Howden appoints industry veteran José Ignacio Lathrop as Executive Chair, Latin America

London, 28 January 2026: Howden, the global insurance intermediary group, today announces the appointment of José Ignacio Lathrop as Executive Chair, Howden Latin America. This appointment reflects Howden’s intention to accelerate growth in Latin America, where demand for risk solutions is surging, and follows a series of recent strategic acquisitions that have expanded its footprint in the region.

Lathrop brings over 30 years of experience in the Latin American insurance market, and joins Howden from Marsh, where he was CEO of Marsh Chile with additional responsibility for Argentina and Uruguay, and prior to this established and built JLT’s operation in Chile. As Executive Chairman, Lathrop will use his deep market expertise to guide and support Howden’s business in Latin America, working closely with Sonia Caamaño, CEO, International Growth Markets, to drive growth across the region, empower talent to deliver solutions for clients and maintain strong engagement with key markets in the region.

Howden has made strategic investments in Latin America in recent years with the acquisitions of Contacto (2023) and Innova Re (2025) in Peru and Ureta & Fernandez (2025) in Chile.

Sonia Caamaño, CEO, International Growth Markets, Howden said: “The Latin American insurance market is one of the fastest-growing in the world, with GWP increasing 11% annually from 2019 to 2024, outpacing many global regions.^[1] Over the past year we’ve focused on our foundations — executing strategic acquisitions, strengthening our leadership and fully integrating our business.

We are now set to take the region to the next level and that’s why I am so delighted that José Ignacio is joining us as Executive Chair for Latin America.  Not only does he have a proven track record in building businesses from the ground up and growing them across regions, he is also widely respected in local markets and by insurers. José is a long-standing friend and previous colleague that I have always admired in the industry. It is fantastic that we will be working together again to deliver our ambitious growth plans.”

The appointment of Lathrop to Chair Howden’s Latin American business comes as Howden rapidly expands its retail broking platform in the United States, where it now employs over 800 people across multiple practice areas and cities throughout the country.

David Howden, CEO, Howden, said: “The future for Howden Latin America is incredibly exciting. We’ve enormous aspirations to grow in the region and appointing someone of José Ignacio’s calibre as our Executive Chair is a huge statement of intent.

“Besides unparalleled experience of building businesses, José brings an in-depth retail insurance and reinsurance knowledge that’s been developed over the course of a stellar career. Simply put, no-one has a better understanding of how to provide the best service to clients across all lines of business. It’s yet another example of an extraordinary entrepreneur joining us because they know they’ll have the freedom, the tools and the backing of a global broker to deliver a service like no other for their clients.”

Lathrop will join Howden further to the completion of contractual obligations to his current employer.