The new senior hires – Kevin Barrett, Patrick Shields, and Warren Withfield – are from the banking industry and will be based in London in their new roles.
The appointments align with Howden CAP’s plans to recruit specialist talent from beyond the insurance industry to build a market-leading capital and insurance solutions advisory proposition for its FIG and corporate clients.
Barrett is a senior investment and coverage banker with more than 20 years of experience and extensive financial institution relationships. Most recently, he was the head of distribution and syndication at Moore South Africa.
In his new role at Howden CAP, Barrett will play a leading role in building out structures, solutions, and relationships for surety clients in developing markets, focusing on Africa.
Shields is a senior FIG and investment banker with over 30 years of experience across capital markets and insurance banking.
In his new role, Shields will support the creation of a dedicated bank fronting desk to support clients’ bank guarantee and SBLC requirements globally and partner sureties and partner brokers.
Withfield is a loan market specialist with over 20 years of experience. He joined Howden CAP from MUFG Securities, where he spent 17 years in the syndications origination team.
At Howden CAP, Withfield will establish a dedicated global syndication desk supporting corporate clients and banks with bank-surety syndication transactions.
Howden CAP CEO Mary O’Connor has welcomed the trio, commented that the new hires’ arrival demonstrates the company’s strategy to enhance its surety proposition and strengthen its capabilities in the sector.
“Their experience will complement our offering in trade credit and structured credit while adding additional expertise that can help our clients find answers to the most complex requirements,” O’Connor said.
James Souter, head of surety at Howden CAP, added: “We are delighted to welcome Kevin, Patrick, and Warren at such a pivotal time for Howden CAP and the wider industry. Our significant growth plans are built around supporting our clients and the over-arching global trends towards the increased usage of surety market capacity and capability especially for global needs, where traditionally, the banks have been the main capital source. The arrival of three senior bankers and the establishment of dedicated specialist desks signifies our intention to position Howden CAP to provide unique and ground-breaking solutions to our clients globally, in conjunction with our core banking partners.
“We will be continuing to invest in specialist sector-related expertise, as well as dedicated local international expertise.”
The appointment follows Howden’s announcement it would unify its business structure under one global executive line-up.
