, including in the state of California and the E.U. Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and other regulations across the E.U. Across many jurisdictions we are subject to various financial crime laws and regulations through our activities, activities of associated persons, the products and services we provide and our business and client relationships. Such laws and regulations relate to, among other areas, sanctions and export control, anti-bribery, anti-corruption, fraud, anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing. Similarly, we are subject in many jurisdictions to antitrust laws, which are designed to promote robust competition in the markets in which we participate.

Our most significant regulatory regions are further described below:

United States

Our activities in connection with insurance brokerage services within the U.S. are subject to regulation and supervision by state authorities. Although the scope of regulation and form of supervision may vary from state to state, insurance laws in the United States are often complex and generally grant broad discretion to supervisory authorities in adopting regulations and supervising regulated activities. That supervision generally includes the licensing of insurance brokers and agents and the regulation of the handling and investment of client funds held in a fiduciary capacity. Our continuing ability to provide insurance brokerage in the states in which we currently operate is dependent upon our compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the regulatory authorities in each of

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these states. See Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors under the heading ‘Our business will be negatively affected if we are not able to anticipate and keep pace with rapid changes in government laws or regulations, or if government laws or regulations decrease the need for our services, increase our costs or limit our compensation’ for a description of the risks related to our private exchange activities.

Furthermore, certain of our activities are subject to regulation under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (‘HIPAA’), which is enforced by the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and Human Services. As we implement and expand our direct-to-consumer sales and marketing solutions through our Benefits Delivery & Outsourcing business, we are subject to various federal and state laws and regulations that prescribe when and how we may market to consumers (including, without limitation, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and other telemarketing laws and the Medicare Communications and Marketing Guidelines issued by the Center for Medicare Services).

Certain of our activities are governed by other regulatory bodies, such as investment and securities licensing authorities. Our activities in connection with investment services within the United States are subject to regulation and supervision at both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, certain of our operating subsidiaries are regulated by the SEC through the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers’ Act of 1940 and by the Department of Labor through the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. In connection with the SEC regulations, we are required to file certain reports, and are subject to various marketing restrictions, among other requirements. In connection with ERISA regulations, we are limited in the actions we can take for plans for which we serve as fiduciaries, among other matters. Our U.S. investment activities are also subject to certain state regulatory schemes, and some activities also are subject to regulation by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission under the Commodities Exchange Act.

Our activities in connection with Third Party Administrator (‘TPA’) services in the United States are also subject to regulation and supervision by many state authorities. Licensing requirements and supervision vary from state to state. As with insurance brokerage services, our continuing ability to provide these services in states that regulate our activities is dependent upon our compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated from time to time by the regulatory authorities in each of these states.

United Kingdom

In the U.K., our business is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’).

The FCA’s primary strategic objective is to ensure that the relevant financial services market functions efficiently and effectively. Its strategic priorities are to be a smarter regulator; to support growth; to help consumers navigate their financial lives; and to fight financial crime. The FCA has a wide range of rule-making, investigatory and enforcement powers (including the power to censure and fine) and conducts monitoring visits to assess our compliance with regulatory requirements. In addition, the FCA extended the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (‘SMCR’) which became effective on December 9, 2019 in relation to our U.K. FCA-regulated businesses. The SMCR is designed to drive improvements in culture and governance within financial services firms and to deter misconduct by increasing individual accountability to the FCA.

New regulations and modifications to existing regulations that are specific to the U.K. have and will continue to result in differences from the regulatory requirements of the E.U. See Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors, for a description of Brexit-related risks to the Company.

Furthermore, as a result of Brexit, the WTW Brexit broking solution (the U.K. branch of Willis Towers Watson SA/NV) was fully authorized by the FCA as a third-country branch. The branch is subject to requirements in key areas such as SMCR and is also subject to the supervisory oversight of the Belgian Financial Services & Markets Authority.

European Union

In 2005, the European Union Insurance Mediation Directive introduced rules to enable insurance and reinsurance intermediaries to operate and provide services within each member state of the E.U. on a basis consistent with the E.U. single market and customer protection aims. Each E.U. member state in which we operate is required to ensure that the insurance and reinsurance intermediaries resident in their country are registered with a statutory body in that country and that each intermediary meets professional requirements in relation to their competence, good repute, professional indemnity cover and financial capacity. The E.U. issued an additional Insurance Distribution Directive that expands the 2005 directive, and all E.U. member states in which we operate were required to enact the directive and adopt local country laws by October 1, 2018.

Certain of our entities that undertake pension scheme management are subject to MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) and MiFIR (the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation). In addition, revisions to MiFID (‘MiFID II’) took effect in January 2018. These revisions are aimed at strengthening investor protection and improving the function of financial markets. MiFID II imposes a variety of requirements that include, among others, rules relating to product governance and independent investment advice,

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responsibility of management bodies, inducements, information and reporting to clients, cross-selling, remuneration of staff, and best execution of trades for clients. Further, some of our entities are also authorized and regulated by certain financial services authorities in countries such as Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and the U.K.

Other

All companies carrying on similar activities discussed above in a given jurisdiction are subject to regulations which are not dissimilar to the requirements for our operations in the U.S. and U.K. We do not consider these regulatory requirements as adversely affecting our competitive position.

Our failure, or that of our employees, to satisfy the regulatory compliance requirements or the legal requirements governing our activities, can result in disciplinary action, fines, reputational damage and financial harm.

See Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors, for an analysis of how actions by regulatory authorities or changes in legislation and regulation as well as compliance with evolving laws, including with respect to data privacy and cybersecurity, in the jurisdictions in which we operate may have an adverse effect on our business.

Information about Executive Officers of the Registrant

The executive officers of the Company as of February 25, 2026 were as follows:

Kristy D. Banas (age 53) - Ms. Banas has served as Chief Human Resources Officer and Head of Marketing and Communications since May 1, 2023. Prior to that, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer from August 16, 2021. She also served as the Managing Director, Global Talent Advisor for Human Capital & Benefits from March 2019 to August 2021 and as Senior Director and Head of Global Total Rewards, HR Integration and the HR Business Office from November 2016 to March 2019. From January 2016 to November 2016, Ms. Banas served as Senior Director and Global HR Leader, WTW Operations and Technology. From July 2011 to January 2016, Ms. Banas served as Senior Vice President, Global HR Director for WTW Corporate Functions, and was the Executive HR Sponsor for Global Operations Improvement. Ms. Banas was Vice President and Global HR Partner with XL Capital/XL Global Services/XL Insurance from November 2001 to June 2011. Ms. Banas has a BS in Business Management from Fairfield University and a partial MS in Human Resource Management from the University of Connecticut.

Lucy Clarke(age 59)- Ms. Clarke has served as the President of Risk & Broking at WTW since July 22, 2024. Previously, she served as President of Marsh JLT Specialty and Global Placement from April 2019 to July 2024. Prior to that, Ms. Clarke was with JLT Group for 17 years, holding diverse leadership roles, including CEO of JLT Global Specialty, the insurance and risk arm of the JLT Group, from April 2018 to April 2019. Ms. Clarke is a past President of the Insurance Institute of London. She holds a bachelor's degree in English and economics from Vanderbilt University.

Alexis Faber (age 48) - Ms. Faber has served as Chief Operating Officer at WTW since August 30, 2021. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer for Corporate Risk & Broking from March 2018 to August 2021. Prior to that, Ms. Faber served as Global Head of Financial Lines since January 2016, Head of FINEX for North America since April 2014, Risk Control and Claim Advocacy Practice Leader for North America since July 2012, Chief Operating Officer for Willis North America since August 2009 and as Chief Operating Officer for the Executive Risks practice since September 2006. Prior to that, Ms. Faber served as Regional Finance Officer for North America since July 2004, and as Financial and Operations Controller for Global Specialties, North America since August 2003. Before joining WTW, Ms. Faber worked in investment banking at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney and at Citigroup. Ms. Faber holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Williams College and an M.B.A from Columbia Business School.

