Asset Management: Meet the Team

Ed is the Managing Director of Howden FI D&O ( FIDO), a retail team of Circa 70 people servicing asset managers, funds, banks, wealth managers, insurance companies and commercial companies for D&O. He is responsible for the long terms strategy of the team as well as on boarding new clients into our business and distributing wider products into established clients. Having joined Howden in 2007, Ed, together with the team, has grown our Hedge Fund market share and also runs key relationships in the Real Estate, Private Equity and Family Office sectors. He is also responsible for marketing and brand development within the client and service provider communities ensuring awareness of market developments, trends and innovation.

Matthew is an executive director within Howden's asset management team and has over 16 years' worth of insurance experience specialising in financial institutions. An expert in negotiating with a global pool of insurers to obtain optimum solutions for our clients, Matthew also has a particular focus on asset managers in the UK, US and Australia. Matthew is also a committee member of his local cricket club in South West London which has a strong presence in the local community.

Kurt joined Howden in November 2020 after spending 8 years at JLT. He has worked with many large and complex multinational clients providing strategic advice, programme design and service delivery. Kurt has 27 years of insurance industry experience, including 7 years in Johannesburg before moving to London in 1999. At both JLT (and Aon before that) he headed up the management liability team. Prior to his career in insurance, he studied law at the University of Cape Town, graduating with a BA LLB. After being admitted to practice as a solicitor in South Africa, he moved to work in-house with one of the then largest South African insurance intermediaries, Glenrand MIB.

Chris is a Divisional Director with responsibility for client service and delivery across the Financial Institution and Directors’ & Officers’ team. Having been at Howden since 2007, Chris has over a decade and a half of experience in placing and advising clients on their insurance, with a particular focus on the investment sector. He looks after a number of our key clients and works closely with our business development in on boarding new clients. With experience across all our products, Chris has specialist knowledge in Directors’ & Officers’ as well as Investment Management Professional Liability and Fraud. He regularly attends Board meetings to present to directors on their D&O and has spoken at events hosted by industry bodies such as AIMA. He has worked on numerous complex and demanding placements, as well as having involvement in some of the largest and longest running claims in the portfolio.

Tom has 20 years of London insurance market experience and is a Director in our team. Having previously worked at Chubb Insurance Company and Windsor in the Financial Institutions divisions, Tom developed a deep technical knowledge on an international and UK specific basis, particularly in the investment management sector. Tom's expertise enables him to create bespoke products for our clients, ranging from some of our largest clients in both corporate advisory and asset management. Tom is also well versed on trust co structures, fund administration and the family office sector.

Steve has 22 years' insurance industry experience, 16 of those specialising in Professional Indemnity, Directors' & Officers' and Crime Insurance for Investment Managers. Steve joined Howden in 2006. He then moved to JLT in 2015 where he was product lead for Investment Managers in JLT's Specialty division. Steve re-joined Howden in 2019 where he is Divisional Director - managing and proving specialist advice to key clients.

Ryan is an Divisional Director in our team. He joined Howden in October 2016 and is responsible for servicing a wide range of asset management and corporate service clients across multiple jurisdictions. His key product lines are PI, D&O and Crime, but is also responsible for new product development and policy wording reviews. Prior to joining Ryan was at Willis Towers Watson, holds a BSc and MSc in Biological Sciences and is ACII qualified.

Sarah started her insurance career in 2007, joining Howden Asset Management in 2012 following stints at both Marsh and Willis. She is responsible for both UK and International Asset Manager placements alongside this she also focuses on Australian clients and prospects and D&O for both portcos and commercial entities. Sarah specialises in D&O, PI and Crime Insurance. Sarah is a Chartered Insurance Broker and holds the ACII qualification.

Patrick joined our team in 2015 as an Account Executive delivering D&O, PI and Fraud insurance solutions to our clients and therefore is responsible for renewals and day to day assistance, reviewing policy terms and conditions and producing formal documentation with bespoke wordings for clients. He is also responsible for managing some of our key mid-market client relationships making them aware of what services the wider Asset Management team can provide. Patrick has qualified with a Certificate of Insurance.

Felix McCorquodale specialises in Investment Management Insurance with a specific focus on Private Equity/Venture Capital, Hedge Funds, Corporate Finance & Family Offices; whilst also handling the Directors and Officers insurance for Howden’s portfolio of European SPACs. His role is split between client servicing and broking to Insurance Market. Felix started at Howden in 2018 on the Graduate Programme and joined the Asset Management team soon after. Previously he worked for a InsurTech company developing digital risk management solutions. Felix is Dip CII qualified and is currently writing a dissertation on the challenges of SPAC D&O in the London market for the CII.

A Divisional Director within the Asset Management team, Chris has a little over 30 years in the Lloyds market as a claims broker/account handler, as well as more recently being a placing broker/producer working on miscellaneous professional lines. Chris mainly specialises in FI/PI and D&O products whilst also having an offshore focus working on a mixture of retail and wholesale business, liaising with locations such as Malta, Channel Islands, UK and the Baltics.

