Howden Re, the reinsurance arm of broker group Howden, entered Portugal directly in August, opening an office in Lisbon. The operation is integrated into the company's Iberian structure and reports to Madrid, which allows, according to Filipe Duarte, who will lead the business in Portugal, "to benefit from the scale, experience and resources of the Spanish operation, while maintaining a strong focus on the specific needs of the Portuguese market".
Howden Re, headquartered in the City of London, has become one of the group's main growth areas following the acquisition of US-based TigerRisk in January 2023. TigerRisk was integrated into Howden's reinsurance operation, which became Howden Re in April 2024. Since this integration, the operation has practically doubled in size, approaching 700 million euros in revenues for 2025 with 18.5 billion euros in covered capital, employing approximately 1,100 people.
Filipe Duarte, who spent 12 years at AON and previously at Willis (now WTW), took on the role of leader of Howden Re in Portugal. The Lisbon office had no prior presence in the country, so all business generated will be considered new. The company will primarily work with insurers, but also increasingly with MGAs and other market operators, supporting them in accessing reinsurance capacity, defining placement strategies and developing new products.
The storms that affected Portugal at the beginning of the year served as a reminder that the country's catastrophic exposure is not limited to seismic risk, reinforcing the discussion on emerging climate risks. The eventual creation of a catastrophe pool in Portugal could have a significant impact on risk management, creating both challenges and opportunities for Howden Re, which intends to combine international experience and access to the main global reinsurance markets with local proximity and knowledge.
