Howden Re has appointed Tom Fitzgerald as head of global client relations and vice chair, adding a former Aon global broking CEO to its senior team at a moment when its rapid US expansion is creating a specific need for senior relationship capital. Howden Re posted 30% organic revenue growth in FY24, generates US$18.5 billion in gross written premium and employs more than 1,000 professionals across 40 offices in 25 countries. Since its US retail launch in August 2025, Howden has added an estimated 1,000 staff across more than 20 specialisms in under a year. The firm is targeting £10 billion in global revenue by 2030, with US retail expected to contribute more than £1 billion of that total.
That growth trajectory creates a specific relationship challenge. Cedants and reinsurers being asked to deepen commitments to a broker they may not yet regard as a tier-one counterparty need senior-level confidence in the quality and continuity of client and reinsurer relations. Fitzgerald's nearly three decades at Aon - including as CEO of global broking operations and CEO of Aon Risk Solutions' US retail operation - give him the specific relationship capital that organic hiring at pace cannot replicate. A broker growing at Howden Re's rate needs someone who already has the relationships, not someone who is building them.
Fitzgerald spent nearly 29 years at Aon, joining in 1991 as chief broking officer for US commercial risk before serving as CEO of Aon Risk Solutions' US retail operation until 2019. He then moved to QBE North America as president, specialty and commercial for three years before joining World Insurance Associates as president of its retail business in January 2023. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor's degree in finance from Drake University.
In his new role Fitzgerald is based in Chicago, leading global client and reinsurer relations across Howden Re. He noted on LinkedIn that the appointment places him alongside Michael Parrish, CEO of Howden Americas - a prior Aon colleague - giving the hire an established internal working relationship alongside the external relationship capital it brings.
