The Team

Jarad Madea joined Howden in 2015 as a Partner during the founding of Howden Capital Markets & Advisory and is currently CEO of the unit. With over 20 years of investment banking experience focused on the P&C insurance industry, Jarad has been involved in more than 200 M&A and capital raising transactions in the sector. Prior to joining Howden, Jarad worked in the insurance investment banking groups at Willis Capital Markets & Advisory and Banc of America Securities.

Selected recent transaction experience includes acting as financial advisor to: Warburg Pincus in its acquisition of K2, Oaktree in its acquisition of Velocity, TigerRisk in its sale to Howden Group, Vale in its sale to Flexpoint, Aquiline/ Armour in its investment in Premia, Pelican Ventures / J.C. Flowers in their acquisition of Ariel Re, K2 in its sale to Lee Equity, Barbican in its sale to Arch and The Doctors Company in its acquisition of Hospitals Insurance Company. Jarad also advised Tower Hill, Kin, Vault, TRUE, American Mobile and Gallatin Point (Victor Exchange) in the start-ups and capital raises for their reciprocal exchange entities.

Jarad graduated Cum Laude with his Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University.

Philipp Kusche joined Howden in April 2016 as Partner and Global Head of Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) and Capital Solutions where he built up Howden Capital Markets & Advisory’s ILS platform focusing on origination, structuring, placement and trading of CAT bonds, sidecars and other ILS structures across many different areas of the insurance and reinsurance landscape, including developing relationships with institutional investors globally. This includes many innovative transactions across different line of businesses, fund raising for ILS managers and providing access points for capital markets and institutional investors looking to access insurance risk.

Philipp comes from Swiss Re Capital Markets in New York where he most recently was the Head of their ILS Structuring and Origination team covering Insurance Companies, Hedge Funds, Governmental Entities, and Corporate Clients in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia. He joined Swiss Re Capital Markets in New York in 2006 and was responsible for and instrumental in creating and executing billions of dollars worth of CAT bonds, sidecars, contingent capital structures, and other alternative capital products for clients globally, while maintaining a strong focus on product development. As part of such activities, he developed relationships with many key ILS and other institutional investors and maintained a close dialogue with other stakeholders in the ILS space. In addition to such sell-side activities, he structured, priced, and executed a large number of CAT derivatives, mainly on a parametric basis, providing protection to a variety of clients. Philipp joined Swiss Re in 2002, and was initially based at its headquarters in Zurich as a management trainee. Working mainly in the Chief Underwriting Office, he quickly advanced into the global Energy Practice as a property underwriter in London and Zurich.

He graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from the Bauhaus University in Germany and a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute in Zurich (ETH). His Masters Thesis, supported by Credit Suisse, was on public-private partnerships and their potential in Switzerland.

Patrick Gonnelli has a wealth of experience in the financial and reinsurance industries. Pat began his reinsurance career with Towers Perrin as a consultant responsible for the production, trading and development of all ILW business, as well as marketing and placing traditional reinsurance programs. Prior to entering the reinsurance arena, Pat was heavily involved in the investment world. He began his career in Boston, holding multiple positions within John Hancock organization and eventually ING in New York, where he traded equities on all Latin America Exchanges and was responsible for the trading activity of all London clients.

Prior to joining Howden in 2010, Pat served as an Executive Vice President for Tradition Re in Bermuda where he was responsible for the production and development of the Worldwide Property ILW and Property Retrocessional business. Before joining Tradition Re, Pat handled revenue production and development for Carvill’s ILW and Property Retro books and was responsible for increasing awareness, revenue production, and trading of the Carvill Hurricane Index (CHI) on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Prior to Carvill, he worked for Willis Re in New York where he was responsible for developing their ILW business and was responsible for maintaining and growing their market relationships with new and established hedge funds and investment banks.

Pat is a graduate of the Boston University School of Management and currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 24 and 3.

Michael Forman joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in 2017 and is currently the Co-head of North America M&A and Capital Raising. He has advised on numerous M&A and capital raising transactions across the P&C insurance industry involving carriers, brokers, MGAs and technology companies.