Matthew S. Furman (age 56) - Mr. Furman has served as General Counsel at WTW since January 4, 2016. Previously, Mr. Furman served as Executive Vice President and Group General Counsel at Willis Group Holdings, where he was a member of the Operating Committee since April 2015. From 2007 until March 2015, Mr. Furman was Senior Vice President, Group General Counsel-Corporate and Governance, and Corporate Secretary for The Travelers Companies, Inc. From 2000 until 2007, Mr. Furman was an attorney at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York, where he was Vice President and Associate General Counsel in the finance and corporate legal group. Prior to that, he was in private practice, with almost six years’ experience at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York. Mr. Furman also serves as Treasurer and as a Trustee of the Jewish Theological Seminary and as a Director of the Legal Aid Society. He previously served as a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, where he served on the Executive Committee and chaired the Market Structure Subcommittee. He holds a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Brown University and a law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Julie J. Gebauer (age 64) - Ms. Gebauer has served as President of Health, Wealth and Career at WTW since January 1, 2022. Previously, Ms. Gebauer served as Head of Human Capital & Benefits at WTW since January 4, 2016 and, prior to that, as Managing Director of Towers Watson’s Talent and Rewards business segment since January 1, 2010. Beginning in 2002, Ms. Gebauer served as a Managing Director of Towers Perrin and led Towers Perrin’s global Workforce Effectiveness practice and the global Towers Perrin-International Survey Research Corporation line of business. Ms. Gebauer was a member of Towers Perrin’s board of directors from 2003 through 2006. She joined Towers Perrin in 1986 as a consultant and held several leadership positions at Towers Perrin, serving

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as the Managing Principal for the New York office from 1999 to 2001 and the U.S. East Region Leader for the Human Capital Group from 2002 to 2006. Ms. Gebauer is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Ms. Gebauer graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with high distinction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and was designated a Chancellor’s Scholar.

Carl A. Hess (age 64) - Mr. Hess has served as Chief Executive Officer at WTW since January 1, 2022 and, prior to that, served as President since August 16, 2021. Mr. Hess was formerly Head of Investment, Risk and Reinsurance from October 27, 2016 to August 16, 2021. Previously, Mr. Hess served as the Co-Head of North America at WTW since January 4, 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Hess served as Managing Director, The Americas of Towers Watson since February 1, 2014, and before that, he served as the Managing Director of Towers Watson’s Investment business since January 1, 2010. Before his service at Towers Watson, Mr. Hess worked in a variety of roles for over 20 years at Watson Wyatt, lastly as Global Practice Director of Watson Wyatt’s Investment business. Mr. Hess is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst. He has a bachelor’s degree cum laude in logic and language from Yale University.

Andrew J. Krasner (age 50) - Mr. Krasner has served as Chief Financial Officer at WTW since September 7, 2021 and co-head of Corporate Development since October 25, 2024. From February 2021 to August 2021, Mr. Krasner served as Chief Financial Officer for Assured Partners. From June 2018 to January 2021, Mr. Krasner was Global Treasurer and Head of M&A of WTW, and from 2012 to June 2018, was Head of M&A, responsible for the M&A, joint venture, divestiture, and strategic investment activity. Mr. Krasner started with Willis in June 2009 as Senior Vice President, working on the client side with Willis Capital Markets & Advisory between June 2009 to June 2012. Prior to joining WTW, Mr. Krasner was a Principal with Banc of America Securities from October 2003 to June 2009, an Associate with Deutsche Bank from July 2002 to October 2003 and a Senior Associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers from August 1997 to August 2000. Mr. Krasner has a B.S. degree in applied economics and business management and an M.B.A. with distinction from Cornell University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Anne Pullum (age 43) - Ms. Pullum has served as co-head of Corporate Development at WTW since October 25, 2024 and Global Head of Health & Benefits since July 1, 2025. Prior to that, Ms. Pullum served as Head of Europe from August 30, 2021 to September 30, 2025, Head of Western Europe from May 31, 2019 to August 30, 2021 and as the Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Strategy and Innovation since October 27, 2016. Beginning on January 4, 2016, Ms. Pullum served as WTW’s Head of Strategy, where she has played a key role in determining the Company’s strategy and worked across all business segments and functional areas. Previously, Ms. Pullum served as the Head of Strategy for Willis Group since May 2014. Before joining Willis, Ms. Pullum worked at McKinsey & Company, where she served financial services and natural resource clients since October 2010. Prior to that, Ms. Pullum conducted economic research at Greenspan Associates in Washington, D.C. and served as an analyst in the Goldman Sachs Equities Division in London. Ms. Pullum holds an M.B.A. from INSEAD and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Imran Qureshi (age 55) - Mr. Qureshi has served as Global Head of Retirement at WTW since April 2, 2025 and Global Head of Geographies since November 3, 2025. Prior to that, Mr. Qureshi served as Head of North America from August 2021 to September 2025, Head of Integrated & Global Solutions from June 2023 to March 2025 and Co-Leader, U.S. from February 2017 to August 30, 2021. He served as Region Leader, U.S. Midwest from February 2017 to October 2019, and was Market Leader, Greater Chicago and Wisconsin from February 2016 to February 2017. Mr. Qureshi was Managing Consultant of the Chicago office from January 2013 to January 2016, and has been with WTW in other roles since March 1999. Mr. Qureshi is currently a board director at Smithbucklin and The Executives' Club of Chicago. Previously, he was the board chair of the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago, and he served on the M&A Faculty of WorldatWork where he taught M&A and taught the International Benefits Course for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. In 2004, Mr. Qureshi was honored by Business Insurance magazine as one of ‘40 Under 40 People to Watch’ in the commercial insurance and risk/benefits management services industries. He also has lectured on governance and globalization at The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mr. Qureshi holds a bachelor’s degree in pure mathematics and statistics with honors from the University of Manchester in the U.K. and has an actuarial background.

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Board of Directors

A list of the members of the board of directors of the Company as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and their principal occupations are provided below:

Carl Hess Dame Inga Beale Fumbi Chima

Stephen Chipman Michael Hammond Jacqueline Hunt

Paul Reilly Michelle Swanback Fredric Tomczyk

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Executive Summary of Risk Factors

The following contains a summary of each of our risk factors. For the complete disclosure of each risk factor contained herein, please click on the respective summary.

Strategic and Operational Risks

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Our success largely depends on our ability to achieve our global business strategy as it evolves, and our results of operations and financial condition could suffer if the Company were unable to successfully establish and execute on its strategy and generate anticipated revenue growth, cost savings, efficiencies and other benefits.

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The growth and portfolio optimization elements of our strategy depend, in part, on our ability to execute strategic transactions, including both acquisitions and dispositions. We face risks when we acquire or divest businesses, and we could have difficulty in acquiring, integrating or managing acquired businesses, or with effecting internal reorganizations, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or reputation.

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The growth element of our strategy also depends, in part, on organic growth and our ability to develop and grow new and existing areas of our business. We face risks when we invest in new lines of business, products, services and platforms or other areas, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or reputation.

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Our business performance and growth plans could be negatively affected if we are not able to develop and implement improvements in technology and effectively apply technology, data and analytics to drive value for our clients through technology-based solutions or gain internal efficiencies through the effective application of technology, analytics and related tools.

Business Environment Risks

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Macroeconomic trends, including inflation, changes in interest rates and trade policies, as well as political events, trade and other international disputes, war, terrorism, natural disasters, public health issues and other business interruptions, can adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

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Demand for our services could decrease for various reasons, including a general economic downturn, increased competition, or a decline in a client’s or an industry’s financial condition or prospects, all of which could substantially and negatively affect us.

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Damage to our business, including to our reputation, arising from, among other things, the failure of third parties on whom we rely to perform services or maintain positive public perceptions, could adversely affect our business, operations and results.

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Our business may be harmed by any negative developments that may occur in the insurance industry or if we fail to maintain good relationships with insurance carriers.

Human Capital Risks

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We depend on the continued services of our executive officers, senior management team, and skilled individual contributors, and any changes in our management structure and in senior leadership could affect our business and financial results.

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The loss of key colleagues or a large number of colleagues could damage or result in the loss of client relationships and could result in such colleagues competing against us.

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Failure to maintain our corporate culture, including in a remote or hybrid work environment, could damage our reputation.

Intellectual Property, Technology, Cybersecurity and Data Protection Risks

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Data and cybersecurity breaches or improper disclosure of confidential company or personal data could result in material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

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Our inability to comply with complex and evolving laws and regulations related to data privacy and cybersecurity could result in material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

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Our inability to successfully mitigate and recover should we experience a disaster or other business continuity problem could cause material financial loss, loss of human capital, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

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Material interruption to or loss of our information processing capabilities or failure to effectively maintain and upgrade our information processing hardware or systems could cause material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

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Limited protection of our intellectual property could harm our business and our ability to compete effectively, and we face the risk that our services or products may infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others.

Legal, Non-Financial/Regulatory and Compliance Risks

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From time to time, we receive claims and are party to lawsuits arising from our work, which could materially adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations.

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We are subject from time to time to inquiries or investigations by governmental agencies or regulators that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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We are subject to political, geopolitical, economic, legal, regulatory, compliance, cultural, market, operational and other risks that are inherent in operating our global businesses.

