Willis Towers Watson has appointed Augusto Hidalgo (pictured) as head of its capital, science and policy (CSP) team in Southeast Asia.
Based in Manila, Philippines, Hidalgo has extensive knowledge, experience and expertise in developing public-private partnership solutions to climate and disaster risk in finance and insurance, particularly in climate-vulnerable developing economies. In this newly created role, Hidalgo will work together with various stakeholders including development banks, UN agencies, governments, regulators and other public and private sector institutions in the areas of climate and environmental resilience.
Together with the global capital, science & policy team at WTW, he will drive public-private partnerships to further the broking and advisory powerhouse’s objectives across Southeast Asia.
Hidalgo joins WTW from the National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (Nat Re), where he was CEO. He spent five years at Nat Re where he built specialist expertise to support emerging market governments to collaborate with the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and other multi-lateral development agencies, and forge climate and disaster risk resilience through national and regional programmes. Prior to Nat Re, he was the head of M&A at Peak Re in the Philippines.
Hidalgo has been in the insurance industry since the 1990s, and has a strong background in corporate finance. He holds MBA degrees from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and York University’s Schulich School of Business, and a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of the Philippines.
“The addition of Augusto to our team is timely as we see climate risk rising to the top of the commercial and public policy agenda around the world,” said Rowan Douglas, CEO and global head of CSP at Willis Towers Watson. “Corporates are increasingly including climate risk in their business planning, and, if managed correctly, this presents an opportunity to create a commercial advantage for their business. However, climate risk does pose a significant threat to business continuity if organisations do nothing. Markets, public policymakers, partners/collaborators and competitors are all adjusting, at varying paces, to the climate realities as data, metrics/methodologies, and regulatory regimes take shape.”
