Elliot Richardson appointed Chief Commercial Officer, Howden

London, 12 October 2026 – Howden, the global insurance intermediary group, today announces the appointment of Elliot Richardson as Chief Commercial Officer for the Group, with immediate effect. Richardson will report to CEO David Howden and join the Group Executive Committee (GEC), while remaining Executive Chair of Howden Re.

The appointment is central to Howden’s new commercial strategy, designed to make full use of the broking, reinsurance, underwriting, and employee benefits capabilities the Group has built across its global platform. The strategy is built around these key priorities: deepening collaboration, bringing the full breadth of Howden’s global expertise to each client; enhancing the Group’s carrier partnerships to improve outcomes for clients. This will include the growth of facilities and new products to optimise placements for clients and deepen client relationships. Underpinning this strategy will be client and placement data insights using enhanced CRM and data solutions powered by AI to elevate the sales culture. 

Howden Markets, which leads the Group’s relationships with its global carrier partners, together with Group Placement, will report into Richardson. He will work closely with Group CFO, Susan Panuccio, and Group COO, David Shalders, to align the strategy with Howden’s wider transformation, supported by a new Commercial Leadership Team drawing senior commercial leaders from across the Group’s regions and specialty businesses.

Richardson has 38 years of experience in the (re)insurance market and joined Howden in 2015 as part of the RKH acquisition. During his tenure he has held roles including Vice Chair and Chair of International, Howden Re, scaled Howden Re’s international footprint through new talent, and played a key role in Howden’s acquisition of Tiger Risk. Working in partnership with Tim Ronda, CEO, Howden Re, he has helped steer the reinsurance business’s organic growth into a USD800m+ revenue business – one of only four tier one global reinsurance brokers.

David Howden, CEO, Howden, said: “We have now built the full range of geographies and capabilities to become a truly global broker, and the opportunity in front of us is to deploy all of those tools for our clients. That means building a more consistent, scalable, world-class business – one that helps our people collaborate more easily, delivers better outcomes for clients and markets, and unlocks the full potential of the Group, while preserving the entrepreneurial, empowered and employee-owned culture that makes us different. Our new commercial strategy, and Elliot’s leadership of it, is central to that. Elliot has played a vital role in building Howden Re into one of the world’s leading reinsurance businesses, and I know he will bring the same energy, judgement and commercial instinct to this role.”

Elliot Richardson, Chief Commercial Officer, Howden and Executive Chair, Howden Re, adds: “Howden has assembled the most talented group of people in the industry, and we now belong in a small group of truly global brokers. It is therefore a logical next step for us to now harness our collective power and bring the full force of all our experts, regardless of specialism or geography, for the benefit of our clients and markets. The scale of opportunity through a combined commercial strategy is huge, I am honoured to be asked to take on this role and in having the support across the Group to do so.”