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Economic and trade sanctions imposed by governments, or changes to such sanction regulations (such as sanctions imposed on Russia and China), and related counter-sanctions, could have a material adverse impact on our operations or financial results.

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Our business will be negatively affected if we are not able to anticipate and keep pace with rapid changes in government laws or regulations, or if government laws or regulations decrease the need for our services, increase our costs or limit our compensation.

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Our compliance systems and controls cannot guarantee that we comply fully with all applicable federal and state or foreign laws and regulations, and actions by regulatory authorities or changes in applicable laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate could impact our operations and/or have an adverse effect on our business.

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Allegations of conflicts of interest or anti-competitive behavior, including in connection with accepting market derived income (‘MDI’), may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation or reputation.

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Our global operations expose us to numerous, and sometimes conflicting, legal and regulatory requirements in environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) matters, and violation of these regulations could harm our business.

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Increasing scrutiny and changing or competing expectations from government authorities, investors, clients and our colleagues with respect to our sustainability practices can impose additional costs on us or expose us to reputational, litigation or other risks.

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The economic, regulatory and political impact of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union on January 31, 2020 has adversely affected and may continue to affect our business.

Financial and Related Regulatory Risks

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We have material pension liabilities that can fluctuate significantly and adversely affect our financial position or net income or result in other financial impacts.

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Our outstanding debt could adversely affect our cash flows and financial flexibility, and we may not be able to obtain financing on favorable terms or at all.

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A downgrade to our corporate credit rating, the credit ratings of our outstanding debt or other market speculation may adversely affect our borrowing costs and financial flexibility and, under certain circumstances, may require us to offer to buy back some of our outstanding debt.

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Our significant non-U.S. operations, particularly our London market operations, expose us to exchange rate fluctuations and various other risks that could impact our business.

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Changes in accounting principles or in our accounting estimates and assumptions could negatively affect our financial position and results of operations.

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Our quarterly revenue and cash flow could fluctuate, including as a result of factors outside of our control, while our expenses may remain relatively fixed or be higher than expected.

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We are a holding company and therefore, may not be able to receive dividends or other distributions in needed amounts from our subsidiaries.

Tax Risks

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If a U.S. person is treated as owning at least 10% of our shares, such a holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

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Legislative or regulatory action or developments in case law in the U.S. or elsewhere could have a material adverse impact on our worldwide effective corporate tax rate.

Risks Related to Being an Irish-Incorporated Company

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The laws of Ireland differ from the laws in effect in the United States and may afford less protection to holders of our securities.

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As an Irish public limited company, certain decisions related to our capital structure will require the approval of shareholders, which may limit our flexibility to manage our capital structure.

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RISK FACTORS

Investments in our ordinary shares are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including as described in this Item 1A of Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the following are some of the important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. These risk factors should be carefully considered in evaluating our business and investing in us. The descriptions below are not the only risks and uncertainties that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that are presently unknown to us could also affect our financial results, including by impairing our business operations, financial condition, results of operations or the price of our ordinary shares. If any of the risks and uncertainties described below or other risks were to occur, our business operations, financial condition, results of operations or the price of our ordinary shares could be materially and adversely impacted. The risk factors described below are grouped into categories; the headings of these categories are inserted for convenience of reference only and are not intended to be a part of or to affect the meaning or interpretation of any of the risk factors described herein. Many risks affect more than one category, and the risks are not in order of significance or probability of occurrence solely because they have been grouped by categories. With respect to the tax-related consequences of acquisition, ownership, and disposal of ordinary shares, you should consult with your own tax advisors.

Strategic and Operational Risks

Our success largely depends on our ability to achieve our global business strategy as it evolves, and our results of operations and financial condition could suffer if the Company were unable to successfully establish and execute on its strategy and generate anticipated revenue growth, cost savings, efficiencies and other benefits.

Our future growth, profitability, and cash flows largely depend upon our ability to successfully establish and execute our global business strategy, including executing on our expected product, service and transaction pipelines. As discussed under Item 1, ‘Business - Business Strategy’, we seek to be an advisory, broking and solutions provider of choice through an integrated global platform. While we have confidence that our strategic plan reflects opportunities that we believe to be appropriate and achievable, our strategy may not deliver projected growth in revenue and profitability due to inadequate execution, incorrect assumptions, global or local economic conditions, competition, changes in the industries in which we operate, sub-optimal resource allocation or other reasons, including the other risks described in this ‘Risk Factors’ section.

Further, we have stated certain financial goals, including with respect to our cash flows, our growth and margin targets, and our share repurchases. We have stated, and may in the future state, other goals for future periods. Our initiatives aiming to implement our strategy and to achieve future financial objectives pose potential operational risks and may result in the distraction of management and colleagues. Furthermore, we may not repurchase as many of our outstanding shares as anticipated due to market or business conditions or due to other factors, including decisions to prioritize acquisitions, investments or other uses of capital. There can be no assurance that our actual results will meet our stated financial goals.

In addition, our pipeline estimates may prove to be unreliable either in a particular quarter or over a longer period of time. Should we be unable to succeed in our initiatives to drive growth and achieve our financial goals, we may have to delay, scale back or discontinue the development, deployment and commercialization of our products or services or delay our efforts to expand our transaction pipeline. As a result, our ability to deliver continued sustainable and profitable growth may be negatively impacted and financial performance across our segments and geographies may be adversely affected.

As our strategy evolves, we may be unable to successfully execute the associated strategic changes, including as a result of factors discussed in this ‘Risk Factors’ section. Our investments of significant time and resources into new product or service offerings, as well as in technology and infrastructure to support these offerings may not deliver the expected return or sufficient return to cover the cost of investment. These investments include those made organically as well as those made through inorganic acquisitions such as the acquisitions of Newfront Insurance Holdings, Inc. (‘Newfront’) and Cushon. If we are unable to develop and execute optimally on our global business strategy it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The growth and portfolio optimization elements of our strategy depend, in part, on our ability to execute strategic transactions, including both acquisitions and dispositions. We face risks when we acquire or divest businesses, and we could have difficulty in acquiring, integrating or managing acquired businesses, or with effecting internal reorganizations, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or reputation.

Our growth depends in part on our ability to make acquisitions and execute other strategic transactions. We may not be successful in identifying appropriate candidates for acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures or strategic investments, or consummating such transactions on terms acceptable or favorable to us. We also face additional risks related to acquisitions, including the ability to negotiate transactions on favorable terms, the ability to secure regulatory approval of transactions where required, the ability to successfully integrate them into our existing businesses and culture, and the potential that any acquired business could significantly

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underperform relative to our expectations. If we are unable to identify and successfully make, integrate and manage acquisitions, our business could be materially adversely affected.

In addition, we face risks related to divesting businesses, including that we may not receive adequate consideration or any earnout proceeds in return for the divested business, we may continue to be subject to the liabilities of the divested business after its divestiture (including with respect to work we might have performed on behalf of the divested business), and we may not be able to reduce overhead or redeploy assets or retain colleagues after the divestiture closes.

Further, we cannot be certain that our acquisitions will be accretive to earnings or that our acquisitions or joint ventures will otherwise meet our operational or strategic expectations. Acquisitions, such as our Newfront and Cushon acquisitions, and joint ventures, such as our joint venture with Bain Capital, involve special risks, including the potential assumption of unanticipated liabilities and contingencies and difficulties in integrating acquired businesses or in achieving a successful joint venture. In particular, our acquisition of Newfront requires the integration of a technology-enabled brokerage platform and digital-first operating model into our existing broking operations, which may pose additional challenges related to technology and systems integration, increased cybersecurity exposure, and compliance with U.S. state-based licensing requirements. Our acquisition of Cushon similarly involves the integration of a regulated, technology-driven pension and savings platform into our wealth-related businesses and exposes us to additional risks related to U.K. financial services and pension regulation, operational-resilience and data‐privacy requirements, and the integration of a digital investment platform into our existing offerings. Acquired businesses or joint ventures may not achieve the levels of revenue, profit, or productivity we anticipate or otherwise perform as we expect. Further, we may have difficulty retaining, integrating, or attracting the talent needed to make those transactions successful, including revenue-generating colleagues and colleagues with specialized expertise. In addition, if the operating performance of an acquired business or joint venture deteriorates significantly or capital needs increase, we may need to make additional investments or write down the value of the goodwill and other acquisition-related intangible assets recorded on our consolidated balance sheet.

