Willis Towers Watson Promotes 2

Originally published on 03 October 2016

Willis Towers Watson has promoted Sara Rejal and Karen Dolenec as, respectively, Head of Liquid Alternatives and Head of Real Assets within its Diversifying Strategies function, effective immediately.

The internal promotions come as Willis Towers Watson continues to evolve its global manager research structure to encourage the optimal balance of focus and broader holistic perspective within its investment teams and ensure the company remains at the forefront of thought leadership and innovation in providing a sustainable competitive advantage for clients.

Both Sara and Karen joined Willis Towers Watson in 2014 as Senior Investment Consultants. In her new role, Karen continues to be responsible for real estate, infrastructure and natural resources, whilst Sara will oversee hedge funds, alternative beta, reinsurance and multi-asset strategies.

Luba Nikulina, Global Head of Manager Research at Willis Towers Watson, said: “I am delighted to announce the promotions of Sara and Karen to, respectively, Head of Liquid Alternatives and Head of Real Assets. We are fortunate to have such high-calibre industry talent available to us within Willis Towers Watson. The new leadership structure of our Diversifying Strategies function will enable us to better align research and portfolio construction, with an even more positive influence on improving client outcomes. We aim to achieve this through the continued development of differentiated solutions, spanning a variety of return drivers and bringing more diversity into client portfolios in the environment of low asset returns and general macroeconomic uncertainty.”

Sara Rejal joined Willis Towers Watson in 2014 as a Senior Investment Consultant. Prior to this, Sara was at HSBC for seven years in the London, New York and Geneva offices of the Alternative Investment Group. In her new role, Sara will focus on further integration of the research team to ensure more fluidity across the spectrum of liquid alternatives, starting from low-cost smart beta solutions all the way up to active hedge fund strategies.

Karen Dolenec also joined Willis Towers Watson in 2014 as a Senior Investment Consultant. Prior to joining, she was a founding member and Managing Director at Terra Firma Capital Partners, a European buyout firm. While there, she executed deals across a number of industries and geographies, including some of the firm's most successful investments. In her new role, Karen will continue to lead the global real assets research team, building on the firm’s track record of successful innovation creating new better aligned products and solutions to meet asset owners’ increasing appetite for the superior risk-adjusted returns available from real assets.