WTW Taps Sheila Nordquist to Lead H&B Amid Soaring Costs

NEW YORK, NY – January 08, 2026 – Global advisory firm WTW has appointed Sheila Nordquist as its new Health and Benefits (H&B) leader for North America, a strategic move that places a seasoned internal leader at the helm of a critical division facing unprecedented market pressures. Effective January 12, Nordquist is tasked with steering the company’s growth strategy in a region grappling with skyrocketing healthcare costs, complex regulatory changes, and shifting employee expectations.

The appointment signals WTW's intent to double down on its Health, Wealth & Career (HWC) segment, a consistent growth engine for the company. Nordquist’s leadership will be pivotal as employers across the continent seek expert guidance to balance cost containment with the need to attract and retain talent through competitive benefits packages.

A Veteran Leader for a Volatile Market

Nordquist is no newcomer to WTW or the intricacies of the benefits landscape. Her career at the company, which began in 2013, is a testament to her deep expertise and leadership capabilities. Starting as a client advocate focused on new business development, she steadily rose through the ranks, holding several key leadership roles, including North Central market leader, U.S. Growth co-leader, and most recently, Midwest H&B region leader.

This trajectory from the front lines of client acquisition to regional oversight has provided her with a comprehensive understanding of client needs and market dynamics. Her promotion is a clear example of WTW’s strategy of cultivating and promoting internal talent, ensuring leadership continuity and a deep-seated understanding of the corporate culture and strategic objectives.

In the official announcement, Anne Pullum, WTW's global leader for Health & Benefits, lauded Nordquist’s capabilities. “With an innovative outlook on the market and a deep understanding of our business, she is well-positioned to drive growth while remaining dedicated to clients’ needs,” Pullum stated. “Her focus on turning priorities into action will help us deliver the breakthroughs that matter.”

This endorsement highlights the key attributes Nordquist is expected to bring to her expanded role: innovation, business acumen, and a results-oriented approach—qualities essential for navigating the challenges ahead.

Navigating a Perfect Storm of Costs and Complexity

Nordquist takes charge at a time of immense turbulence for the North American health and benefits sector. Employers, the primary clients of WTW’s H&B division, are facing a perfect storm. Projections for 2025 indicated a medical cost increase of 8%—the highest in over a decade—with forecasts for 2026 ranging from 6.5% to over 10%. These increases are fueled by a confluence of factors, including the rising prevalence of chronic conditions, an aging workforce, and relentless price inflation for both medical services and pharmaceuticals.

A major driver of this surge is the exploding cost of prescription drugs, particularly the widespread adoption of GLP-1 agonists for weight loss and diabetes management. These highly effective but expensive treatments are forcing employers and insurers to completely re-evaluate pharmacy benefit strategies.

Simultaneously, the regulatory environment is becoming more demanding. The final rule for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) now requires employers to conduct detailed comparative analyses, ensuring that access to mental health care is not more restrictive than access to physical health care. This places a significant administrative and strategic burden on companies, reinforcing mental well-being as a non-negotiable component of modern benefits packages.

Beyond costs and compliance, employee expectations have fundamentally changed. The one-size-fits-all benefits model is obsolete. Today’s diverse, multi-generational workforce demands personalization, flexibility, and support for total well-being, encompassing not just physical and mental health but also financial security and caregiving needs.

WTW's Strategic Response to Market Pressures

Nordquist's appointment is a key pillar in WTW's broader corporate strategy, which focuses on transformation, efficiency, and portfolio optimization. The company's recent financial reports show that its Health, Wealth & Career segment has benefited from "Transformation savings," which helped increase the segment's operating margin to nearly 42% in the last quarter of 2024. Placing a growth-focused leader like Nordquist in charge of the North American H&B business is a clear move to capitalize on this momentum.

This internal focus is complemented by disciplined portfolio management, evidenced by the 2024 sale of its TRANZACT business. By divesting non-core assets, WTW is sharpening its focus on high-growth advisory areas like health and benefits. Furthermore, recent acquisitions, such as the announced purchase of Cushon in late 2025, signal a strategic push to bolster its capabilities in related areas like retirement and financial wellness solutions.

In this context, Nordquist's mandate is twofold: defend and expand market share by helping clients navigate the cost crisis, and drive innovation that meets the evolving needs of their employees. Her deep experience within WTW gives her the advantage of being able to immediately leverage the firm's extensive data analytics, global insights, and technological platforms to deliver solutions.

The Path Forward: Personalization and Performance

Under Nordquist's leadership, WTW's North American H&B division is expected to aggressively pursue strategies that address the market's dual pressures of cost and experience. A primary focus will likely be the integration of technology and artificial intelligence to streamline benefits administration and deliver the personalization employees now demand. By harnessing data, WTW can help employers design flexible benefit plans that allow employees to choose the coverage and services that matter most to them, from enhanced mental health support and telemedicine to financial planning tools and caregiving assistance.

Another critical area will be helping clients develop more sophisticated strategies to manage pharmacy costs, including navigating the complex PBM landscape and evaluating the long-term value of high-cost drugs like GLP-1s. This will involve moving beyond simple cost-shifting to employees and toward more innovative models of care management and formulary design.

Ultimately, Nordquist's success will be measured by her ability to help clients prove the value of their benefits spend. In an era of economic uncertainty, every dollar invested in employee well-being must contribute to organizational resilience, talent retention, and workforce productivity. Her challenge is to equip employers with the data-driven insights and innovative solutions needed to not only weather the current storm but to emerge with a healthier, more motivated, and more resilient workforce.