Towers Perrin
| Industry | Professional services |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 1, 1934 |
| Defunct | Template:End date and age |
| Successor | Towers Watson |
| Headquarters | Stamford, Connecticut, USA |
Key people | Mark Mactas, CEO |
| Services | Actuarial Management consulting Insurance Human Resources Professional Services |
Towers Perrin operated as a professional services organization with expertise in human resource advisory, financial consulting, reinsurance brokerage, and actuarial services delivered via its Tillinghast division. The firm was entirely owned by its employees. In 2010, it combined forces with Watson Wyatt Worldwide to establish the entity known as Towers Watson.
History
The company was established on March 1, 1934, under the name Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby by founders John Towers, Charles Perrin, Walter Forster, and Arthur Crosby in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Expansion through key acquisitions broadened the firm’s service offerings and geographic presence: Cresap, McCormick and Paget (specializing in management consulting) in 1982; Tillinghast, Nelson & Warren (actuarial expertise) in 1986; Working Concepts (focused on human resources) in 2001; and Denis M. Clayton & Co., a reinsurance brokerage firm based in London, in 2002.
To concentrate on its core consultancy operations, the company divested certain business units. In 2004, Russell Investment Group purchased its Australian pension advisory and employee benefits segment. The following year, Towers Perrin sold its human resources outsourcing division to Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for $420 million and subsequently created ExcellerateHRO—a joint venture delivering HR outsourcing services—before divesting its interest to Hewlett-Packard in 2009.
Further strategic acquisitions included Rauser AG (pension consulting in Germany) in 2005; Risk Capital Management Partners (financial risk advisory) in 2006; and ISR (specializing in employee workplace surveys) in 2007.
On January 4, 2010, the merger between Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt Worldwide resulted in the formation of Towers Watson, which became the leading global consultancy for employee benefits by revenue.