Associate, Howden Merger - Singapore - HOWDEN INSURANCE BROKERS (S.) PTE. LIMITED

Description

EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

At Howden, we employ talented individuals and empower them to make a real difference to the company, whilst building successful and fulfilling careers.

The entrepreneurial atmosphere is one of the biggest reason people love to work for us. We are a leading independent, global insurance brokers but have a noticeably flat hierarchy. It doesn't matter how junior or senior, anyone with a good idea will be heard. This means our employees can shape their own career paths and determine their own success.

This atmosphere attracts the brightest talent in the market. If that includes you, get in touch.

A LEADING GLOBAL INDEPENDENT BROKER

Howden is a specialist commercial insurance broker. Its regional footprint covers Singapore (regional headquarters), Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines. It is part of the London-headquartered Howden Broking Group, a leading independent, global broker with offices in over 30 countries worldwide.

The Howden M&A team is a market-leading provider of specialist insurance solutions for M&A risks. We work closely with the world's leading law firms and financial advisors to place insurance policies for our private equity and corporate clients.

Our expertise covers the design of a range of bespoke policies and their successful placement to support M&A transactions. We advise on a variety of insurance products including warranty & indemnity, tax liability, contingent risk, environmental liability and title insurance.

The 150+ professionals that make up our dedicated team have a wide variety of backgrounds, including law, tax advisory, investment banking, environmental consultancy and general industry, as well as graduates from a variety of disciplines.

Howden M&A is the largest and most active broker in the European M&A insurance market, placing over 1,300 policies in 2022, with offices in London (HQ), Frankfurt, Munich, Madrid, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Paris, Belgium and Amsterdam and has been operating in Asia out of Singapore since 2018, with the addition of our Hong Kong office in 2022. We cover transactions across the wider APAC region and consider ourselves a challenger broker in the region, looking to provide competition to longer-established and entrenched competitors.

This is an exciting time to be part of a fast-growing team, which you may also find out more information here

YOUR ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• The role will require an entrepreneurial approach and willingness to use initiative but also a strong grounding in M&A, with at least some understanding of how risk is apportioned between parties in the transaction documents via the warranties, indemnities and limitations.
• With access to, and support from Howden M&A's wider team's extensive skill set, the successful candidate will:

1. Learn about the M&A insurance market and the risks assumed by the insurance market;
2. Understand and learn the unique Howden M&A approach to broking which has underpinned our growth to date;
3. Engage with clients and in a relatively short amount of time run transaction processes from an insurance perspective;
4. Engage and work together with our specialist tax, environmental, title and litigation teams when placing tax, environmental, title and litigation policies; and
5. Run business development meetings and pitches with investors and legal/financial advisors, developing their own client base.

• Given the bespoke nature of the policies (essentially, they are extensions of SPAs) and the complex risks covered, this process requires intellectual rigour and technical expertise. Each deal and is unique and an ability to think 'outside of the box' is key
• Providing an excellent service and client centric approach is fundamental to what we do.

OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL BE:

• A personable and ambitious individual to assist in growing our Asia business as an Associate/Senior Associate/Associate Director (with flexibility for the right candidate).
• Insurance knowledge is not explicitly required with training provided by Howden.
• A determination and willingness to learn about a new, although related market to the "traditional" M&A market, or if experienced with W&I insurance broking already, a willingness and flexibility to learn Howden's unique approach to broking.
• Written and oral business fluency in English.
• Oral business fluency in either Mandarin (or alternatively Korean).
• Professional background to include years in the M&A industry either at a leading law firm, investment bank, fund, "Big 4" or similar consultancy firm.
• Articulate, personable and willing to meet clients/prospective clients and their advisors to explain our offering.
• The ability to build strong professional relationships and networks with clients to sell the Howden value-add service. For applicants applying for Senior Associate/Associate Director level role, the expectation is that you will be able to generate meetings and potential opportunities from a relatively early stage and contribute to the wider Howden M&A growth strategy across the region.
• The ability to understand and analyse legal documents and DD reports and identify the information that will be most key to a prospective insurer.

YOUR BENEFITS AND SALARY:

If you think we are the right fit for you and you are the talent we should be grooming, please send in your CV (include notice period, last drawn salary, any AWS entitlement) to impress us. We will call you for an interview.