With respect to any such acquisition transactions or joint ventures, we face risks related to the potential impacts of the transaction on relationships, including with clients, colleagues, correspondents, suppliers, regulators, competitors, and other third parties, as well as the risk related to contingent liabilities as described in the preceding paragraph. The following risks, in addition to those described above, may also adversely affect our ability to successfully implement and integrate these acquisitions or to manage joint ventures: material changes in U.S. and foreign jurisdiction regulations (including those related to the healthcare system and insurance brokerage, pension advisory, and investment services); changes in general economic, business and political conditions in relevant markets, including changes in the financial markets; significant competition in the marketplace; the need to manage potential conflicts of interest; and compliance with extensive and evolving government regulations in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions.

We may be unable to effectively integrate an acquired business into our organization and may not succeed in managing such acquired businesses or the larger company that results from such acquisitions. The process of integrating an acquired business may subject us to a number of risks, including, without limitation, an inability to retain the management, key personnel and other colleagues of the acquired business; an inability to establish uniform standards, controls, systems, procedures and policies or to achieve anticipated savings; an inability to successfully apply technology from one part of the business to another; and exposure to legal claims or regulatory censure for activities of the acquired business prior to acquisition.

If acquisitions or joint ventures are not successfully integrated or managed and the intended benefits of the acquisitions or joint ventures are not achieved, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected, as well as our professional reputation. We also own interests in a number of associated companies and ventures where we do not exercise management control and we are therefore limited in our ability to direct or manage the business to realize the anticipated benefits that we could achieve if we had full ownership.

The growth element of our strategy also depends, in part, on organic growth and our ability to develop and grow new and existing areas of our business. We face risks when we invest in new lines of business, products, services and platforms or other areas, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or reputation.

Our business strategy includes the organic growth of our existing operations when we enter into new lines of business or offer new products and services within existing lines of business. We may not be able to effectively execute our organic growth strategy for reasons within and outside of our control. Organic growth presents additional risks, particularly in instances where the markets are heavily regulated, meaningfully competitive with high bars to entry, or new or not fully developed. Such risks include the investment of significant time and resources; the possibility that these efforts will not be successful and could result in reputational damage to us; the possibility that the marketplace does not accept our products or services; the possibility that we are unable to retain clients that adopt our new products or services; and the risk of new or additional liabilities associated with these efforts, including potential errors and omissions or other claims. External factors, such as compliance with new or revised regulations, competitive alternatives and shifting market preferences may also impact the successful implementation of a line of business, product or service. If the entry into

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businesses, products or services is not successfully integrated into our business, the intended benefits and business development initiatives will not be achieved, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or reputation.

Our business performance and growth plans could be negatively affected if we are not able to develop and implement improvements in technology and effectively apply technology, data and analytics to drive value for our clients through technology-based solutions or gain internal efficiencies through the effective application of technology, analytics and related tools.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to develop and implement innovative technology, data and analytic solutions that anticipate, lead, keep pace with or respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology both for internal operations, for maintaining industry standards, meeting client preferences and gaining competitive advantage. We may not be successful in anticipating or responding to these developments in a timely and cost-effective manner or in attracting and maintaining personnel with the necessary skills in this area. Our ideas may not lead to the desired internal efficiencies or be accepted in the marketplace. In addition, we may not be able to implement technology-based solutions as quickly as desired if, for example, greater resources are required than originally expected or resources are otherwise needed elsewhere. The effort to gain technological and data expertise and develop new technologies or analytic techniques in our business requires us to incur significant cost and attract qualified technical talent who are in high demand. Our competitors are seeking to develop competing or new technologies, and their success in this space may impact our ability to differentiate our services to our clients through the use of unique technological solutions. If we do not keep up with technological changes or execute effectively on our strategic initiatives, our business and results of operations could be adversely impacted. For example, incorporating artificial intelligence (‘AI’) into certain product offerings is becoming more important in our operations, particularly as our competitors, including new entrants focused on using technology and innovation, such as generative or agentic AI, digital platforms, data analytics, robotics and blockchain, seek to simplify and improve the client experience, increase efficiencies, alter business models and effect other potentially disruptive changes in the industries in which we operate. Additionally, rapid advances in generative and agentic AI may enable certain clients to perform internally, automate, or obtain through low-cost digital tools analytical, benchmarking, modeling, drafting or other work that they have historically relied on us to provide, which could reduce demand for some of our services and adversely affect our revenues and growth. If we fail to keep pace with rapidly evolving AI and other technological developments, our competitive position and business results may be negatively impacted. In certain cases, we may decide, based on perceived business needs, to make investments that may be greater than we currently anticipate. If we cannot offer new technologies or data and analytic services or solutions as quickly or effectively as our competitors, or if our competitors develop more cost-effective technologies or analytic tools, it could have a material adverse effect on our ability to obtain and complete client engagements. There are significant risks involved in our efforts to keep pace with technological developments and no assurance can be provided that the usage of such technology will enhance our business or assist us in being more efficient or profitable. While development and enhancement of our technology systems may improve the efficiency of data analytics and reduce certain costs, there is no assurance that the benefits related to such advancements will outweigh such investment costs or outweigh such risks. In addition, we face pressure from non‐traditional competitors that may innovate or scale faster, deploy lower‐cost digital solutions, or enable clients to self-serve. Data quality, integrity, lineage and availability are increasingly critical to our offerings; deficiencies could reduce the effectiveness of our solutions or impair client outcomes. Certain AI use cases may generate inaccurate, biased or otherwise unreliable outputs or require enhanced human oversight, governance and controls, and evolving legal and regulatory frameworks may restrict how we collect, use and share data and deploy AI‐enabled tools.

The enhancement and development of technology systems may enhance cybersecurity risks and operational and technological risks, as any latency, disruption or failure in such technological tools could result in errors in analyses and compromise the integrity, security or privacy of generated content. Additionally, the process of integrating technology systems of businesses we acquire is complex and exposes us to additional risk. We may not adequately identify weaknesses in the information systems or information handling, privacy and security policies and protocols of targets, which could expose us to unexpected liabilities or make our own systems and data more vulnerable to cybersecurity incidents. The use of third-party generative AI tools by our employees, contractors, consultants, vendors or service providers also presents a risk that confidential, personal or proprietary information could be inadvertently disclosed through prompts or uploads and incorporated into external models or training data, potentially compromising our ability to realize the benefit of, or adequately maintain, protect and enforce, our intellectual property or confidential information, and causing harm to our competitive position and business.For further discussion of risks relating to these technology systems, please see ‘Data and cybersecurity breaches or improper disclosure of confidential company or personal data could result in material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability’ below.

We depend on our technology systems for conducting business, as well as for providing the data and analytics we use to manage and administer our business. As a result, our business success is dependent on maintaining the effectiveness of existing technology systems and on continuing to develop and enhance technology systems that support our business processes and strategic initiatives in a cost- and resource-efficient manner, particularly as our business processes become more digital. The failure of business-continuity and disaster-recovery processes at critical vendors or at the Company may require us to suspend or limit certain services temporarily.

We have a number of strategic initiatives involving investments in technology and infrastructure to support our own systems as well as partnerships with technology companies. These investments can be costly and require significant capital expenditures, and such

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investment may not be profitable or may be less profitable than what we have experienced historically. In addition, investments in technology systems may not deliver the benefits or perform as expected or may be replaced or become obsolete more quickly than expected, which could result in operational difficulties or additional costs. In some cases, we also depend on our partners and key vendors to provide technology and other support for these and other strategic initiatives. If these partners or vendors fail to or are unable to fully perform their obligations as we expect them to do or at all or such partners or vendors otherwise cease to work with us, our ability to execute on our strategy could be impaired. Vendor outages, flawed software updates, migration issues, capacity constraints or delays in delivering enhancements can further disrupt client delivery and increase costs.

Business Environment Risks

Macroeconomic trends, including inflation, changes in interest rates and trade policies, as well as political events, trade and other international disputes, war, terrorism, natural disasters, public health issues and other business interruptions, can adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Global economic events and other factors, such as accommodative monetary and fiscal policy, have contributed to significant inflation in many of the markets in which we operate over time. In particular, inflation in the United States, Europe and other geographies has in recent years risen to levels not experienced in decades and we have seen, and may continue to see, the impact of inflation on various aspects of our business. In some cases, such inflation has had, or could have in the future, a negative effect on our operations and financial condition. In order to combat inflation and restore price stability, a number of central banks around the world raised interest rates and, as inflation has moderated, have begun to reduce them. Potential trade wars, including tariffs and retaliatory actions, also may contribute to inflation and/or hinder economic growth. If interest rates fluctuate and/or inflation rates or trade barriers increase, economic growth in a number of markets where we do business may be hindered and may continue to have far-reaching effects on the global economy. Weakness in the economy and the possibility of a global recession has had, and may continue to have, a negative effect on our business and financial condition, including on the value of our ordinary shares. Additionally, fluctuations in short-term interest rates in our major markets can impact our interest income derived from the investment of our owned and fiduciary cash.

