Key people

David started his career as a broker at Alexander Howden in 1981. He founded the Group in 1994 originally as a wholesale broker employing just three people. He has been the fundamental driving force behind its expansion into an international insurance group offering wholesale, retail and reinsurance broking and underwriting.

As Chief Executive. David's focus is on leading the Group's M&A activities as well as directing and implementing the Group's strategic growth and direction.

Andy was appointed Global Head of Placement for Howden in October 2023 having been Executive Chair of Howden Insurance Brokers Ltd. He Joined Howden in 1997 and during his 27 years with the Group has held various roles across retail, reinsurance and specialty. Andy’s reputation and expertise in the Financial Lines insurance market is well known, having focused on this sector for much of his 42 years in the industry.

In 2024 Andy was appointed as the new Chair of LIIBA, the representative body for London market insurance brokers.

Barnaby was CEO of RKH Specialty, having led it successfully through the merger with Howden Group and growing the business by over 40% in three years. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the London market at RKH, JLT and Fenchurch – with particular expertise in international and North American D&F markets – and was MD of RKH’s Property & Casualty Division before becoming RKH’s CEO in 2015. He was appointed Chair of Howden Broking Group in 2020 and Deputy Chair in 2022.

Carl began his career at A-Plan in Oxford in 1981 and, after numerous roles in the business, was appointed as Deputy CEO in 2000 and CEO in 2008. He guided the business through two management buy outs and A-Plan Group's acquisition by Howden in March 2021, when he was appointed to the Group Executive Committee as CEO, Howden UK and Ireland.

Carl is ACII qualified and has an MBA from Henley Management College.

Chye Huat joined Howden in October 2015, bringing with him over 25 years of industry experience. He was appointed as the regional CEO for Howden Asia in January 2016, where he has management and strategic oversight on its retail broking operations across six Asian countries and IPG Howden, a leading high networth life insurance broker that operates across Asia, and EMEA.

David Shalders was appointed to the Howden Group Board on 15 October 2024 and subsequently established the Group Operating Committee, where he serves as chair.

David is an experienced COO, leading functions including operations and technology, with 35 years of managing and transforming COO teams in banking, capital markets and insurance. His global experience includes building and operating teams across Asia, EMEA and the USA.

Prior executive appointments include COO and Head of Integration at the London Stock Exchange Group, Group Operations & Technology Director at Willis Towers Watson, and COO at RBS Markets & International Banking.

David also served as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Risk Committee at TP ICAP, and is currently a Trustee at the Charities Aid Foundation.

David holds Masters degrees from the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

Glenn is CEO of the UK Health & Employee Benefits business and Global Practice Leader. He joined the group in March 2018 to build Howden’s employee benefits business in the UK and globally.

Prior to joining Howden, Glenn was CEO of Jelf Financial Services and one of the founders of the Jelf Group. Following Jelf’s acquisition by Marsh & McLennan in 2015, he became a Partner in the Global Business Solutions division of Mercer Marsh Benefits.

Former CEO of AON Broking and now Vice Chairman of Howden Re, a Sunday Times Fast-Track company.

With 35+ years’ experience in the insurance sector, Elliot is widely regarded as a leading figure in the facultative reinsurance arena and has lead the development of some of the most successful teams in insurance. With revenues over $450mn, Howden Re employs over 750 people across 38 offices.

Previously advisor to the International Olympic Committee, served on the British Airways Global Advisory Board and as advisor to Formula 1.

Frances joined Howden in August 2021 as Group General Counsel, following stints at international insurtech business bolttech, litigation founder Augusta Ventures, and the Ardonagh Goup.

Joanne has over 25 years' experience in financial services, banking, (re)insurance and wealth management. She started her career as a barrister before joining city law firm, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert where she became a partner in the Reinsurance & International Risk team. Subsequently she moved in-house to join one of her largest clients, Aviva and most recently was the General Counsel & Company Secretary for the Insurance, Pensions & Investments business at Lloyds Banking Group. Joanne has extensive experience advising Boards and the C-suite on critical business decisions including M&A, corporate restructures, corporate governance, transformational change, regulatory engagement, material litigation and dispute resolution.

Kieran joined the Group when we acquired Align Financial Holdings ('Align') in 2021. Kieran, who was Founder and CEO of Align, is now Executive Chairman of DUAL Group.

He has more than 30 years of experience in managing insurance, reinsurance and general agency businesses. Before establishing Align in 2003, and Catalytic in 2013, he was president and CEO of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency in San Diego, California.

Kirk joined Howden as Group Head of Reward, Benefits and Wellbeing in June 2022. He is responsible for the Group’s approach to cash compensation, equity awards and our benefits and wellbeing proposition. Prior to joining Howden he held senior global HR Director roles in the investment banking and fund management sectors.

