|  |  |  |  | |  | Resources Howden Establishes New Venture in Miami10th July 2006Howden, the leading independent Lloyd’s broker specialising in business critical insurances, today announced the opening of a new venture in Miami.
VK Howden LLC will focus on developing wholesale broking opportunities in Latin America. The operation will be led by Bobby Vernon and Matt Kelly formerly of Mexbrit Ltd, a US reinsurance intermediary specialising in Latin American markets. Mr Vernon and Mr Kelly will be partners in the venture with Howden.
Both Mr Vernon and Mr Kelly have been operating in the region for a combined 17 years and have extensive specialist knowledge of the D&O and professional indemnity market. Mr Vernon was a Vice President and Director of Reliance National in South America in charge of all specialty/financial products prior to joining Mexbrit. Prior to that, he was a successful public company D&O underwriter for both AIG and CNA in New York. Mr Kelly also spent three years working in New York underwriting D&O and professional indemnity for AIG and CNA. Prior to that, he spent seven years underwriting D&O in Latin America working for prominent insurance and reinsurance companies.
Tim Coles, CEO of Howden, comments: “Howden has built a strong presence in Latin America over the past 11 years, and we have particular expertise in the directors’ and officers’ liability needs of clients in this region. We estimate the total Latin American specialist liability market to be worth over $150 million and growing rapidly with the increase in regulation and corporate governance. There is tremendous potential for Howden to grow its presence further.
“We have worked with Bobby and Matt in developing our business in this region for many years, and recognised in them the characteristics that ideally suited our business – expertise, drive, hunger and ambition. I’m delighted to welcome them into our group and firmly believe that we have created the foundations of a business that will consolidate Howden’s presence in Latin America and see us become a dominant force in the region.”
VK Howden will offer its services to Latin American insurance companies and brokers continuing Howden’s traditional focus on the ‘hard to place’ segment of the market where it has developed a reputation for finding solutions to problems where others have failed. The business is expecting to handle 15% of the total Latin American D&O market by the close of 2007.
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