Moreover, U.S. and global economic conditions have the potential to create market uncertainty and volatility. Such general economic conditions, such as inflation, stagflation, political volatility, costs of labor, cost of capital, interest rates and tax rates, affect our operating and general and administrative expenses, and we have no control or limited ability to control such factors. If our costs grow significantly in excess of our ability to raise revenue, our margins and results of operations may be materially and adversely impacted and we may not be able to achieve our strategic and financial objectives. These conditions also affect our clients’ businesses and the markets that they serve and may reduce demand for our services, increase demands for pricing accommodations or cause a higher rate of delays in the collection of, or losses on, our accounts receivable, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Major public health issues have adversely affected, and could in the future materially adversely affect, our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. We cannot predict the impact of future public health crises, nor the future developments that may give rise to such crises. Public health issues have disrupted and could continue to disrupt, possibly materially, our business operations and services that we provide or impact our business operations and results in the future. These disruptions can include office closures, travel restrictions, workforce availability challenges, changes in client priorities and budgets, interruption to technology and shared-service delivery, and delays by third-party vendors and service providers on whom we rely.

We are exposed to various risks arising out of natural disasters, including fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes, many of which could be exacerbated by climate change. These consequences could, among other things, implicate other risks described herein, including without limitation: business continuity risks; human capital risks; regulatory and reputational risks; and risks relating to alleged errors and omissions in performing client work, and thereby adversely impact our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Additionally, many of the markets in which we do business are affected by geopolitical conflict in highly unpredictable ways and are currently experiencing volatility and disruption as a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and other geopolitical conflicts and tensions. These ongoing wars and other geopolitical conflicts could lead to further market disruptions and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Further, a slowdown in the global economy, including a recession, or in a particular region or industry, inflation or a tightening of the credit markets could negatively impact our business, financial condition and liquidity, including by way of inhibiting our continued access to preferred sources of liquidity when we would like or by increasing our borrowing costs. In particular, tightening of the credit markets could limit our ability to obtain external financing to fund our operations and capital expenditures, if and when needed. In addition, we could experience losses on our holdings of cash and investments due to failures of financial institutions and other parties.

We also depend on numerous third-party vendors, technology partners and other service providers to deliver our services and operate our business. Macroeconomic stress, labor shortages, supply-chain constraints, sanctions or geopolitical developments can impair the ability of our vendors and counterparties to perform on a timely basis or at agreed service levels, which could result in service

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degradation, delays, contract penalties, additional costs or reputational harm. While we invest in operational resilience and third-party risk management, disruptions at our vendors or in our internal shared-service and technology environments could adversely affect our ability to serve clients and achieve our objectives. Thus, a deterioration or prolonged period of negative or stagnant macroeconomic conditions globally could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Demand for our services could decrease for various reasons, including a general economic downturn, increased competition, or a decline in a client’s or an industry’s financial condition or prospects, all of which could substantially and negatively affect us.

The demand for our services may not grow or be maintained, and we may not be able to compete successfully with our existing competitors, new competitors or our clients’ internal capabilities. Client demand for our services may change based on the clients’ needs and financial conditions, among other factors.

Our results of operations are affected directly by the level of business activity of our clients, which in turn is affected by the level of economic activity in the industries and markets that they serve. For example, any changes in U.S. trade policy (including any increases in tariffs or any retaliatory actions that result in a trade war), recessionary conditions in some of the markets where we do business, inflationary conditions, ongoing stock market volatility or an increase in, or unmet market expectations with respect to, interest rates could adversely affect the general economy. As a result, global financial markets may continue to experience disruptions, including increased volatility and reduced credit availability, which could substantially impact our results. While it is difficult to predict the consequences of any deterioration in global economic conditions on our business, any significant reduction or delay by our clients in purchasing our services or insurance or making payment of premiums could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the potential for a significant insurer to fail, to be downgraded or to withdraw from writing certain lines of insurance coverage that we offer our clients could negatively impact overall capacity in the industry, which could then reduce the placement of certain lines and types of insurance and reduce our revenue and profitability. The potential for an insurer to fail or be downgraded could also result in errors and omissions claims by clients.

In addition, the markets for our principal services are highly competitive. Our competitors include other insurance brokerage, human capital and risk management consulting and actuarial firms, and the human capital and risk management divisions of diversified professional services, insurance, brokerage and accounting firms and specialty, regional and local firms.

Competition for business is intense in all of our business lines and in every insurance market, and some competitors have greater market share in certain lines of business than we do. Some of our competitors have greater financial, technical and marketing resources than us, which could enhance their ability to finance acquisitions, fund internal growth and respond more quickly to professional and technological changes. This gap in resources between us and some of our competitors has increased as they have made acquisitions. New competitors, as well as increasing and evolving consolidation or alliances among existing competitors, have created and could continue to create additional competition and could significantly reduce our market share further, resulting in a loss of business for us and a corresponding decline in revenue and profit margin. In order to respond to increased competition and pricing pressure, we may have to lower our prices, which would also have an adverse effect on our revenue and profit margin.

In addition, existing and new competitors (whether traditional competitors or non-traditional competitors, such as technology companies) may continue to develop competing technologies or product or service offerings. Any new technology or product or service offering (including insurance companies selling their products directly to consumers or other insureds) that reduces or eliminates the need for intermediaries in insurance sales transactions could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Further, the increasing willingness of clients to either self-insure or maintain a captive insurance company, and the development of capital markets-based solutions and other alternative capital sources for traditional insurance needs, could also materially adversely affect us and our results of operations. See ‘Our business performance and growth plans could be negatively affected if we are not able to develop and implement improvements in technology and effectively apply technology, data and analytics to drive value for our clients through technology-based solutions or gain internal efficiencies through the effective application of technology, analytics and related tools’ above for further discussion on the impact that technological developments have on our business, operations and financial condition.

An example of a business that may be significantly impacted by changes in customer demand is our retirement consulting and actuarial business, which comprises a substantial portion of our revenue and profit. We provide clients with actuarial and consulting services relating to both defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans. Defined benefit pension plans generally require more actuarial services than defined contribution plans because defined benefit plans typically involve large asset pools, complex calculations to determine employer costs, funding requirements and sophisticated analysis to match liabilities and assets over long periods of time. If organizations shift to defined contribution plans more rapidly than we anticipate, or if we are unable to otherwise compensate for the decline in our business that results from employers moving away from defined benefit plans, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Furthermore, large and complex consulting projects, often involving dedicated personnel, resources and expenses, comprise a significant portion of this business, which are based on our clients’ discretionary needs and may be reduced based on a decline in a client’s or an industry’s financial condition or prospects. We also face the risk that certain large and complex project contracts may be reduced or terminated based on dissatisfaction with service levels, which could result in reduced revenue, write-offs of assets associated with the project, and disputes over the contract, all of which may adversely impact our results and business.

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In addition, the demand for many of our core benefit services, including compliance-related services, is affected by government regulation and taxation of employee benefit plans. Significant changes in tax or social welfare policy or other regulations could lead some employers to discontinue their employee benefit plans, including defined benefit pension plans, thereby reducing the demand for our services. A simplification of regulations or tax policy could also reduce the need for our services.

Damage to our business, including to our reputation, arising from, among other things, the failure of third parties on whom we rely to perform services or maintain positive public perceptions, could adversely affect our business, operations and results.

Maintaining a positive reputation is critical to our ability to attract and maintain relationships with clients and colleagues. Damage to our reputation could therefore cause significant harm to our business and prospects. Harm to our reputation can arise from numerous sources, including, among others: colleague misconduct; litigation or regulatory action; failure to deliver minimum standards of service and quality; compliance failures; and allegations of conflicts of interest and unethical behavior. Such harm could also arise from negative public opinion or political conditions arising from our association with third parties in any number of activities or circumstances. Negative perceptions or publicity, whether or not true, may result in harm to our prospects. In addition, the failure to deliver satisfactory service and quality performance, on time and within budget, in one line of business could cause clients to terminate the services we provide to those clients in many other lines of business. This risk has increased as the Company has become larger and more complex and as we take on increasingly complicated projects for our clients (such as complex outsourcing engagements and technology solutions development/implementation projects that require a significant amount of dedicated personnel, resources and expenses).It also has increased as the Company seeks to provide more services to individual clients directly or through business-to-business-to-consumer arrangements.

