Gaurav D. Garg will join Mercer effective 12 September as Region Leader, Growth Markets, incorporating Mercer’s businesses in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, where Mercer presently has operations in 20 countries, it was announced today by Julio A. Portalatin, Mercer President and CEO. In this newly created position, Mr. Garg will report to Mr. Portalatin and serve as a member of the Executive Committee at Mercer.
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Mr. Garg joins Mercer from Chartis, the P&C insurance arm of the American International Group, Inc. (AIG), where he was most recently  Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd. in India. He joined AIG in 2000 and has held a  number of leadership roles including country, regional and global positions, with a strong international focus.
“Gaurav has a well-established track record of setting up and running successful business operations in Asia and the Middle East, as well as  managing global distribution,†said Mr. Portalatin. “His strong entrepreneurial skills and deep understanding of the dynamics of growth  markets will be invaluable to driving profitable revenue expansion for Mercer in these countries. Our decision to appoint him to this critical  new role at Mercer is evidence of our commitment to investing and maximizing our opportunities in the growth markets.â€
Mr. Garg brings 26 years of international experience to his role at Mercer. From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Garg was based in New York with  American International Underwriters (AIU), where he had P&L and underwriting responsibility for six regions (Europe, CE/CIS,  Mediterranean, Middle East & Asia Pacific, China and Australasia) and was responsible for global distribution for AIU’s personal insurance  lines of business. He was also responsible for AIU’s start-up business operations in a number of countries in Asia and the Middle East, and  his experience includes working in three BRIC countries – India, Russia and China. He was instrumental in launching Tata AIG in 2000, following which he took on a regional role in 2002 overseeing the Middle East and South Asia, before moving to the global business line role in New York in 2004. He became the CEO and Managing Director of the AIG Insurance Joint Venture in India with the Tata Group in 2007. He began his career in 1986 at National Insurance Co. Ltd., where he managed diverse portfolios ranging from retail insurance to insuring large engineering projects.
Mr. Garg holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce and a Masters degree in Business Administration, and is an alumnus of the Wharton Advanced Management Program. He is also a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India and a Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, UK.
