Howden scoops up expert talent for strategic surety expansion
Global insurance intermediary Howden has scooped up new talent from the banking, energy and trade finance sectors to expand its surety specialism, especially within the natural resources sector, to meet the growing demands for capital to support energy transition plans.
Howden has hired Chris Coomans as head of natural resources, James Royal as head of mining, and Marc Underwood as trade finance lead - all based within its surety division.
Coomans (pictured left) is tasked with establishing a dedicated natural resources desk within its surety team, which, Howden said, will be focused on supporting clients' global financing and capital requirements.
Coomans joins the business after serving ANZ for almost 24 years, where most recently he held the position of head of resources, energy and infrastructure, ANZ Europe. Coomans started his career as a senior manager at PwC.
James Souter, managing director of surety, said: “I am delighted that Chris has joined our growing Surety team. Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise from the banking industry, most recently as head of resources, energy and infrastructure at ANZ Europe. This will deliver significant benefits to our clients, markets and team.”
Sam Martyn, head of natural resources, Howden Specialty, added: “I am pleased to welcome Chris to Howden. Establishing specialist financing expertise and solutions that our Natural Resources clients can benefit from is extremely complimentary to our existing insurance offerings.”
Underwood (pictured right) brings trade finance and renewable sector expertise from his roles at Natwest, Barclays and most recently Lightsource bp.
Royal (pictured centre) is a mining engineer and has worked for BHP and South32. Souter said: “He brings a unique offering to our mining clients, allowing us to have an engineering-led approach. This further industry specialist expertise will help support the Surety Natural Resources desk.”
Commenting on the appointments, Drew Wardrope, divisional CEO of Howden CAP, said: “By bringing together Marc Underwood, James Royal and Chris Coomans, we are leveraging deep industry knowledge to create a truly unique surety proposition for our Natural Resources clients.”
“Coomans has only been in the team for a matter of weeks but it is great to hear the feedback from clients and contacts on how well positioned we are with supporting the global financing and capital requirements for our clients in the Natural Resources sector,” Wardrope noted.
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