Howden/Hyperion acquires employee benefits firm Punter Southall Health

Howden, part of Hyperion Insurance Group, has agreed to acquire UK employee benefits health and protection consultancy, Punter Southall Health and Protection Holdings and its trading subsidiaries: Punter Southall Health and Protection, Red Arc Assured and Risk Policy Administration.

The deal adds significant scale to Howden’s existing UK business and further enhances its international employee benefits offering.

Hyperion also recently launched its fourth business Hyperion X, which will develop the Group’s efforts on data, digital delivery, and insurtech investments and incubation. PSHPH provides digital and data analytics services to clients and insurers under the Psyon brand.

As part of the transaction, Paul Johnston will join the Howden UK executive committee as chief information officer, Howden UK, reporting to Chris Evans, CEO, Howden UK.

Johnston said: “Joining the Howden family marks an exciting chapter for us and provides greater opportunities for our staff. It also represents a significant step in our desire to develop market-leading digital solutions for our clients. Working with Hyperion X, we will be able to build technology to transform the world of employee benefits for the better.”

David Howden, CEO, Hyperion, said: “Howden and Punter Southall Health and Protection’s specialities are highly complementary with entrepreneurial cultures. We both believe in the importance of putting our employees first, which enables us to best serve our clients, and in the importance of technology and data, which underpins our strategies.”

Howden has ambitious growth plans for its Employee Benefits division having appointed Glenn Thomas as managing director and global practice leader in employee benefits earlier this year. In 2017, Howden acquired Sterling Knight, a leading employee benefits specialist broker headquartered in Singapore, followed by the acquisition of the Employee Benefits broker ACP in Turkey.

Evans added: “Howden’s employee benefits offering is firmly embedded at the heart of our client proposition. The Punter Southall team are highly respected within the Employee Benefits sector and when combined with our existing team, will further enable us to better serve our clients with a consultative approach to delivering client-focused specialist insurance solutions.”

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