In addition, as part of providing services to clients and managing our business, we not only depend on a number of third-party service providers and suppliers today, but we expect to engage the services of new third parties in the future as our strategy evolves. Our ability to perform effectively depends in part on the ability of these service providers to meet their obligations, as well as on our effective oversight of their performance. The quality of our services could suffer, or we could be required to incur unanticipated costs if our third-party service providers do not perform as expected or their services are disrupted. This could have a material adverse effect on our reputation as well as our business and results of operations.

Our business may be harmed by any negative developments that may occur in the insurance industry or if we fail to maintain good relationships with insurance carriers.

Many of our businesses are heavily dependent on the insurance industry. Any negative developments that occur in the insurance industry may have a material adverse effect on our business and our results of operations. In addition, if we fail to maintain good relationships with insurance carriers, it may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

The private health insurance industry in the U.S. has experienced a substantial amount of consolidation over the past several years, resulting in a decrease in the number of insurance carriers. In the future, it may become necessary for us to offer insurance plans from a reduced number of insurance carriers or to derive a greater portion of our revenue from a more concentrated number of carriers as our business and the health insurance industry continue to evolve. The termination, amendment or consolidation of our relationships with our insurance carriers in the U.S. or in any other jurisdiction could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Human Capital Risks

We depend on the continued services of our executive officers, senior management team, and skilled individual contributors, and any changes in our management structure and in senior leadership could affect our business and financial results.

Our success has depended, and our future performance will continue to depend, largely upon the ongoing services of our executive officers, senior management, and other highly skilled personnel. We have relied on our leadership team to execute on our business plan, for strategy, growth, research and development, marketing, sales, provision, maintenance, and support of our products and services, and general and administrative functions, and on mission-critical individual contributors. From time to time, our executive management team and the groups of skilled individual contributors may change from the hiring or departure of executive officers or such contributors, which could disrupt our business. The employment-related agreements with our chief executive officer and certain of our executive officers (to the extent our officers are party to such agreements) and other key personnel may not require them to continue to work for us for any specified period; therefore, they could terminate their employment at any time. The loss of one or more of our executive officers, senior management members, or other key colleagues (including any limitation on the performance of their duties) could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives.

A leadership transition may also increase the likelihood of turnover among our colleagues and result in changes in our business strategy, which may create uncertainty and negatively impact our ability to execute our business strategy quickly and effectively. Leadership transitions may also impact our relationships with customers and other market participants, and create uncertainty among

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investors, colleagues, and others concerning our future direction and performance. Any significant disruption, uncertainty or change in business strategy could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

The loss of key colleagues or a large number of colleagues could damage or result in the loss of client relationships and could result in such colleagues competing against us.

Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel, including key managers and colleagues. In addition, our success largely depends upon our colleagues’ abilities to generate business and provide quality services. Our ability to provide services our clients demand requires such skills and training, in insurance, actuarial, human resources and other areas, which are also in high demand among our competitors. The market for talent in our industry is extremely competitive, and competitors for talent increasingly attempt to hire, and to varying degrees have been successful in hiring, our colleagues or employment candidates. In particular, our colleagues’ business relationships with our clients are a critical element of obtaining and maintaining client engagements. Labor markets have generally continued to tighten globally, and we have experienced intense competition and increased costs for certain types of colleagues, especially as new entrants in the insurance business (among others) continue to expend significant resources in their own hiring. Also, in the past, we have lost colleagues who manage substantial client relationships or possess substantial experience or expertise; if we lose additional colleagues such as those, or if we lose a large number of other colleagues, it could result in such colleagues competing against us. This risk has historically increased following significant mergers or acquisitions. It may take longer than expected to hire new colleagues to replace those who have left or these new colleagues may be subject to restrictive covenants from former employers that impact the amount of business they can generate while those covenants are in effect. Further, the increased availability of remote working arrangements has also expanded the pool of companies that can compete for our colleagues and employment candidates. Our business strategy requires us to attract, onboard and retain individuals relevant for those efforts and we may not be able to do that successfully. The failure to successfully attract and retain qualified personnel could materially adversely affect our ability to secure and complete engagements or could disrupt our business or cause increased operational risk, which would materially adversely affect our results of operations and prospects.

Failure to maintain our corporate culture, including in a remote or hybrid work environment, could damage our reputation.

We aim to foster a culture that is based on a strong client focus with an emphasis on teamwork, integrity, mutual respect and a drive for excellence. Our colleagues are the cornerstone of this culture, and acts of misconduct by any colleague, and particularly by senior management, could erode trust and confidence and damage our reputation among existing and potential clients and other stakeholders. Our business is managing people, risk and capital, and our success depends on our ability to develop and promote an ethical culture of trust, integrity and other important qualities in which our colleagues are comfortable speaking up about potential misconduct. While we do not believe we have experienced any material adverse cultural impacts as a result of our remote and hybrid work environment, this may manifest over time. As a result, remote and hybrid work arrangements may negatively impact our ability to maintain and promote our culture and increase related risks.

Intellectual Property, Technology, Cybersecurity and Data Protection Risks

Data and cybersecurity breaches or improper disclosure of confidential company or personal data could result in material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

We depend on information technology networks and systems to process, transmit and store electronic information and to communicate among our locations around the world and with our alliance partners, insurance carriers/markets, clients and third-party vendors. We also maintain our clients’ confidential and proprietary information and the personal data of their customers and employees. Our information systems, and those of our third-party service providers and vendors, are vulnerable to an increasing threat of continually evolving cybersecurity risks. We regularly experience cyberattacks and are the target of computer viruses, hackers, distributed denial of service attacks, malware infections, ransomware attacks, phishing and spear-phishing campaigns, and other external hazards, as well as improper or inadvertent workforce behavior, which could expose confidential company and personal data systems and information, including information of our customers and employees, to security breaches. Further, the advance of both generative and agentic AI may give rise to additional vulnerabilities and potential entry points for cyber threats. With generative AI tools, threat actors may have additional tools to automate breaches or persistent attacks, evade detection, or generate sophisticated phishing emails or other forms of digital impersonation. In addition, increasing use of generative and agentic AI models in our internal systems may create new attack methods for adversaries. Because generative and agentic AI are new fields, our understanding of cybersecurity risks resulting from generative and agentic AI and protection methods continues to develop, and features that rely on generative or agentic AI, including in services provided to us by third parties, may be susceptible to unanticipated cybersecurity threats from sophisticated adversaries and other cybersecurity incidents.

Many of the software applications that we use in our business are licensed from, and supported, upgraded and maintained by, third-party vendors. Our third-party applications include, but are not limited to, enterprise cloud storage and cloud computing application services provided and maintained by third-party vendors. These third-party applications store or may afford access to confidential and proprietary data of the Company, our colleagues and our clients. We have processes designed to require third-party vendors that

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provide information technology (‘IT’) outsourcing, offsite storage and other services to agree to maintain certain standards with respect to the storage, protection and transfer of confidential, personal and proprietary information, but our processes cannot eliminate all risk of compromise or unauthorized access or use of such information in the event of a breakdown of a vendor’s data protection processes, a data breach due to the intentional or unintentional non-compliance by a vendor’s employee or agent, or as a result of a cyber-attack on the product, software or information systems of a vendor in our software supply chain. Any compromise of the product, software, data or infrastructure of a Company vendor, including a software or IT vendor in our supply chain, has and could again, result in the compromise of Company data or infrastructure or result in material operational disruption, although no such known previous compromise has been material to our business or financial results. Further, the risk and potential impact of a data breach on our third-party vendors’ products, software or systems increase as we move more of our data and our clients’ data into our vendors’ cloud storage, engage in IT outsourcing, and consolidate the group of third-party vendors that provide cloud storage or other IT services for the Company. Over time, the frequency, severity and sophistication of the attacks against us and our vendors have increased, including due to the use of AI for purposes of cybercrime, and the broader range of threat actors, including state-sponsored actors and hacker activists. In addition, our contractual and insurance protections with vendors may be limited or unenforceable, and vendor outages, flawed updates or delayed patching could disrupt our operations.

We and our vendors regularly experience cybersecurity incidents, including successful attacks from time to time, and we expect that to continue going forward. While we have experienced successful attacks by various types of hacking groups in which personal and commercially sensitive information, belonging to the Company or its clients, has been compromised, none of these cybersecurity incidents or attacks to our knowledge have been material to our business or financial results. Cybersecurity incidents include those resulting from human error or malfeasance, implantation of malware and viruses, phishing and spear-phishing attacks, unauthorized access to our information technology networks and systems, and unauthorized access to data or individual account funds through fraud or other means of deceiving our colleagues, clients, third-party service providers and vendors. We cannot ensure that such cybersecurity incidents or attacks will not have a material impact on our business or financial results in the future. When required by law, we have notified individuals, clients and/or relevant regulatory authorities (such as insurance and financial services regulators and privacy regulators) of such cybersecurity incidents or attacks.During an incident, we may need to disconnect systems or suspend certain services, and there can be delays before full scope and impact are understood. Our cyber insurance coverage may be unavailable or insufficient to cover losses.

