Howden India: Redefining the Benchmarks of Expertise and Excellence

Howden India
Praveen Vashishta, CEO & MD of Howden Insurance Brokers India Pvt Ltd

In a modern world where risks are becoming increasingly complex, almost every risk needs to be insured. The support and advice of an effective insurance broker that provides risk management and business critical insurance solutions has become essential.

Built on an uncompromising philosophy of focus, expertise, and service, Howden Insurance Brokers India Private Limited (Howden India) has acquired an unwavering market position and reputation for being a specialist player inproviding its customers with access to solutions differentiated by its ability to achieve what others cannot.

Howden India is a group company of Howden Broking Group, which is the insurance broking arm of Howden Group Holdings headquartered in the UK. A leading independent insurance and reinsurance intermediary, Howden Group Holdings comprises of two arms: DUAL Underwriting Group and Howden Broking Group. Howden provides insurance broking, risk management and claims consulting services globally. Through its international network (Howden One) of over 15,000 specialists, Howden services clients in over 90 territories worldwide across Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, North and South America.

“Our scale is global, but our approach is founded on high quality local teams who build solutions around our clients, accessing our global knowledge and expertise where appropriate for each client. We are specialists, not generalists. Our leadership teams in the countries in which we operate are all experienced practitioners who are actively involved in working with our clients”, says Praveen Vashishta the co-founder and Chairman of Howden India.

The company offers risk management, risk consulting, insurance broking, insurance portfolio management and claims management services aimed at protecting the balance sheets of a wide range of businesses and professional service organizations. The company’s vision is to be the best in all it does, in every solution it offers. With recognizable expertise in liability, construction, property insurance and employee benefits, it also provides its customers risk management and insurance solutions in marine, infrastructure, and aviation sectors. The company’s claims advocacy practice is a major source of its strength and one in which it takes great pride.

Howden India’s diverse list of clientele includes large IT firms, Manufacturing Companies, Pharmaceutical Companies, Infrastructure Development Companies, Private Equity/Venture Capital Firms, Real Estate and SEZ Developers, Oil and Energy Production and Distribution Companies.

“We are the broker built to serve clients in a changing world – we have the agility and attention to detail of a specialist broker, combined with the scale, advantage, and legacy of a business with over 25 years to its name,” adds Mr. Vashishta. 

Emphasizing on the Right Values

Howden India is led by an experienced, multidisciplinary team of professionals drawn from various fields viz.,finance, law, insurance, reinsurance, financial services, information technology, engineering, loss prevention etc.,and possess the requisite experience, technical skills, and professionalism to provide clients with the right insurance solutions. Additionally, the management team of the company brings decades of combined best practice-driven experience and expertise.

Employee ownership is at the heart of Howden Group, and that is evidenced by the fact that nearly 44% of the group is currently owned by employees.

The company is driven by values such as sustainability, client focus, integrity, teamwork, entrepreneurial mindset, and non-political approach. It is a business that repeatedly proves to its clients and insurers that it achieves what others cannot.

“We take pride in being a business that solves the toughest problems, not just the easy ones. Our management style is one of empowerment and autonomy, relying on great people to ‘make it happen’ in their area of responsibility. And our promise is that if anyone can do it, ‘Howden will know how’,” adds Mr. Vashishta.

Howden India’s core values reflect its culture and ethos, and it keeps these values at the heart of everything it does. These include entrepreneurialism, meritocracy, and teamwork.With a strong emphasis on people first, capability development and mentoring, Howden offers its employees the opportunity of a steep upward learning curve. 

Delivering Unparalleled Quality

When asked about his take on adopting novel technologies, Mr. Vashishta says, “With increased pressure on costs, efficiencies have dictated automation of business processes. This has led to the use of software packages from standard accounting applications to integrated ERP solutions. The production-based economy – founded on plant, land, and labour, is increasingly shifting to knowledge and information-based environment. Most mission critical functions of an organization are today performed by automated information systems and network.”

“No wonder, therefore, that IT and IT enabled services companies have been the largest recipients of outsourced work. With increased orders comes increased complexity and ergo increased risk. Organizations want to know that IT companies can deliver on projects and are demanding that suppliers prove they are able to mitigate the risk of delays or failures.Howden has a focus group dedicated to the IT, ITES and BPO sector with a proven track record in providing risk consulting and insurance solutions,” he adds.

Through Howden’s Corporate Risk and Insurance Solutions division, it provides risk management and insurance solutions to large, medium, and small companies across various sectors. This division operates through three Business Verticals:

  • Liability and Financial Risks
  • Property and Construction Insurance (including Infrastructure, Oil and Energy Sectors)
  • Health and Employee Benefits

When engaged to represent a customer, Howden India is able to achieve outstanding results through its large team of professionals who possess unique skills in risk management, product design, insurance placement, and claims settlement.

As the Indian market develops, access to a competitive reinsurance market becomes increasingly important. With the support of strong international wordings and competitive terms, the Indian insurers can approach clients with confidence particularly when their reinsurance broker is easily accessible both geographically and relationship-wise.

Howden India qualifies in all the above aspects. Its seamless connection with Howden Broking Group worldwide puts it in a tactically strong position in supporting all Indian insurers as well as the GIC Re (National Re-insurer) in seeking facultative and treaty reinsurance capacity from international markets.

The company also introduced inward reinsurance business to GIC Re and Indian Insurers from Asia, Africa, and Middle east. It has proven strengths in areas such as Liability, Financial Lines, Casualty, Energy & Infrastructure insurance.

Bequeathing the Keys to excellence

We asked Mr. Vashishta on his advice to the budding entrepreneurs who wish to enter the insurance advisory business, to which he says, “my advice would be, you take care of the customers and the business will automatically grow.We are a customer-centric business completely. And what the customer today expects is great service. And what we mean by great service is, you must ensure in our business that the quality of advice is really the best. There is no compromise on that. But then this sounds like a lot of“ pre-sales talk”. I think post-sales is where the acid test comes. Make sure that the customers get their fair and just claims in time. So, you take care of the customer and everything else would kind of take care of itself.And also take care of your people. You take care of your people. They will take care of your customer.

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