Louise is one of the three founding members of Howden. Over the past three decades she has been an integral member of the Group. Considering herself fortunate to have played a key function in all parts of the business, Louise’s roles have ranged from Group to the regions, from specialist financial lines to underwriting. Starting out as a specialist broker, Louise went on to set up DUAL Italy in Milan, ran Howden North Europe for a few years and is currently Chief of Staff to David Howden.

Besides serving on the Global Leadership Team and the Business Management Team, Louise sits on the Howden D&I committee and the Howden Foundation. She is a passionate advocate for employee ownership, for the value of insurance and for the role the private sector can play in mitigating the effects of climate change on the most vulnerable communities.

Lyn Grobler joined Howden Group in January 2016. As Group CIO, she oversees all aspects of technology implementing an IT strategy to drive the business in its next phase of growth. Lyn is the chair of Howden Group Services.

Before joining Howden Group, Lyn served as Vice President and CIO of Corporate Functions at BP. Lyn is a non-exec Director on the Board of the Bank of Cyprus where she also chairs their Technology Committee.

Mark has been Howden's Group CFO since January 2020. He previously led the Group's M&A team, debt capital market activity and Treasury team. Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has twenty years of lending and advisory experience working in M&A, leveraged finance and debt advisory. Mark joined Howden Group from KKR where he was investing KKR's European and Global lending funds.

Mark joined Howden in April 2020. Prior to that, he spent 9 years at JLT where he was the Global Head of Financial Lines Group and a member of the Global Executive, and 17 years at Aon (12 of which were at Alexander Howden) where he led Aon Professional Risks and Financial Services Group.

Matt is the CEO of Howden Pacific. Originating from the UK, Matt has spent his time in the insurance industry working in a variety of management, operational, business development and underwriting roles across both broking houses and underwriters in Australia and the UK. Prior to joining Howden, Matt was the CEO of Marsh’s Mercer Marsh Benefits business in the Pacific and JLT’s People Risk Consulting business.

Paul joined Howden in 2015, having been at RKH since 2005. Prior to that Paul was at JLT, Lloyd Thompson and Minet. He began his career in South Africa with Anglo American Mining.

After starting his career in motor underwriting, Peter switched to broking, and eventually led a management buy-out of the UK commercial division of Farr in 2000 which he then named FMW Risk Services Ltd. He grew this business to approximately £25m gross written premium before selling the business in December 2007 to Oval. In 2012 Peter was appointed Chief Executive of Oval and he ran the business through until its eventual sale to Arthur J. Gallagher which completed in April 2014.

In May 2015 Peter concluded a management buy-in of Aston Scott and then led the merger with Lark Group in 2017. As Group CEO, he grew the business to more than 1,600 staff operating from over 60 offices across the UK and Ireland and writing just over £1billion of gross written premium. In April 2022 Aston Lark was acquired by Howden Group Holdings and Peter became Executive Chairman of the Howden UK & Ireland business.

Peter was non-executive chairman at Hastings Insurance Services Ltd, the broker arm of Hastings Direct up until the end of 2021 and has previously served as chairman of the Large Brokers’ Advisory Board at the British Insurance Brokers Insurance Association (BIBA).

Rebecca joined Howden in 2014 as Head of Internal Audit, taking on the role of Chief Risk Officer in 2015.

She was appointed COO of the Group in 2019, where she was responsible for working with senior management to implement the Group's strategic vision, from sustainability to our People First initiatives. In 2022, she resumed the role of Chief Risk Officer. Prior to joining Howden, Rebecca was CRO at a Lloyd's Managing Agency and a Partner at chartered accountancy firm Mazars.

Richard joined DUAL Group, the underwriting arm of Howden, in 2016. With over 30 years' experience in the industry, Richard has previously lead Markel's professional indemnity division and has spent a decade at XL Catlin, where he was a member of the group underwriting board, a director of Catlin Underwriting Agency Ltd and a member of the UK executive committee.

Rob Bredahl is Vice Chair, Howden Re, Executive Chair, Howden Capital Markets & Advisory (HCMA), and a member of the Howden Executive Leadership Team. Rob served as CEO of Howden Re until December 2023, having been appointed CEO of TigerRisk in 2021. Rob led the company through its acquisition by Howden, which created a leading global reinsurance broker, strategic advisory and capital markets business. He remains instrumental in the continuing growth and development of Howden Re, with a renewed hands-on focus on capital markets transactions and advisory.

Rob has significant experience in the application of capital markets structures and techniques in insurance risk transfer, with a career spanning roles in reinsurance, broking and investment banking. Rob joined Tiger Risk in 2019 as President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the company’s board. Prior to that, he was one of the co-founders of Third Point Re in 2012, holding roles including Chief Underwriting Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, before becoming CEO and President. Previously, Rob was Chief Executive Officer of Aon Benfield Securities, Aon’s Investment Banking Group and the unit focused on insurance-linked securities (ILS) structuring and bookrunning, as well as President of the Americas division of Aon Benfield.