Adam is a Senior Account Executive within Howden's Asset Management team and specialises in Investment Management Insurance. By negotiating with underwriters, Adam places insurance for broad range of clients including Asset Managers, Hedge Funds, Property Managers, Private Equity/Venture Capital Firms and Investment Advisors. Adam has 5 years' worth of experience within the insurance industry and is CII qualified.

Dario joined Howden in 2013 and is a Senior Account Executive within the Asset Management Team. He runs our Fund D&O Portfolio, managing over 300 fund clients and works closely with service providers in this sector. A large number of his clients are UK Investment Trusts, where he also places Public Offering of Securities Insurance (POSI) policies for their IPOs. Although his focus is now on Fund D&O, he also has experience in the placement of PI and Fraud policies, allowing him to use this knowledge to assist in the constant development of his book of business across the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands, Cayman Islands, BVI, Isle of Man, Bermuda, Luxembourg, Malta and Netherlands.

Nicholas is a Director within the Financial Lines Team and runs the Financial Sponsor Group responsible for client origination and the ongoing management of investment houses. Prior to joining Howden, Nicholas worked in investment banking with a focus on M&A and Investment Management. Outside of the office, Nicholas sits on the Boards of the Howden Foundation, The PTI (Prince’s Teaching Institute) and the Private Equity charity Impetus’ Triathlon Committee. Nicholas holds a degree from King’s College London.

With over 18 years' experience, Lindsay is a Divisional Director within the Asset Management team and specialises in winning new business and clients. Lindsay is a qualified lawyer and worked in a private practice joining the world of M&A insurance in 2003. Outside of work, Lindsay is also involved in Women in Wealth initiatives.

Oliver sits within our Financial Institutions business, charged with covering clients across the Investment Funds, Insurance Companies, Corporate Finance, Banks and Wealth. He has worked within the insurance industry for a number of years before joining Howden in 2021. Previously, Oliver was a partner within an executive search firm where he garnered an in-depth knowledge and understanding within the world of Equities, Fixed Income and Derivatives. Oliver and the wider team adopt a client centric, consultative approach, developing bespoke solutions and incorporating learnings across the various verticals throughout the business.

Archie works within the Asset Management business development team, onboarding new clients and delivering solutions to meet all their insurance requirements and needs. Specialising in investment management insurance, with a focus on hedge funds, banks and wealth management, Archie also gives regular market updates within the Asset Management sector. Outside of work, Archie is a keen golfer and loves his horse racing.

Neil is an Executive Director in our Legal, Technical & Claims team in the Financial Lines Group. He is a qualified solicitor, and prior to joining Howden spent ten years in private practice at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, acting for policyholders in high profile financial lines insurance disputes. In 2017 he moved first to a financial lines claims advocacy role at JLT, and then to his current role in September 2019. Neil uses his experience to ensure that our clients’ policies are best-in-class and keep pace with the evolving risk landscape, as well as bringing his technical expertise to bear to support our clients and the team as needed. He is also responsible for the Financial Lines Group’s graduate programme and mentoring scheme, and in his spare time is a keen gardener.

Sam Vardy is an Executive Director in the Legal, Technical and Claims team of the Financial Lines Group. Sam is a qualified lawyer, and spent ten years in private practice at Herbert Smith Freehills and Morgan Lewis assisting policyholders with difficult insurance claims and technical wording issues. In 2016, he brought that experience to the broking side to help clients obtain optimum policy wordings and maximise coverage on claims. He is a trustee of Disability Sports Coach (a charity that seeks to empower disabled people through sport), member of the Howden Disability Employee Respect Group, and a keen runner.

Wendy has over 35 years London market experience specialising in Financial and Professional Lines Claims. For the last 15 years Wendy has been engaged in an advocacy capacity, handling complex and major Directors and Officers, Fraud, Employment Practice and Warranty and Indemnity claims, often on matters that have become adversarial. Her role includes reviewing claims notifications, managing and negotiating contentious claims coverage positions with insurers and their legal counsel to achieve optimum resolution. Prior to this Wendy spent 30 years with Aon before moving to Howden.

Robbie joined Howden in 2013 when he founded the UK Employee Benefits division. Since then, he and his team have developed into a specialist division of consultants focusing on the Asset Management sector. Robbie is also responsible for developing the proposition to the Legal sector. Robbie has a wide range of knowledge and is best known for his work in developing Wellbeing solutions for clients.

Wayne joined Howden in 2013 and is an Employee Benefits Consultant chiefly responsible for the audit and creation of Employee Benefit programmes for Asset Management clients. His core product lines are Private Medical Insurance, Group Risk (including Death in Service, Group Income Protection and Group Critical Illness) and Specialist Life Insurance (jumbo life). His other areas of expertise are business succession planning and the placement of Key Person and Shareholder Protection. Prior to joining Howden, Wayne spent 7 years in the IFA sector providing Employee Benefit solutions for multi sized corporate businesses.

She joined Howden in 2020 after 20 years at an insurer and in October 2023 she moved to the role of Head of Asset Management. Gemma’s knowledge in the employee benefits market as well as her managerial capability ensures our team deliver the highest quality consultancy
to this sector.