Howden has appointed Elliot Richardson (pictured) as group chief commercial officer, putting him in charge of a new commercial strategy to make fuller use of the broking, reinsurance, underwriting and employee benefits businesses the group has built.
Richardson takes up the role immediately. He reports to chief executive David Howden and joins the group executive committee, while staying on as executive chair of Howden Re.
Howden Markets, which manages the group’s relationships with carriers, and Group Placement will both report to him. He will work with group chief financial officer Susan Panuccio and group chief operating officer David Shalders, supported by a new commercial leadership team drawn from across Howden’s regions and specialty businesses.
Howden said the new strategy has three priorities. The first is deeper collaboration, bringing the group’s full range of expertise to each client. The second is stronger carrier partnerships, including growing facilities and new products to improve placements. The third is better use of client and placement data, through an upgraded CRM and AI-powered data tools designed to sharpen the sales culture.
“We have now built the full range of geographies and capabilities to become a truly global broker, and the opportunity in front of us is to deploy all of those tools for our clients,” said David Howden.
He said the aim was a more consistent, scalable business that helps staff collaborate, while keeping Howden’s entrepreneurial and employee-owned culture.
Richardson has 38 years in the (re)insurance market and joined Howden in 2015 through its acquisition of RKH. He has served as vice chair and chair of international at Howden Re, expanded its international footprint through hiring, and played a key role in the acquisition of Tiger Risk.
Working with Howden Re chief executive Tim Ronda, he helped grow the reinsurance business organically to more than $800 million of revenue. Howden describes it as one of only four tier one global reinsurance brokers.
Richardson said Howden now belonged to a small group of truly global brokers, and that the next step was to bring all its experts together, regardless of specialism or geography.
The appointment is the latest in a series of structural changes. In March, Howden reshaped its international operations under new regional leadership, including a unified Americas structure designed partly to simplify discussions with carriers on facilities and delegated authorities.
It is also in the middle of an aggressive build-out in US retail broking. As Insurance Business reported in April, Howden made more than 1,000 hires there in under a year, and is targeting £10 billion of global revenue by 2030, with US retail contributing more than £1 billion.
For insurers, the appointment points to more centralised dealings with Howden. Placing Howden Markets and Group Placement under one executive, with a mandate to grow facilities, suggests carriers will increasingly negotiate with the group as a whole rather than with individual businesses. That brings more scale for carriers on its panels, and potentially less business for those outside them.
For competing brokers, a joined-up Howden is a tougher rival. Combining retail, specialty, reinsurance and employee benefits expertise on single client accounts, backed by group facilities, is exactly the integrated offer the largest global brokers already provide.
The challenge will be cultural. Howden has built its business on entrepreneurial, largely autonomous teams. Making those teams work as one commercial machine, without losing what made them successful, is the task Richardson now owns.