Notable transactions include advising Warburg Pincus on its acquisition of K2 Insurance Services; Prescient National on its sale to LWCC; Boost on its investment from BHMS; TigerRisk on its sale to Howden Group; Gallatin Point Capital on its acquisition of Trusted Resource Underwriters and surplus note investment; Tower Hill Insurance Group on its formation of Tower Hill Insurance Exchange and Surplus Note issuance; VALE Insurance Partners on its investment from Flexpoint Ford; Noblr on its sale to USAA; Ventus on its acquisition by Arch; K2 Insurance Services on its acquisition by Lee Equity; The Doctors Company on its acquisition of Hospitals Insurance Company and Sompo International on its acquisition of Lexon Surety Group.

Previously, Mr. Forman was a Director in the Commercial Insurance Strategy Group at AIG. Earlier in his career, Michael worked at Willis Capital Markets & Advisory specializing in M&A advisory and capital raising for P&C insurance clients and at Travelers Insurance as a specialty lines underwriter.

Michael received his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Bentley University and his MBA from Babson College.

John Stamatis joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory (HCMA) in June of 2015. Having joined HCMA at its inception, John has been instrumental in the growth of the group and has advised clients on a wide range of situations including M&A transactions, capital raises, new company formation, and insurance-linked securities issuances.

Prior to joining HCMA, he held the position of Senior Underwriter at Zurich.

John earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard University.

Mitchell Rosenberg joined Howden in August 2022 as a Managing Director, helping lead Howden Capital Markets & Advisory’s ILS platform. Mitchell focuses on the origination and structuring of catastrophe bonds, sidecars and other insurance-linked securities, as well as raising capital for ILS managers.

Mitchell joined Howden from Aon, where he held the role of Managing Director at Aon Securities and was responsible for building several of the industry’s leading ILS platforms across the reinsurance, insurance, commercial and public sectors, including: the largest retro sponsor, one of the oldest mutuals, a technology conglomerate and a leading private equity firm. Through a global remit, Mitchell has advised and executed capital markets transactions for clients throughout Asia, Europe, North America and South America and has structured a number of innovative parametric and first-of-their-kind indemnity cat bonds.

Prior to Aon, Mr. Rosenberg was an Assistant Vice President at Swiss Re both in New York and Zürich, advising global insurance companies on structured reinsurance solutions to support M&A, capital management and other strategic objectives.

Mitchell earned an MBA from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business with specializations in Financial Instruments & Real Estate, and a B.Sc. from Florida State University College of Business in both Finance and Risk Management & Insurance. Mitchell holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation and the Series 7, Series 63, and Series 79 FINRA securities licenses.

Cate Kenworthy joined Howden in September 2023 as a Managing Director focused on educating and developing investor relationships globally. Since 2006, she has refined her expertise at renowned alternative asset management firms such as Securis Investment Partners, Spinnaker Capital Management, Brevan Howard, and Gottex Fund Management. Throughout her career, Cate’s primary focus has been on empowering investors to navigate complex investment strategies, thereby fostering the development of more resilient portfolios. She has extensive experience in understanding investors’ challenges and building customized solutions to help them achieve their objectives. She has also been instrumental in developing alternative investment products and associated distribution strategies leading to billions of assets raised.

Cate is a graduate of Columbia University, holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and French.

Tim Fox joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in June 2016 and currently serves as a Director. Since joining the group, Tim has been a key contributor focused on U.S. M&A, capital raising and reciprocal formation transactions.

Tim earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics from Boston College and has his Series 7 and 79 licenses.

Sophia joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory (HCMA) in November of 2016 as an analyst in their New York office and is currently a Director. During her time in HCMA, she has contributed to the execution of transactions across the range of products and services offered by HCMA, including M&A advisory, private capital raising and NewCo formations. Prior to joining HCMA, Sophia was an Associate Reinsurance Broker on the current client team at Howden Tiger.

