Howden has partnered high net worth life insurance broker International Planning Group (IPG) to form IPG Howden.
Hyperion Insurance Group, which Howden is a part of, purchased a controlling interest in IPG Asia and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) to form a business that will offer greater international scale and breadth of specialisms to clients and partners, it said in a statement.
David Howden, CEO of Howden and Hyperion, said, “This is an exciting partnership with the clear industry leader in the high net worth life insurance space. It will allow us to respond to the continued emergence of significant wealth planning needs across Asia and EMEA by delivering high-quality life insurance products to clients through our extensive international network.”
Goh Chye Huat, CEO of Howden Asia, added: “IPG will bring to Howden Asia experience in an area that we have long-held ambitions to enter. Through IPG Howden, we will be able to expand the reach of the Howden brand in Asia to a completely new audience. We see significant opportunity for growth in the high net worth market in Asia, and what better way to enter this space than with the leading high net worth life insurance broker.
This is an important deal for Howden Asia and a key step on our path to become the standout independent alternative to the traditional bigger players.”
Jon Baker, founder, Chairman and CEO of IPG commented, “The IPG-Howden partnership strengthens and reinforces our commitment to IPG’s core referral partners. IPG Howden will leverage an enhanced infrastructure, increased scale, expanded capabilities, greater resources and existing onshore licenses to pursue new opportunities, additional market segments and new life insurance carrier and product solutions.”
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The business will continue to be operated by IPG’s existing management team.
Howden, the retail broking arm of Hyperion Insurance Group, provides a range of specialist insurance solutions to clients around the world.
Together with Howden One, its global specialist insurance broking network, it comprises over 10,000 professionals, operating in more than 80 territories, and handling a combined Gross Written Premium of over US$18 billion.
International Planning Group is Asia’s leading life insurance sales, marketing and distribution company serving high net worth individuals and businesses. IPG works with private banks, investment managers, accounting firms, law firms and insurance carriers to design customized life insurance based planning solutions for its clients. The company’s client base includes over 4,000 insureds with more than US$40 billion of in force life insurance coverage.
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