Before Aon acquired Benfield in November 2008, Rob held the role of Chief Executive Officer of Benfield US Inc. and of Benfield Advisory. He joined Benfield in March 2002, prior to which he was the Chief Executive Officer of Inreon PLC and Managing Director and Head of US Derivative Sales for Barclays Capital. Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Middlebury College.

Rowan leads Climate Risk and Resilience (CRR) at Howden and sits on the company's Global Leadership Team. The CRR team comprises approximately 100 personnel centrally and embedded across business units and geographies. We help clients to evaluate and derisk their climate related exposures, maintain access to capital and navigate their path towards a resilient, net zero transition.

Rowan has been a pioneer in the field of climate risk and insurance for over 20 years. He led the foundation of the Insurance Development Forum with UN, World Bank and Industry leaders and incubated the award-winning Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment. Previously Rowan served on the board of Willis Re as CEO Analytics and founded the Willis Research Network in 2006.

Beyond insurance Rowan was appointed to the UK Prime Minister's Council for Science & Technology 2011-2016 and served on the UK Green Finance Task Force. In 2016 he was made CBE for services to the economy for risk, insurance and sustainable growth.

Rowan reads Geography at Durham and Bristol universities, and lives and works in London.

Sarah was appointed CEO of Specialty at Howden in October 2023, which encompasses the following businesses: Natural Resources, Property, Casualty, Logistics, Construction, Financial Lines Group, Sport and Entertainment, Fine Art and Specie, Mergers and Acquisitions, Tax and Contingent Risk, Credit and Political Risk, Surety, Climate Transition Risk and Real Estate.

Sarah joined Howden in 2019 as CEO of Financial Lines Group. She was previously head of JLT’s Financial Lines Group and prior to that was at Aon for 20 years where she headed the D&O, M&A and Financial Institutions teams.

In April 2024 Sarah was appointed to The London Market Group board as a representative of London & International Insurance Brokers Association (LIIBA).

Sonia joined Howden in 2017. As CEO for International Growth Markets, she is responsible for our business in India, the Middle East, Africa and Latam.

Sonia has 25 years of experience in the industry, having previously worked at various brokers including Arthur J Gallagher and JLT. Her industry focus has been natural resources and property, with a particular interest in international business. During her tenure at JLT she was instrumental in the development of the Latam network and when she moved to Howden as MD in Specialty she ran the International hubs for Specialty. Sonia continues to develop business internationally, maintaining a focus on finding insurance solutions for clients worldwide.

Tim Ronda is the CEO of Howden Re, the global reinsurance arm of Howden Group which includes Howden Capital Markets & Advisory, and Bowood & Howden Re Programs. Tim is also a member of the Howden Executive Leadership Team.

With extensive experience across the reinsurance sector, Tim was appointed CEO in January 2024, after serving as President of Howden Tiger and previously TigerRisk Partners. He was instrumental in the acquisition of TigerRisk by Howden, which created a leading global reinsurance broker, strategic advisory and capital markets business.

Prior to TigerRisk, Tim held key leadership roles at Aon, serving as the Global Geographic Leader and U.S. President for Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions division. He joined Aon from Guy Carpenter, where he was Senior Vice President. Tim holds degrees in Business Administration and Accounting from Washington & Lee University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Toby Pollard is Managing Director of Howden Markets. He joined in February 2020 after over 6 years at JLT and previous to this working for Marsh in both London and New York. In his spare time, Toby enjoys supporting both Leicester City FC and Leicester Tigers.

Dominic was appointed to the Howden Board as Chairman in May 2015. He has fifty years' experience in the insurance industry and previously held the positions of Chairman at The RKH Group, Chief Executive of Lloyd Thompson and Chairman of JLT Risk Solutions, JLT UK and JLT International. He was a Director of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group from its formation in 1997.

David started his career as a broker at Alexander Howden in 1981. He founded the Group in 1994 originally as a wholesale broker employing just three people. He has been the fundamental driving force behind its expansion into an international insurance group offering wholesale, retail and reinsurance broking and underwriting.

As Chief Executive. David's focus is on leading the Group's M&A activities as well as directing and implementing the Group's strategic growth and direction.

Mark has been Howden's Group CFO since January 2020. He previously led the Group's M&A team, debt capital market activity and Treasury team. Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has twenty years of lending and advisory experience working in M&A, leveraged finance and debt advisory. Mark joined Howden Group from KKR where he was investing KKR's European and Global lending funds.

David Shalders was appointed to the Howden Group Board on 15 October 2024 and subsequently established the Group Operating Committee, where he serves as chair.