Sophia completed her Bachelor in Business Administration in Accounting, with a minor in Actuarial Science, from the University of Notre Dame. She currently holds the Associate in Reinsurance professional designation as well as her Series 7, Series 79, and Series 63 FINRA securities licenses.

Nicholas Celli joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in April 2020 from PartnerRe where he was most recently an Associate Director of Strategy and Business Development. At PartnerRe, he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and executing inorganic growth opportunities for the company across all business lines and geographies. Nick also served as an Associate in PartnerRe’s private equity investment team. Prior to PartnerRe, Nick was a consultant in the Corporate Finance and Restructuring group at FTI Consulting.

Nick earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from the Boston College Carroll School of Management and is a CFA charterholder.

Tanner Sowa joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in September of 2021 from GC Securities, the investment banking unit within Guy Carpenter where he was most recently an Associate/AVP. There, he focused on M&A, capital raising, and the issuance of insurance-linked securities. Prior to that he was at Aspen Insurance Group, where he participated in several internships: Catastrophe Modeling Intern, Surety Underwriter Intern, and Reinsurance Underwriter Intern.

Tanner earned a Master of Science, Business Analytics from Wake Forest University School of Business and prior to that a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Business Fundamentals from the University of Connecticut. He holds the following certifications: Series 79, Series 7, Series 63, and Securities Industries Essentials (SIE).

Dan Bank joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in June of 2023. Prior to joining he was a Senior Associate within AIG’s Corporate Development Group where he worked on a variety of strategic initiatives including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and capital raises. Prior to joining AIG, Dan was an Investment Banking Associate at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Dan earned his Bachelor of Science in Financial Management and Accounting from Bucknell University.

Ethan Spiech joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory as an Associate in April of 2023 from Aon Securities, the investment banking and capital markets unit of Aon, where he was most recently a Senior Analyst. At Aon Securities, Ethan was focused on the structuring and execution of insurance-linked securities and surplus notes transactions. In his time at Aon, Ethan successfully executed over $1.5 billion in issuance volume across a variety of products including Cat Bonds, Surplus Notes, Sidecars and ILWs/swaps. He began his career at Gallagher in the company’s private equity and M&A group, providing due diligence and risk consulting services.

Ethan graduated from Clemson University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Financial Management and minors in Economics and Accounting. He holds the Series 79, Series 63, Series 7 and Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) licenses.

Gabriel Pinkus joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in December of 2023. Prior to joining he was an Associate within Barclays’ Financial Institutions Group where he worked on a variety of advisory and capital raising opportunities. Prior to Barclays, Gabe was a Financial Underwriting Supervisor within Crum & Forster.

Gabe earned his Bachelor of Science in Business from the Kelley School at Indiana University. He holds the FINRA Series 63 and 79 licenses.

Phil Dwyer joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in January of 2025. Prior to joining he was a Director on the Corporate Development team at Prosperity Life where he worked on a variety of strategic initiatives. Prior to Prosperity, he led the financial planning & analysis team at NSM Insurance.

Phil earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, with a minor in Economics, from Villanova University.

James joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory as an Analyst in July of 2023. James interned with HCMA in 2022.

James graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in Economics.

Caroline joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory as an Analyst in July of 2023.

Caroline graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Concentration in Finance and Marketing.

Alex Kaplan joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in September of 2023 where he works as an analyst on HCMA’s ILS platform.

Alex holds a Master’s in Global Risk from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Alex received his Bachelor’s with Highest Honors from the University of California, Berkeley.

Lina Feng joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in June 2024. Prior to joining, she was a consultant at Deloitte’s Denver office where she worked on a variety of advisory opportunities with multinational firms.

Lina earned her Master of Public Policy and Financial Mathematics from UChicago. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Actuarial Science and Economics with a minor in Rhetoric and Interpersonal Communication from DePauw University.

Alan Chen joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in July 2024. Prior to joining, he interned at HCMA in 2023.

Alan graduated from NYU Stern School of Business with a Concentration in Finance and Data Science.

