Michael John Rees obituary: 1944-2024

There are only a few men who represent all the best values of the London and Lloyd’s reinsurance market. Michael John Rees was one of them.

Despite his immaculate attire and pivotal role in forming two highly successful London market businesses, Mike was not one for airs and graces. Known to all as Reesy, Mike was always generous in his acts and with his time, an Everyman as popular with the juniors in the mailroom or secretarial pool as he was with clients, producers and business leaders.

Michael saw the good in people, always had a twinkle in his eye and boasted an infectious booming laugh that would reverberate down corridors and offices. He was a passionate supporter of the Lloyd’s market and a committed client man. Sadly, Michael passed away last month and a funeral for his closest friends and family took place last week.

Born shortly before the end of WWII, Mike’s formative youth was spent in Croydon, a respectable but modest suburb of south London. As a young boy, Michael had a natural aptitude for numbers and a neighbour suggested he consider a career in the Lloyd’s market. Shortly after his seventeenth birthday, he took the first step of a remarkable business career by becoming an office clerk at Glanvill Enthoven, a small London reinsurance broker, at the beginning of the Swinging Sixties (1961).

A raw intelligence and astute business sense meant he swiftly grasped the mechanics of reinsurance broking. He was soon making a name for himself as a young but highly capable producer who was capable of winning new business and devising new structures for overseas clients. This also marked him out to ambitious peers including Ted Benfield and Peter Lovick. In 1973, the trio formed a new Lloyd’s reinsurance broker, Benfield, Lovick & Rees.

Matthew Harding

It was the first chapter in what was to become the most successful and influential independent reinsurance broker that has operated in the global reinsurance market. A key figure in its success was not just Mike but one of his early recruits, a highly talented maverick named Matthew Harding.

They formed a highly successful double act that propelled Benfield, Lovick & Rees ahead of many of the myriad reinsurance broking firms that operated in the London market. In the 1980s they were joined by successful deal makers Grahame Chilton and Neil Eckert, and the astute and highly polished executive John Coldman.

In 1988 Matthew Harding and John Coldman led the buyout of Benfield Group from Benfield, Lovick and Rees. Mike Rees supported the deal and rolled over his shareholding into the new business.

Over the next two decades, the renamed Benfield Group became a highly influential intermediary that played a key role in shaping the fast-consolidating global reinsurance market and bringing modern analytics to the forefront of reinsurance risk transfer. However it was not all upside. In 1996 Harding was killed in a helicopter accident and it was Rees and his talented team, including finance director John Whiter, who had to deal with the shock of Benfield losing its talismanic leader.

Astute M&A

Astute M&A was an integral part of its evolution. In 1995, for example, the firm acquired Ellinger Heath Western, expanding the marine-focused business into property and specialty lines.

Coldman’s close ties with John Greig and Dieter Losse meant he was able to facilitate the pivotal £120mn acquisition of Greig Fester in 1997, giving the London-focussed Benfield Group a much stronger global presence. In May 2001, it acquired the Dallas-headquartered EW Blanch for $179mn, cementing the firm’s growing US operations. Ted Blanch’s former protégé, Rod Fox, became its US head. In 2003, with Chilton as CEO and Coldman as chairman, Benfield Group successfully listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The firm carried only one constant from its roots thirty years before: Mike Rees. Always happy to let others have the limelight, Reesy was the highly popular and supportive figure behind the scenes that facilitated Benfield Group in its path to success. Clients loved him, and he was especially popular with Benfield’s Japanese and Asian business partners who set great store in his trust, discretion and loyalty.

Benfield IPO

Benfield’s IPO and subsequent £880mn sale to Aon in 2008 saw Rees take a back seat from the firm, but retirement was never an option. He maintained an office in the City until last year. He was always a passionate supporter of the London market and a successful investor in multiple businesses including CFC Underwriting, formed by David Walsh, where he was initially chairman and subsequently a non-executive director. An active member of the City of London Club, true to form he was highly generous with his time, serving on numerous committees.

Outside of EC3, Michael was married to Muriel, who passed away in 2012. His children James and Sarah and his four grandchildren gave him much happiness. He was a passionate sportsman, a keen shot and a lifelong supporter of Crystal Palace FC through the tough times and good. When not at Selhurst Park, he could often be found at Ascot, Lord’s or Twickenham.

Michael died on 8 July, a few months short of what would have been his 80th birthday. A lover of life; a man of convention who enjoyed the unconventional (who else would place an Aga in a garden treehouse). Many in their careers owe Michael a debt of gratitude, and the London (re)insurance market has lost one of its great servants. A memorial service will be held in the City in the autumn.