Global insurance and reinsurance broking group Howden is set to bolster its specialist insurance actuarial and longevity consulting capabilities with the acquisition of Hymans Robertson’s Insurance and Financial Services Consulting Team (IFS team).
The transaction is expected to close in the spring of this year, and will lead to the creation of Howden Insurance Actuarial & Longevity (Howden IAL), a new unit which combines the Hymans Robertson IFS specialists and the insurance actuarial and longevity experts who joined Howden through the Barnett Waddingham transition.
Last week, Howden announced an agreement to acquire Barnett Waddingham, a UK professional services consultancy across risk, pensions, investment, and insurance.
The establishment of Howden IAL broadens the range of markets and clients served across the broker’s global platform, supporting its desire to build a market-leading insurance advisory capability with global reach. The new practice will provide clients with access to deeper expertise, clearer technical insight, and a more scaled advisory platform, says the firm.
Howden IAL brings together Barnett Waddingham’s well-established strength in delivering outsourced insurance actuarial services and consultancy with the experience of the Hymans IFS team in supporting carriers with strategically important actuarial and risk projects.
“This is an important development for our business and for the market. By bringing together BW’s longstanding insurance actuarial capability with the Hymans Robertson IFS team’s proven expertise in delivering strategically critical projects, we are creating a best‑in‑class advisory proposition for clients. This move is not just about capability; it is also about people. By uniting two high‑quality teams, we are investing in their long‑term development and strengthening our ability to support clients with deeper insight and a more distinctive proposition,” said Glenn Thomas, CEO and Global Practice Leader, Health & Employee Benefits, Howden.
The combined practice will provide insurance companies with support on pricing, capital allocation, reserving, risk and investment strategy, model validation, ALM, and also the management of longevity risk.
The formation brings together a team of roughly 90 specialist consultants, which Howden says significantly increases their capacity to support insurers across the full spectrum of insurance actuarial and longevity needs, while at the same time creating new opportunities for colleagues joining Howden.
Scott Eason, Managing Partner, Howden Insurance Actuarial & Longevity, commented: “Today is a milestone moment for our business. By uniting two outstanding teams, we are creating an advisory capability with the breadth and depth to support every critical client need across the insurance landscape. This is a significant step in Howden’s long‑term ambition to build a world‑class insurance advisory practice.”
Jon Hatchett, Senior Partner, Hymans Robertson, added: “We are proud of the strength and reputation of our IFS team and are confident that the newly formed team’s combined skills and Howden’s global reach will deliver a broader service offering for insurance clients. At Hymans Robertson, as an independent partnership, and Club Vita, we’ll continue to focus on our long- term plans across the pensions, risk transfer, investment and retail wealth markets, where we see great opportunities for innovation with our clients.”
