Howden makes first big hire for casualty treaty from Argo; more to follow

Howden Reinsurance, part of international re/insurance intermediary  Howden Broking, has hired a casualty treaty underwriter from ArgoGlobal and two ex-JLT executives from Guy Carpenter as the firm looks to bring "fresh thinking and a new approach" to the market.

Luke Birtwistle will join as divisional director of the broker's newly formed casualty treaty team.

He will focus on building out Howden’s casualty treaty team, with Guy Carpenter executives George Harris Hughes and Mike Lambert joining him after their contractual obligations have been discharged.

Birtwistle has over eight years of experience in the casualty treaty market and joins from ArgoGlobal, where he spent five years as a casualty treaty underwriter. Howden said he was instrumental in revamping pricing models and developing cross-class initiatives structured around client needs that differentiated their offering. Prior to that, he was at Canopius Group, where he served as assistant underwriter for international casualty treaty reinsurance.

Elliot Richardson, chairman of Howden Reinsurance, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Luke to the rapidly expanding Howden Reinsurance team as we continue to build across many specialisms including Marine, Energy, Property, MGAs, Capital and Aviation. This investment in front-end expertise is powered by our market-leading data and analytics capability to provide the best solutions for our clients.”

“As we build a business for the long-term and empower our people to deliver specialist advice to buyers, we continue to attract the industry’s best talent, enabling us to cement our position as the alternative reinsurance broker of choice, something we know clients need now more than ever,” he added.

Birtwistle commented: “I’m excited to be joining Howden at such a pivotal moment as it continues its expansion across the reinsurance market.  Howden has proven itself to be a business that puts its people first and places a truly unique value on specialisms and expertise. I look forward to working with the team as we continue to grow the Casualty treaty capability and develop products that buyers want, but cannot get. The market needs some fresh thinking and a new approach.”

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