Marsh Inc is over the woes it suffered during the past couple of years and is looking at growth areas, such as its Asia Pacific business, to get back on track.

Over the next three years the Asia Pacific business, including Australia, will take on another 2000 employees, according to Australian CEO David Bidmead.

Mr Bidmead – who hosted a roundtable with Marsh Global CEO Brian Storms last week (see INTERNATIONAL) – says Marsh handles the insurance of 75% of the top 50 largest local businesses but less than 10% of the middle market.

“We see [the middle market] as having the potential for substantial growth,” he told Sunrise Exchange News.

Marsh handles smaller local clients through a call centre in Parramatta. This business division, called Marsh Advantage, is one of the group’s biggest segments for growth in Australia, Mr Bidmead says.

“These clients have different needs to our corporate clients, and we can absolutely offer them a complete service.”  Mr Bidmead says the Asia Pacific division will also be looking into the private equity and acquisition market for future growth.

“We’ll be tapping into the US capabilities to achieve this,” he said. “We will be investing heavily in private equity.”