David is an experienced COO, leading functions including operations and technology, with 35 years of managing and transforming COO teams in banking, capital markets and insurance. His global experience includes building and operating teams across Asia, EMEA and the USA.

Prior executive appointments include COO and Head of Integration at the London Stock Exchange Group, Group Operations & Technology Director at Willis Towers Watson, and COO at RBS Markets & International Banking.

David also served as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Risk Committee at TP ICAP, and is currently a Trustee at the Charities Aid Foundation.

David holds Masters degrees from the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

James is a Principal at CDPQ and focuses on private equity investments in the financial services sector. Prior to joining CDPQ in 2018, he was an investment banker with Rothschild & Co in London and holds a Masters in Engineering Science from Oxford University.

James joined the Howden Group Board in May 2022.

John Bernstein is a partner of sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management, he chairs the investment committee of the growth equity business.

From 2008 to 2017, John was head of General Atlantic in Europe Middle East and Africa. John led General Atlantic’s investment in Howden Group and has been on our board since July 2013.

John holds an M.A. in economics and law from Downing College, Cambridge University, and qualified as a barrister. He is a board member of the NamibRan Nature Reserve in Namibia and chairs the Africa Council of The Nature Conservancy.

Caroline Woodworth is a Managing Director at General Atlantic and focuses on investments in the firm’s Financial Services sector. Before joining General Atlantic in 2015, Caroline was a Senior Associate at J.C. Flowers & Co. in London where she focused on investments in the financial services sector. Prior to that, Caroline was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Financial Institutions group at Citigroup in New York. Caroline chairs the Sustainability Committee at Howden.

Clem was appointed to the Howden Board in October 2015, having been involved in the insurance industry since 1974.

He was a member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE in Munich, Germany, between 2006 and 2014. Prior to joining Allianz, he was Chairman and CEO of Aon Re International based in London.

Between 1999 and 2003, he was a Member of the Board of Management of Munich Re AG in Munich. Prior to this, he was CEO of Munich Re of Africa Ltd and Chairman of Munich Mauritius Reinsurance Company, based in Johannesburg.

Clem has chaired or served on the boards of numerous companies around the world including in South Africa, Mauritius, Swaziland, Germany, France, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, United States of America, Switzerland, Australia and others.

His past chairmanships include Euler Hermes SE (France), Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty (Germany), Allianz Life of America and Firemans Fund (United States), Allianz Insurance plc (UK), New Re (then in Geneva) and Acord (Pearl River, New York). He also, until recently, served on the boards of Sanlam and Santam in South Africa.

Clem is currently member of the Supervisory Board of Munich Reinsurance Company AG in Munich, Germany. He is also involved in consulting and executive coaching.

Mark was appointed to the Howden Group Board and Chair of the Audit Committee (later the Audit and Risk Committee) on 17 May 2018. He also chairs the Remuneration Committee.

Mark has over 35 years’ experience of advising and working with insurance boards, including how they adapt to the changing regulatory and business landscape. He was previously a Consulting Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he was the UK insurance industry leader. He is a chartered accountant, Non-Executive Chairman of TransRe London Limited, and is a Non-Executive Director of Openwork Holdings.

David joined the Howden Board in July 2013. He is Vice Chairman of General Atlantic, where he has been part of the investment team for over 30 years.

He serves as a director for a number of public and private companies, including Alignment Healthcare, Amherst Pierpont Securities and TriNet. David is Co-Chairman of the Board of Echoing Green, a provider of fellowship support for entrepreneurs that he helped found in 1987. He also serves as Chairman of the Boards of Trustees of Johns Hopkins Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation and The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Ralph is an Operating Partner in CDPQ’s Private Equity team.

He has over 20 years of private equity experience as an executive, investor, advisor, and board director across a range of sectors, including financial services, business services, technology, and industrials. Prior to joining CDPQ, he was a Director and Operating Partner at Montagu Private Equity, CEO of a private equity-backed European infrastructure provider, Partner at Bain & Company, and start-up entrepreneur and investor.

Ralph holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and UC Berkeley, and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School.

Ralph joined the Howden Group Board in November 2020.

Kelly was appointed to the Howden Group Board in July 2021.

She brings over 35 years of industry experience and a strong global perspective.

Kelly began her career with AIG in New York before moving to London and Paris where she held multiple leadership roles, with responsibility across EMEA. From AIG, she moved to XL Catlin where she was a member of the Group Leadership Team, responsible for managing the insurer’s presence around the world, a role that she continued when XL merged with AXA.

Andrew is a Partner at Hg and joined the Howden Group Board in 2021. He leads software and services investments in the financial services sector, with a focus on insurance. He has more than 20 years’ experience in private equity, having started his investing career at DLJ in 1999. He was previously a member of the Credit Suisse Financial Institutions Group.