Insurance brokerage Howden is buying consultancy firm Barnett Waddingham for an undisclosed sum. Barnett Waddingham’s working partners will reinvest “significantly” into Howden, according to the broker’s chief executive. 

The combined business will offer the full range of employee benefits and pensions advisory services to corporate clients, from multinational corporations to SMEs and in the private and public sectors. The deal will double Howden’s global employee benefits business in terms of employees, with about 4,000 staff delivering combined revenue of nearly £500m.  

The expanded firm will also provide health, life and specialist pension products to individuals. Once completed, Howden will employ more than 10,000 people in the UK across more than 200 locations.  

Howden was founded by its chief executive David Howden in London in 1994. It is partly employee-owned and now operates in 55 countries, offering insurance and reinsurance broking and underwriting to individuals as well as multinationals.  

“In our journey to build a global broker we recognise the need to create a world-class employee benefits business for our clients,” said Howden, adding: “Together, we will take a leading position in our home markets of the UK and Ireland in employee benefits as well as in insurance broking.”  

Howden’s own employee benefits division has seen a 52% compound annual growth rate, according to the firm.  

Howden’s UK health and employee benefits and global practice is led by Glenn Thomas, who said: “The combination brings together two leading businesses with an exceptional cultural fit, and the acquisition reflects Howden’s deep commitment to investing in its employee benefits advisory capabilities.”  

Andrew Vaughan, senior partner at Barnett Waddingham, said after 35 years, being part of Howden “strengthens our ability to deliver even greater value to our risk, pensions, investment, and insurance clients through enhanced solutions, including our tech-enabled capabilities, and access to global expertise”.  

Barnett Waddingham is one of the UK’s second-tier pensions consulting firms, which have had to work in an increasingly consolidated market. It employs 1,790 people, 99 of whom are partners, in 10 offices across the UK. Its clients include 22% of FTSE 100 and 15% of FTSE 350 companies.  

Consulting firm Altus has been bought by Accenture for an undisclosed sum. Last year, US-based insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co bought UK investment advisers Redington, having acquired consultancy firm Buck in 2022.   

As well as insurance brokerage companies, private equity firms have also been interested in the UK pensions sector. In January, Lovell Minnick Partners said it is buying advisory firm Broadstone from ICG. In the middle of last year, Aquiline took a majority stake in Isio, buying it from Exponent Private Equity, and in October 2024, private equity firm LDC said it had sold its holding in trustee firm Independent Governance Group to ECI Partners.   

As a client of consulting firms, do you find changes of ownership disrupt or improve services?