Bob Graham, Executive Editor

Gregory A. Arms, chairman and CEO of the Global Employee Benefits Practice at Willis Group, is leaving for a competitor, Marsh, where he will establish a similar practice. (Here’s the announcement.) He had been at Willis since November 2005. (His biography is still on the Willis Web site.)

Were this news coming out a month ago, it wouldn’t matter nearly as much. But given that Willis and Hilb Rogal and Hobbs are merging, one could wonder if his departure from Willis foreshadows things to come as the combined Willis-HRH takes shape. Perhaps the move had been in the works for weeks or months. But one has to wonder if the recent acquisition of HRH accelerated matters or made the move better for Arms.