We maintain policies, procedures and administrative, physical and technological safeguards and controls (such as, where in place, multifactor authentication and encryption of data in transit and at rest) designed to protect the security and privacy of the data in our custody and control. However, such safeguards are time-consuming and expensive to deploy broadly and are not necessarily always in place or effective, and we cannot entirelyeliminate the risk of data security breaches, improper access to, takeover of or disclosure of confidential company or personally identifiable information. We may not be able to detect and assess such issues, or implement appropriate mitigation or remediation, in a timely manner. We are engaged in an ongoing effort to enhance our protections against such attacks; this effort will require significant expenditures, take time to execute and may not be successful. Our technology may fail to adequately secure the private information we hold and protect it from theft, computer viruses, hackers or inadvertent loss.

As has happened in the past, if any person, including any of our current or former colleagues, intentionally or unintentionally fails to comply with, disregards or intentionally breaches our established controls with respect to such data or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to monetary damages, fines, regulatory enforcement, and/or criminal prosecution. Prior instances of such activity have not been material to our business or financial results. Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client, supplier or colleague data, whether through systems failure, accident, colleague negligence, fraud or misappropriation, could damage our reputation and cause us to lose clients. Similarly, unauthorized access to or through our information systems or those we develop for our clients, whether by our colleagues or third parties, could result in significant additional expenses (including expenses relating to incident response and investigation, remediation work, notification of data security breaches and costs of credit monitoring services), negative publicity, operational disruption, legal liability and/or damage to our reputation, as well as require substantial resources and effort of management, thereby diverting management’s focus and resources from business operations.

The methods used to obtain unauthorized access to, disable or degrade service or sabotage the Company’s systems are also constantly evolving, are increasingly sophisticated, and may be difficult to anticipate or detect. For example, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and other U.S. federal agencies continue to issue warnings about trends in cybercriminal and nation-state activity and other threats that are consistent with some of the types of incidents we have experienced. To our knowledge, these incidents have not had a material impact on our business or operations thus far. However, our reputation could be harmed and our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected if we were to be the target of such attacks in the future, or if, despite our controls and efforts to detect breaches, we were to be the victim of an undetected breach. Threat actors have used, and in the future may continue to use, AI-enabled tools and advanced persistent techniques to evade detection over extended periods or to exploit third-party access.

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We have implemented and regularly review and update processes and procedures to protect against fraud and unauthorized access to and use of secured data and to prevent data loss. The ever-evolving threats mean that we and our third-party service providers and vendors must continually evaluate, adapt, enhance and otherwise improve our respective systems and processes, especially as we grow our mobile, cloud and other internet-based services. There is no guarantee that such efforts will be adequate to safeguard against all fraud, data security breaches, unauthorized access, operational impacts or misuses of data. For example, our policies, colleague training (including phishing prevention training), and procedures and technical safeguards have not prevented or detected all improper access to confidential, personal or proprietary information by colleagues, vendors or other third parties with otherwise legitimate access to our systems, although, to date, such known improper access has not been material to our business or financial results. In addition, we may not be able to implement such efforts as quickly as desired if, for example, greater resources are required than originally expected or resources and management’s focus are insufficient. Any future significant compromise or breach of our data security or fraud, whether external or internal, or misuse of client, colleague, supplier or company data, could result in additional significant costs, lost revenue opportunities, disruption of operations and service, fines, lawsuits, and damage to our reputation with our clients and in the broader market.

For further discussion of the commercial risks related to the cybersecurity and data protection technology we use, please see ‘Our business performance and growth plans could be negatively affected if we are not able to develop and implement improvements in technology and effectively apply technology, data and analytics to drive value for our clients through technology-based solutions or gain internal efficiencies through the effective application of technology, analytics and related tools’ above. In addition, please see Part I, Item 1C Cybersecurity of this Form 10-K.

Our inability to comply with complex and evolving laws and regulations related to data privacy and cybersecurity could result in material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

We are subject to numerous laws and regulations in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, only certain of which are named here, designed to protect the personal information of client and company constituents and suppliers. These laws often develop in ways we cannot predict, and some laws may be in conflict with one another. This may significantly increase our cost of doing business, particularly as we expand our localization efforts. In addition, we may not be readily able to achieve compliance with the requirements of certain privacy and data security laws and regulations within the required periods for compliance. Certain laws and regulations we are subject to prohibit or restrict the transmission of data outside of certain countries’ borders, and certain others impose heightened obligations on specific categories of sensitive personal information, such as health or financial information. These laws have significantly increased our responsibilities when handling personal data including, without limitation, requiring us: to conduct privacy impact assessments or data protection impact assessments; to restrict the transmission or cross border transfers of data; to adopt and maintain new privacy policies and notices; to maintain detailed records of processing and vendor oversight; to respond to data subject rights requests within prescribed timelines; and to publicly disclose significant data breaches.

For example, we are subject to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘E.U. GDPR’), violations of which may result in possible fines of up to 4% of global annual turnover for the preceding financial year or €20 million (whichever is higher). Furthermore, following Brexit, we became subject to the U.K.’s Data Protection Act (together with the E.U. GDPR, the ‘GDPR’). In June 2021, the European Commission formally approved an adequacy decision for the U.K. on data protection in which they deemed the U.K.’s data protection regime sufficient to protect E.U. personal data, but the U.K. is considering changes to the Data Protection Act and there is no guarantee that the European Commission will continue to retain its adequacy decision with respect to U.K. data protection law in the future. Additionally, legal developments in Europe have created complexity and regulatory compliance uncertainty regarding certain transfers of personal information from the European Economic Area to the U.S. For example, a July 2020 judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union on Schrems II invalidated the E.U.-U.S. Data Privacy Shield and on July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted a new adequacy decision on the E.U.-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (‘Data Privacy Framework’). The Data Privacy Framework created new privacy obligations allowing personal information to be transferred from the E.U. to U.S. entities who have self-certified under the framework. We currently rely on a mixture of mechanisms to lawfully transfer personal data from our U.K. and E.U. businesses to the U.S. and other countries, with standard contractual clauses being the preferred transfer mechanism. As supervisory authorities issue enforcement actions and further guidance on personal information export mechanisms, including circumstances where the standard contractual clauses cannot be used, we could suffer additional costs, or become subject to complaints, regulatory investigations and/or fines. Moreover, if we are otherwise unable to transfer personal information between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could affect the manner in which we provide our services and could adversely affect our financial results.

Additionally, U.S. states continue to adopt comprehensive state-level privacy laws, which began with the California Consumer Privacy Act (‘CCPA’) (effective January 1, 2020), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (‘CPRA’) (effective on January 1, 2023). These laws generally provide consumers with certain rights (including rights to correct their data, limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information, and opt out of the sharing of personal information for certain targeted behavioral advertising purposes), and require companies to make detailed disclosures to residents of those states about their data collection, use and sharing practices.

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The Company is also subject to data privacy laws and regulations that apply to the collection, storage and use of personal health information, including, without limitation, the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (‘HIPAA’), enforced by the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and Human Services, and the New York State Department of Financial Services’ cybersecurity regulations outlining required security measures for the protection of data, and numerous U.S. and foreign marketing and telecommunications laws and regulations designed to protect consumers from unwanted or fraudulent communications. A violation of any such law may lead tolitigation or regulatory liability, including substantial financial damages or fines. The burdens imposed by the U.S. state-level privacy laws and other laws that may be enacted at the federal and state level in the future may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs in order to comply with these laws and to investigate and defend against potential private class-action litigation or litigation brought by regulatory authorities. We expect that other U.S. states and other countries will continue to implement their own data privacy and data security laws. The People’s Republic of China and India, among other countries, have enacted stringent data protection laws that, among other things, may restrict data transfers out of each of those countries.

Additionally, as a part of our efforts to implement innovative technology, data and analytic solutions, we may invest in and develop technologies such as AI, digital platforms, data analytics, robotics and blockchain. The technologies underlying such technological innovations and their use cases are rapidly developing, and remain subject to existing laws, including privacy, consumer protection and federal equal opportunity laws. As a result, it is not possible to predict all the legal, operational or technological risks related to the use of these technological innovations. Moreover, these technologies are the subject of evolving review by various regulatory agencies, including the SEC and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and changes in the regulation of the use these technological innovations may adversely affect our ability to use them in a manner that is cost- and resource-effective, the nature of which cannot be determined at this time.

