US consulting firm Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) is today re-branding three business units under the name Oliver Wyman, a company that it bought in 2003. The newly organised consulting firm expects to triple its staff in China in the next five years, with a focus on the banking, vehicle and transport industries. 'We're combining different origins of expertise, which will let us bring broader capabilities to our clients,' said Laurence Alberts. Mr Alberts formerly served as the Asian head for Mercer Management Consulting and now oversees the regional energy practice for the combined company. Mr Alberts said the change did not involve any layoffs or cutbacks for the business which employs about 100 staff across Asia, most of whom are in China or focused on the China business. 'This is very much about growth,' said Mr Alberts, who helped start the firm's presence in Asia in 1995. 'We plan over the next year to treble [the number of staff in Asia],' he said. 'MMC has set aside significant funds to support this hiring process, training them and developing them for China.' MMC is combining Mercer Management Consulting, which specialises in industrial business, Mercer Delta Organizational Consulting, which helps companies going through transitions and Mercer Oliver Wyman, which focuses on financial services. Mr Alberts said bringing all three businesses under a single brand and focus would allow them to offer to industrial clients the risk management skills learned in financial services and the cost-cutting practices perfected in manufacturing to financial clients with significant back-office costs. Two other consulting firms under the MMC banner, NERA Economic Consulting, which offers microeconomic advice, and Lippincott Mercer, which does brand consulting, will retain their own brand names. MMC earlier this year agreed to sell Putnam Investments to Canada's Great-West Lifeco Inc for US$3.9 billion.
