Brian Duperreault is president and chief executive officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), the second largest insurance broker in the world.

The 62-year-old Bermudian came out of retirement to join MMC in January 2008 and took home almost $25 million in compensation for his first 11 months in the job, according to calculations done by the Associated Press.

He was previously chairman and chief executive officer of ACE Ltd. from 1994 to 2004 and is credited with transforming the company from a niche insurer into a global franchise during his decade in charge.

Prior to ACE, Mr. Duperreault was with American International Group (AIG) for more than 20 years, holding numerous positions and eventually becoming executive vice president of AIG Foreign General Insurance and chairman and chief executive of AIG's American International Underwriters (AIU).

He is a director of Tyco International Ltd. and serves as chairman of the International Insurance Society and chairman of the Centre on Philanthropy in Bermuda.

He serves as a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a member of the board of trustees of Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, and the Peter J. Tobin College of Business, School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science at St. Johns University, New York.

The Centre on Philanthropy's website says he is "widely acknowledged as one of the titans of the global insurance industry, having established himself as a superlative leader while rising through the ranks of AIG".

Mr. Duperreault was born in Bermuda and raised and educated in the US, where he gained a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Saint Joseph's University.