The evolving and potentially conflicting interpretations of these laws and regulations in the U.S and abroad, as well as laws applicable to the Company that are not named in these risk factors, may restrict the manner in which we provide services to our clients, divert resources from other important initiatives, increase the risk of non-compliance, impose significant compliance and other costs that are likely to increase over time, and increase the risk of fines, lawsuits or other potential liability, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Enforcement remedies can include orders to suspend or restrict processing or transfers, mandatory audits, disgorgement, corrective actions and ongoing monitoring in addition to administrative fines and damages.Our failure to adhere to or successfully develop processes in response to legal or regulatory requirements, including legal or regulatory requirements that may be developed or revised due to economic or geopolitical changes such as Brexit, and changing customer expectations in this area, could result in substantial legal liability and impairment to our reputation or business.

We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and contractual obligations to third parties related to privacy, data protection and information security. In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups may propose new and different self-regulatory standards that either legally or contractually apply to us. We also expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws and regulations concerning privacy, data protection and information security, but cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. New laws, amendments to or re-interpretations of existing laws and regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations and other obligations may require us to incur additional costs and restrict our business operations. Because the interpretation and application of laws and other obligations relating to privacy and data protection are still uncertain, it is possible that these laws and other obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing data management practices. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, lawsuits and other claims, we could be required to fundamentally change our business activities and practices, which could harm our business. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all. Any inability to adequately address privacy concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations and policies, could result in additional cost and liability, damage to our reputation, or harm to our business. Further, emerging disclosure, controls and assurance requirements related to cybersecurity and privacy may require enhanced governance and attestations; if we cannot design and operate effective compliance controls, maintain accurate data inventories and maps, or obtain timely and reliable inputs from vendors and affiliates, our compliance, reporting and operational risks could increase.

Ourinability to successfully mitigate and recover should we experience a disaster or other business continuity problem could cause material financial loss, loss of human capital, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

We are exposed to various risks arising out of disasters and business continuity problems, such as wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, acts of war, conflicts, or civil unrest, pandemics, security breaches, ransomware or destructive malware attacks, power loss or disruption, telecommunications failures or other natural or man-made disasters. Should we experience such an event, we may incur operational challenges, and our continued success will depend, in part, on the availability of our personnel, our office facilities, our outsourcing providers or other vendors, access to data, and the proper functioning of our computer, telecommunication and other related systems and operations.

A disaster or business continuity problem of a significant scale or affecting certain of our key operating areas within or across regions, or our inability to successfully recover from such an event, particularly if any of these problems occur during peak times, could materially interrupt our business operations and cause material financial loss, loss of human capital, regulatory actions, reputational harm, damaged client relationships or legal liability.

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Material interruption to or loss of our information processing capabilities or failure to effectively maintain and upgrade our information processing hardware or systems could cause material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm and/or legal liability.

Ourbusiness and our capacity to serve our clients depend on effective information systems, including the effective storage, retrieval, processing and management of information. Maintaining and enhancing existing systems and developing and creating new systems and products in order to keep pace with evolving technologies and evolving industry and regulatory standards requires significant financial and other resources. We aim to be at the forefront of a range of technology options relevant to our business and staying ahead of the technology offered by our competitors, and attracting, developing and retaining skilled individuals in the cybersecurity space.The market for such qualified individuals is competitive and we may be unable to hire the talent needed to mitigate the foregoing risks.

In addition, many of the software applications, including enterprise cloud storage and cloud computing application services, that we use in our business are licensed from, and supported, upgraded and maintained by, third-party vendors. We are significantly increasing our use of such cloud services and expect this to continue over time. These third-party applications store confidential and proprietary data of the Company, our clients and our colleagues. A suspension or termination of certain of these licenses or the related support, upgrades and maintenance could cause temporary system delays or interruptions that could adversely impact our business. We also, from time to time, acquire other companies or divest certain of our existing businesses and companies, which requires us to manage complex integrations or dissolutions of information systems or the transfer of information from one system to another, and we may fail to identify, mitigate and address vulnerabilities in our targets’ information systems or in integrated components of our respective information systems. These transactions may make us more susceptible to cyberattacks and could result in the theft of Company intellectual property, the compromise of Company, colleague, and client data or operational disruption.

Any finding that the data we rely on to run our business is inaccurate or unreliable, that we fail to maintain effective and efficient systems (including through a telecommunications failure, failure to replace or update redundant or obsolete computer hardware, applications or software systems, or the loss of skilled people with the knowledge needed to operate our systems), or that we experience cost overruns, delays, or other disruptions, could result in material financial loss, regulatory action, reputational harm or legal liability.

Limited protection of our intellectual property could harm our business and our ability to compete effectively, and we face the risk that our services or products may infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others.

We cannot guarantee that trade secret, trademark, and copyright law protections, or our internal policies and procedures regarding our management of intellectual property, are adequate to deter misappropriation of our intellectual property (including our software, which may become an increasingly important part of our business). Existing laws of some countries in which we provide services or products may offer only limited protection of our intellectual property rights. Also, we may be unable to detect the unauthorized use of our intellectual property and take the necessary steps to enforce our rights, which may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. We cannot be sure that our services and products, or the products of others that we offer to our clients, do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties, and we may have infringement claims asserted against us or our clients. These claims may harm our reputation, result in financial liability, consume financial resources to pursue or defend, and prevent us from offering some services or products. In addition, these claims, whether with or without merit, could be expensive, could require significant time and resource expenditure, and could divert management’s focus from business operations. Successful challenges against us could require us to modify or discontinue our use of technology or business processes where such use is found to infringe or violate the rights of others, or require us to purchase licenses from third parties, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Legal, Non-Financial/Regulatory and Compliance Risks

From time to time, we receive claims and are party to lawsuits arising from our work, which could materially adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business depends in large part on our relationships with clients and our reputation for high-quality services. Clients that become dissatisfied with our services may terminate their business relationships with us, and clients and third parties that claim they suffered damages caused by our services may bring lawsuits against us. Actual and potential claims, lawsuits, investigations and other proceedings against us principally relate to alleged errors and omissions in connection with the provision of our services or the placement of insurance and reinsurance in the ordinary course of business, though we face other types of claims, lawsuits, investigations and proceedings outside of errors and omissions claims from time to time. See Note 15 - Commitments and Contingencies within Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for examples of claims to which we are subject.

Because we often assist our clients with matters involving substantial amounts of money and complex regulatory requirements, including actuarial services, asset management, technology solutions development and implementation and the placement of insurance coverage, claims against us generally allege our potential liability for all or part of the substantial amounts in question. The nature of our work, particularly our actuarial services, necessarily involves the use of assumptions and the preparation of estimates relating to

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future and contingent events, the actual outcome of which we cannot know in advance. Our actuarial and brokerage services also rely on substantial amounts of data provided by clients, the accuracy and quality of which we cannot ensure. In addition, computational, software programming or data management errors occur from time to time in connection with the services we provide to clients. Clients may seek to hold us responsible for our alleged failures to comply with legal or professional duties, or for alleged conflicts of interest we may have in carrying out our work.

Clients may seek to hold us responsible for alleged errors or omissions relating to any of the brokerage advice and services we provide, including when claims they submit to their insurance carriers are disputed or denied. This risk is likely to be higher in circumstances where there are significant disputes between clients and insurance carriers over coverage and clients allege that a failure by us is the reason. Such alleged failures can include that we misrepresented coverage terms to the client, that we failed to advise the client of key policy terms, that we failed to carry out client instructions, that we failed to procure insurance suitable to the client’s needs, and that we failed to timely present the client’s claims to their insurance carriers. In other cases, clients may allege that we have failed entirely to procure insurance coverage consistent with their instructions. Although we have established internal processes and controls to prevent all such errors and omissions, we cannot guarantee that these processes will always work as intended. Risk of errors or omissions may be higher in circumstances where we have significant numbers of departures or new joiners or other disruptions to our business, such as changes in ways of working. Such risks may also be higher in parts of our business that are not well-integrated with the rest of the Company for reasons of geography, culture, language, historical practice or other circumstances. Given that many of our clients have very high insurance policy limits to cover their risks, alleged errors and omissions claims against us arising from disputed or denied claims are often significant. Moreover, in certain circumstances, our agreements with brokerage, investment and certain other types of clients may not limit the maximum liability to which we may be exposed for claims involving alleged errors or omissions. As such, we would not have limited liability for the work we provide to these clients.