Howden Re has hired John Philipsz as Managing Director, Head of Howden Re Australia and New Zealand, effective 1 July 2025, the business announced on Wednesday.
Philipsz succeeds Stuart Beatty, who will take up a reduced role after five years at the reinsurance and risk advisory arm of Howden group. Beatty will remain involved with the business by working with Stephen Greener on Howden Re’s market-leading programme and MGA offering.
In his new role, Philipsz will report to Andy Souter, Head of Asia Pacific, Howden Re International. He will also lead growth in Australia and New Zealand by focusing on the firm’s strengths in Facultative, Treaty, MGA, and Advisory services, and expand the company’s capital markets advisory presence in the region.
The new hire is joining the company following a two-year stint as CEO of Lockton Advisory. His 25 years of experience across reinsurance, capital markets, and strategic advisory also includes senior roles at the WTW group and Bank of America.
Commenting on the appointment, Andy Souter says, Philipsz’s selection “reflects [the company’s] ambition to build a truly differentiated platform in Australia and New Zealand — one that combines deep local insight with global capability, and that delivers specialist solutions across reinsurance, MGA, and capital advisory.”
Speaking on his decision to join the business, Philipsz said, “The opportunity to build a future-focused platform, delivering Howden Re’s multi-disciplinary capabilities in a region that embraces innovation is hugely exciting. I look forward to working with the team to expand our presence and deliver solutions that help our clients grow and thrive.”
There has been a slew of key personnel moves for Howden Re in APAC this year, including Kelly Hatch as Director for International Facultative, Emily Lo as Head of Analytics for Asia, Jimmy Tsai as Managing Director to lead operations of the newly launched Howden Re Taiwan, and Cynthia Cui as Head of Asia Pacific Facultative Reinsurance.
