VK Howden opens office in Brazil

10.07.08

18th February 2008: VK Howden, the Miami based liability broker, today announced the opening of an office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This follows Howden’s registration with the IRB (Brazilian Reinsurance Institute), the largest reinsurer in Latin America. VK Howden is part of Howden, the broking division of global insurance group Hyperion.

Howden will be providing wholesale liability and other reinsurance products to its clients in Brazil, accessing IRB registered reinsurers from London and other international markets.  Clients will benefit from Howden’s global network of offices and specialist liability product range.  

Howden has recruited Alexandre Vidal as a Director to lead the team. A native of Rio de Janeiro, and ex reinsurance manager at Mapfre, Alexandre brings valuable local knowledge and over 10 years’ experience of the Brazilian reinsurance market.

David Howden, CEO of the Hyperion Group commented: “We have established a strong presence in Latin America.  VK Howden launched in July 2006, quickly followed by three new offices opening in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Buenos Aires in 2007, and now Brazil.  The Brazilian government’s deregulation of the market saw the federal reinsurer IRB-Brazil Re lose its 68-year monopoly on 1 January, providing  significant market opportunity.  

“VK Howden has been working for Brazilian clients for years, but given its growth it also became clear that we needed presence on the ground to be able to offer a better service.  Howden has always been renowned for its technical expertise, and this combined with a local presence provides a compelling service proposition for our Brazilian clients.”

Howden is the broking arm of the Hyperion Insurance Group, one of the UK’s fastest growing independently owned insurance companies. A specialist in worldwide liability and crime insurance, it has operations in 16 countries around the world including two operations in the United States of America. The Group was awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2007.