The Howden way

The Howden way

The Howden wayMeet Matt Bacon, who is tasked with leading the UK-based global broker’s charge into the Australian broking market

By Bernice Han

The Australian broking space is not exactly the easiest terrain to navigate, especially for new entrants looking to challenge the status quo and build a presence in an increasingly competitive and crowded field.

But Howden Australia’s London-born Chief Executive Matt Bacon is relishing the challenges ahead of him as he works to grow the business into a major broking force.

“I love winning,” he tells Insurance News. “We came into this certainly with a clear plan and a clear understanding of what we wanted to do and what we need to do to make this business a success.”

Not even what he refers to as the sounds of “agitation” from other brokerages in reaction to the launch of Howden’s Australian operation earlier this year fazes him.

“We are certainly here to challenge the status quo. We’re here to be different. We’re here to provide choice.”

“There are definitely certain factions of the broker community that are not particularly happy that we’re here. That’s pretty clear,” Mr Bacon tells Insurance News.

“But competition is a good thing. It improves our industry and ensures we provide a better service to clients and partner better with insurers.

“It improves the important roles that insurance plays in society as a whole”.

Mr Bacon took up the role in June, joining from Marsh, where he was chief executive of the Mercer Marsh Benefits business for the Pacific region. Prior to the 2019 merger with Marsh, he headed up JLT’s People Risk consulting business for Australia and New Zealand.

All in, he has accumulated nearly a decade of insights about the local market since moving to Australia in 2012 to take up the JLT role, placing him as possibly the best-qualified chief executive candidate to fulfil UK-based international group Howden’s Australia ambitions.

He says the consolidation at the top end of the market following the Marsh/JLT merger provides “a real opportunity to provide choice for clients and employees, for brokers and for insurers”.

Howden Australia will operate across the local insurance market from corporate to SME, focusing on local specialist industry and product segments such as financial lines, corporate risks, commercial and affinity, workers’ compensation, group risk and alternative risk transfer solutions.

Its corporate website says the mission is to challenge incumbency and complacency.

“What we’re not here to do is recreate what everybody else is already doing,” Mr Bacon says. “I would say we are certainly here to challenge the status quo. We’re here to be different. We’re here to provide choice.”

More than a month into his job, Mr Bacon says nothing he has observed so far in the market has tempted him and his management team to believe they need to recalibrate their Australia strategy.

While he declines to share the specifics of what the strategy entails, Mr Bacon says it’s a “very clear business plan” that is anchored partly by hiring the “best specialists”.

“Our staff are handpicked and they’re absolutely leaders in their field,” Mr Bacon said. “As a result, Howden clients are getting best-of-breed practitioners across the board with service standards to match.”

He says he has drawn inspiration from numerous business and sporting sources, but picked out the victorious England rugby team that won the World Cup in 2003 under coach Clive Woodward, who famously coined the acronym T-CUP.

“It refers to Thinking Correctly Under Pressure,” Mr Bacon said. “It means to prepare to the nth degree and leave no stone unturned so there are no surprises. Applying this ensures that when you make a decision you can act very swiftly and with conviction.

“I use that a lot.”