People Moves: Latitude Brokers Names Cannock Managing Director, Singapore; Howden M&A Bolsters Asia Pacific Team; Markel Int’l Bolsters Media/Entertainment Team

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Latitude Brokers, Howden M&A in Asia Pacific, and Markel International.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Latitude Brokers Names Cannock Managing Director, Singapore

Latitude Brokers, recently acquired by Filhet-Allard Maritime, has appointed Matt Cannock as managing director, Singapore, effective on March 1, 2022.

Cannock’s appointment follows the departure of Tom Fulford-Smith and Charles D’Alton after the acquisition.

Gabriel Lim, who has been with Latitude since the Singapore office opened in 2016, has also been promoted to broking director.

Based in Singapore for more than 20 years, Cannock began his career in London in the cargo team of a Lloyd’s broker before moving to another broking position encompassing all lines of marine business in Singapore. Cannock moved into marine underwriting with Royal Sun Alliance in 2002 where he became the Asia regional marine manager for the company.

Then he spent 15 years on the Lloyd’s Asia platform, as a marine underwriter with the Catlin Syndicate until he moved to the Markel Syndicate where he became the managing director for Asia. Prior to joining Latitude, Cannock was the Asia Pacific managing director for MatthewsDaniel, a loss adjuster and warranty surveyor, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has a master’s degree in Marine Engineering from University College London.

“Tom and Charles have been at the heart of what we have achieved at Latitude and we look forward to continuing our relationship as they pursue their underwriting ambitions. At the same time, we are very excited about the new leadership team we have in place,” said Andrew Brooker, managing director at Latitude.

Christian Barnabe, managing director of Filhet-Allard Maritime, said: “With Matt, we are bringing in a recognized marine insurance industry figure with over 25 years’ broking and underwriting experience in London and Asia, to lead the team to the next level”.

Henry Allard, president of Filhet-Allard Maritime: “All of the staff at Latitude and the wider FAM Group thank Tom and Charles for their hard work in helping to create the company that Latitude is today and wish them the best in their future endeavors.”

Matt’s appointment has been approved by the regulators and he will be appointed to the Board of Latitude Brokers Pte Ltd, Singapore.

About Latitude Brokers and Filhet-Allard Maritime

Latitude Brokers was founded in Hong Kong in 2014 and expanded to Singapore in 2016. It services clients predominantly in the Asia-Pacific region across the marine, offshore, and global supply chain sectors and became a Filhet-Allard Maritime Co. in December 2021.

Part of the Filhet-Allard family-owned Group, Filhet-Allard Maritime is a leading insurance broker in the world’s major commodities trading, shipping, and industrial markets. Founded in Bordeaux in 1846, the company is now being led by the sixth generation of the Allard family.

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Howden M&A Bolsters Asia Pacific Team

Howden M&A, part of international insurance broker Howden Broking, has bolstered its Asia Pacific broking team in response to a significant growth in deals in the region and surging demand for M&A insurance policies, including warranty and indemnity insurance, title insurance and tax insurance.

In Singapore, James Kay joined as a director, effective March 1. With over eight years of experience negotiating bespoke insurance solutions for global M&A transactions, Kay is a qualified solicitor having practiced with Norton Rose Fulbright LLP until 2015. Prior to joining Howden, Kay worked for Marsh JLT where he was regional assistant director for Asia with direct responsibility for all South Asian M&A insurance solutions.

In Hong Kong, Simon Worker is relocating from Howden M&A’s London W&I team to bolster its Hong Kong offering. As a director on the team, Worker will lead on advising clients and negotiating M&A insurance solutions to help mitigate transactional risks. He will have a particular focus on multi-jurisdictional operational transactions.

In Singapore, Kay will work with Tze Yang Goh. Goh is a director in Howden M&A’s APAC team, having joined in 2017, following four years at Allen and Gledhill LLP. In Hong Kong, Worker joins Isabella Ma, a senior associate at Howden M&A since June 2021 and an experienced corporate lawyer specializing in private equity (PE) M&A.

This investment in talent is driven by the increasing demand for bespoke insurance solutions for M&A transactions in APAC, said Howden, noting that there were 20,694 deals in 2021, with an aggregate value of US$1.193 trillion, up from 17,745 deals worth US$921 billion in 2020.

Consequently, the company said, there is a significant growth in demand for M&A insurance in APAC, with clients seeking to manage the transactional risks that arise in the course of M&A transactions.

“With our growing clientele base in Asia, we believe that having a strong M&A specialty presence within Asia will allow Howden to better service our clients who are increasingly looking into M&A opportunities to enhance their businesses. Talent acquisition is central to our strategy, and we are confident that our newly expanded team is well-equipped to match this increased demand,” commented Jenny Lim, executive director and head of Financial Lines Asia.

About Howden Broking

Howden Broking, a London-based independent provider of re/insurance brokerage, risk consulting and employee benefits advice, is headquartered in the UK and comprises owned businesses across Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Established in 1994, today Howden employs more than 9,000 people worldwide. Together with network partners aligned to its specialty-led proposition, Howden operates in more than 90 territories.

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Markel Int’l Bolsters Media and Entertainment Team

Markel International, a subsidiary of Markel Corp., has appointed Emma Clegg as an underwriting assistant for media and entertainment. The new arrival forms part of the organisation’s strategy to accelerate further growth across its entertainment and media liability portfolios.

Based at Markel’s London office, Clegg will report to Pippa Stone, senior underwriter for entertainment at Markel International. Clegg will work closely with Stone and Nicola Marshall, senior underwriter of professional indemnity, telecommunications, media, and technology (TMT) at Markel International, to deliver a first-class service to brokers.

Clegg has over eight years of experience in the insurance industry, spending more than three of them at Tysers Insurance Brokers, where she specialized as a broker in film, media, and television.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Agencies Talent