International insurance broker Howden has recorded revenue of £777 million in 2020, representing an increase of 7% compared with the previous year, or 6% on an organic growth basis.
Howden attributed the growth to strong performance across all of its business units, despite the “extraordinary market conditions” that the industry faced this year.
By geography, 17% of the company’s revenue came from the UK, 27% from Europe, 24% from North America, 5% from Latin America, 19% from Asia Pacific and 8% from Turkey, the Middle East and Africa.
Howden brought its retail and employee benefits business and specialty and reinsurance broking business together under a combined management team last year, while continuing to expand in both new and existing markets.
It also announced its largest ever acquisition – A-Plan Group in the UK, which brought additional scale and diversification to its operations.
Howden’s MGA business, DUAL, wrote $1.2bn GWP across 16 countries providing its more than 60 carriers with access to specialty markets through more than 6,500 broker partners.
DUAL expanded through recruitment of new product experts, the acquisition of IUA in New Zealand, and primarily through continued strong organic growth.
The Group also committed to putting its own capital behind DUAL, with the announcement in January 2021 of the first of those commitments into DUAL’s specialist reinsurance MGA, Tamesis.
The HX unit also transacted in excess of $100m of premium through its digital platforms, while the launch of Howden Capital Markets brought a new advisory business to the Group.
“Despite the extraordinary challenge of 2020, our relentless focus on attracting and developing entrepreneurial talent, putting our people first, and empowering them with trust and technology to deliver the very best for our clients proved that we are building a sustainable business that is able to deliver results in even the most difficult times,” said David Howden, CEO of Howden Group.
“With industry consolidation and the hardening of markets adding to the challenges facing many of our clients, as discussed in detail in Howden and HX’s joint 1/1 renewals report, these developments mean that we look ahead with renewed focus on the prospect of harnessing our expertise and talent with our investments in data, digital and analytics to drive innovation to support them from over 250 offices in more than 40 countries,” Howden continued.
“I believe that the opportunities that lie ahead for Howden Group are extraordinary. The strength of our proposition through Howden, as the challenger broker, DUAL, as the MGA redefining underwriting, and HX as one of the most exciting data, digital and analytics businesses in our sector positions us as the business of choice for our clients, prospects, partners and employees.”
