Howden Buys Foresight in Japan, Names Gallagher’s Aibe as CEO of Japan Retail Unit

Howden, the London-based insurance intermediary group, announced its launch into the Japanese retail insurance broking and captive consulting and management markets with the acquisition of Foresight Holdings Co. Ltd.

Also announced was the appointment of Takuya Aibe as CEO of Howden Japan’s retail business. Aibe held a number of senior positions at Marsh Japan for over 20 years and was most recently CEO, Gallagher Japan. Howden said the appointment underlines its strategy to develop its retail offering with specialty and captive expertise in Japan by investing in local, high-quality businesses and talented teams.

Foresight, founded in 2005, is a group of companies licensed to offer retail brokerage services, enabling Howden to provide innovative retail risk solutions to Japanese clients. The group is also structured to offer captive consulting services in Japan and captive management services in Micronesia, Singapore and Hawaii.

Takuya Aibe

Foresight is headquartered in Tokyo with 17 staff across six offices and a management team that have previously held senior roles at leading Japanese insurance companies. It manages captives for 13 large Japanese corporates.

This acquisition follows that of ARM Holdings in February 2024, one of the largest independent insurance managers in Europe and a specialist in the formation and management of insurance captives. Howden now manages approximately 100 captives globally.

Howden announced its entrance into the Japanese market in July 2024 with the appointment of Kentaro Tada as CEO, Howden Japan, the launch of Howden Re Japan and the strategic capital partnership with Keystone ILS. Howden Re Japan will provide reinsurance brokerage services to life and non-life companies, strategic advice leveraging data, analytics and capital markets expertise, and comprehensive ILS services tailored to various requirements in the Japanese market.

“Partnering with Foresight represents a big leap forward in the development of a broader offering for our Japanese clients, and means Howden Japan can now offer retail broking and captive management services alongside its reinsurance and ILS capabilities,” commented Kentaro Tada, CEO, Howden Japan.

“We are delighted to welcome Aibe-san and believe that his many years of experience working with international brokers, combined with Howden’s global platform, will enable Howden Japan to best serve its retail customers,” Tada added.

“After almost 20 years of developing our business, joining with Howden is the next significant step in our growth journey,” according to Kenichiro Hamada, CEO, Foresight. “It means that together, we can leverage the full force of our expertise and Howden’s global capabilities, enabling us to better serve clients and develop a leading market position in a highly fragmented captive market.”

Founded in 1994, Howden provides insurance, reinsurance and underwriting services and solutions to clients ranging from private individuals to the largest multinational companies. The group operates in 55 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, employs 18,000 people and manages premiums totalling US$38 billion on behalf of its clients.

Source: Howden

Topics
Mergers & Acquisitions
A.J. Gallagher
Japan

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