Marsh doubles incentive opportunity for dual CFO, COO

Dive Brief:

Global insurance broker Marsh & McLennan appointed its long-time finance chief Mark McGivney to the additional role of chief operating officer in a move effective Wednesday, the company announced in a Tuesday press release and securities filing.
In association with the dual role, the provider of risk management, consulting and reinsurance services also announced changes to McGivney’s compensation arrangements: increasing his annual base salary from $1 million in 2025 to $1.25 million, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the company’s latest proxy statement.
With the dual role, McGivney is also eligible to receive a long-term incentive award of $6.3 million, according to the filing. That amount is more than double the $3.6 million incentive award he was previously eligible to receive for the New York-based business’ full-year 2026, according to the proxy statement, which includes total executive compensation decisions determined by Marsh’s compensation committee in February of this year.

Dive Insight:

As part of his updated compensation arrangements in taking on the dual CFO/COO role, McGivney is also eligible for an annual target bonus of about $3.5 million, commencing with the 2026 performance year, according to the SEC filing. He will also receive a grant of stock units valued at $10 million on May 1, which will vest in three equal annual installments.

For the company’s full-year 2025, McGivney — who has held Marsh’s top finance seat for 10 years — received total compensation of $8.1 million, according to the proxy statement filed March 31. That amount included his $1 million base salary, stock awards valued at approximately $2 million, and incentive plan compensation of $3.5 million.

McGivney first joined the company in 2007, and has held numerous executive roles during his two-decade span at Marsh, according to the release. That includes serving as both COO and CFO of Mercer, as well as CFO of Marsh Risk, before assuming his role as EVP and CFO of Marsh in 2026.

In his expanded role, McGivney will help to support CEO John Doyle, as well as the company’s executive committee, in “evolving and accelerating the firm’s strategy,” Marsh said in the Tuesday release.

“Mark has been instrumental in the success and performance of Marsh for nearly 20 years,” Doyle said in a statement included in the release. “As CFO, he supported the design and execution of our strategy, and in his expanded role, he will help drive forward company priorities at an even greater pace and scale in a complex macroenvironment. I look forward to his continued contributions.”

Marsh laid out several “strategic achievements” made by McGivney over the past year in its proxy, noting the CFO had helped to contribute to its “solid financial performance” for 2025 and deployed $4.6 billion in capital across “dividends, acquisitions and share repurchases” in executing its capital management strategy.

Marsh joins a growing collection of companies which have merged their top finance and operations roles. Also Tuesday, sports and entertainment company Elevate appointed its CFO Willie DiBlasi to the combined role of CFO/COO, coming as the business “expands across new markets, service lines and regions globally,” according to a press release.

In February, global fashion company Capri Holdings — owner of brands Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo — appointed Tyler Reddien to the dual role effective March 30.