Press Releases - Towers Perrin Archive

Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby, Inc. and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: WW), both leading global consulting firms, announced that at their respective special meetings of shareholders, each held earlier today, their shareholders adopted the merger agreement pursuant to which the companies will combine their businesses.

How companies approach people issues in a merger or acquisition has a far greater impact on aspects of a deal's success than many would expect, according to new research released today from Towers Perrin.

How companies approach people issues in a merger or acquisition has a far greater impact on aspects of a deal’s success than many would expect, according to new research released today from Towers Perrin.

Tort costs in the United States rose by $2.7 billion (1.1%) in 2008, according to the 2009 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends from global professional services firm Towers Perrin.

Companies with a track record of effectively managing people-related issues during an acquisition are far more likely to have a very successful deal. This is the conclusion of a recent study by the Canadian Financial Executives Research Foundation (CFERF, the research institute of FEI Canada, the professional membership association for senior financial leaders), and sponsored by Towers Perrin.

Helped by firming prices in property and specialty lines such as directors and officers liability (D&O), commercial insurance prices increased slightly (0.3%) during the third quarter of 2009 -- representing the second consecutive quarter-to-quarter modest increase after nearly five years of steady decreases -- according to Towers Perrin’s most recent Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS).

November was characterized by strong equity returns, the effects of which were partially offset by a decline in corporate bond yields. The net result was a 1.6% increase in the Towers Perrin Pension Index to 68.5, according to the global professional services firm’s latest Capital Market Update.

While 2009 was the year of the pay freeze, 2010 is likely to see a slight thaw in how UK companies manage compensation. Research released today by global professional services firm, Towers Perrin, finds that the economic uncertainty which resulted in pay freezes, cuts and job losses at UK companies in 2009 has been replaced by greater confidence in the outlook for next year.

Canadian companies took even more severe measures than originally planned for 2009, with hiring freezes, salary freezes, and a range of other measures designed to manage expenses in line with dramatically reduced revenue, and their outlook for 2010 can best be described as "cautiously optimistic".

Salaries will be on the rise in 2010 at many companies across the U.S., according to recent research from Towers Perrin. This is a significant shift from the lockdown many organizations placed on compensation budgets during 2009. In fact, 65% of companies that froze salary budgets in 2009 will unfreeze them in 2010.

Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby, Inc. and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: WW), both leading global consulting firms, today announced that they have been granted conditional clearance from the European Commission to allow the Parties to proceed with their merger to form Towers Watson & Co. U.S. antitrust authorities previously cleared the transaction.

Despite signs of modest recovery in the broader economy, many employers plan to maintain a conservative stance well into 2010, with 31% of those polled in a recent Towers Perrin survey indicating they plan to reduce head count on a targeted basis in the coming year and another 6% planning for a significant reduction in staff.