Catherine joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in July of 2024 as an Analyst on HCMA’s Insurance-Linked Securities team.

Catherine graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University.

Leo Tarantino joined Howden Capital Markets and Advisory in January 2025, where he works as an Analyst on the ILS team.

Leo received his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Harvard University.

Leo Beckham is Managing Director of Howden Capital Markets & Advisory (UK). He joined Howden (UK) in November of 2016 from Willis where he was a Vice President in its investment banking business, advising on the sale of Chaucer’s UK motor business to Markerstudy and the sale of Brit to Fairfax.

After qualifying as a chartered accountant with Deloitte, Leo joined Benfield Advisory (now Aon Securities) where he advised on a number of M&A transactions, including the sale of ICAT Managers on behalf of Vulcan Capital. He subsequently moved to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, an investment bank focused on the financial services sector, where notable transactions included the acquisition of Omega Insurance Holdings by Canopius and the sale of Alico UK to Swiss Re.

Leo is a chartered accountant (ICAEW) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Bill Cooper joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in July 2019 as Head of Capital Advisory based in Howden (UK).

Prior to joining Howden, Bill worked at Lloyds Bank where he led the bank’s corporate banking business in the insurance sector. During Bill’s long tenure at Lloyds Bank, he helped guide the bank to its current position as a leading financier of firms within the UK and global insurance industry. Bill led transactions in the broker/managing general agency market, as well as for numerous firms in the Lloyd’s of London market. Additionally, Bill has significant financial restructuring experience, having worked closely with a number of over-leveraged firms in the financial services sector during and after the financial crisis.

Bill holds a Master’s degree in History from The University of Cambridge.

Sébastien Bamsey joined Howden in July 2024 as a Managing Director, focused on developing and expanding the team’s UK and European reinsurance and capital markets capability.

Prior to joining Howden, Seb spent 18 years at J.P. Morgan, most recently as Head of European Insurance Debt Capital Markets, leading the financing dialogue with all the bank’s (re)insurance clients headquartered in Europe, targeting both public and private markets. During his tenure, Seb spearheaded many complex and strategically critical workstreams, encompassing acquisition financing, regulatory and rating agency relationships, alternative forms of risk transfer and bespoke, underwritten solutions.

Seb holds a Bachelor of Laws in European Legal Studies from the University of Bristol.

Arthur Clowes joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory (UK) in September 2023 from Nomura, where he worked in the FIG Investment Banking team. Prior to Nomura, Arthur was at GC Securities, the investment banking unit within Guy Carpenter. Before joining GC Securities, Arthur held various roles at EY, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Arthur has significant experience in insurance investment banking across a range of transactions; M&A advisory, equity raises, and Lloyd’s and company market start-ups and capitalisations.

Arthur earned a BA (Hons) in Politics from the University of Exeter.

Jonty Webb joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory (UK) in April of 2019. Prior to joining Howden, Jonty was an Equity Research Analyst at Liberum Capital in London with a focus on the retail sector.

Jonty earned a MSc in Investment Management from Cass Business School and a BSc Hons in Economics from Newcastle University. He has passed the CFA Level I & II, the CISI Level 3 Certificate in Securities, and the Investment Management Certificate.

Paul Poschmann joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in December of 2024 as a Vice President. Previously, he worked at Gallagher Re as a Divisional Director in London in their EMEA team focusing on clients in Continental Europe and placing business worldwide with reinsurers, Lloyd’s of London and ILS funds. He has been part of the Steering Committee of the International Property Practice and engaged across various Strategic Advisory projects.

Paul graduated from Warwick Business School with a M.Sc. in Finance – Business (Financial Management) and B.A. in Business Administration from Berlin School of Economics.

Camila joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory as an Analyst in July of 2020 and previously interned with HCMA in the summer of 2019.

Camila is a graduate of the World Bachelor in Business Program, a joint program between the University of Southern California, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Bocconi University, where she earned a business administration degree from each school.

Dominic joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in September 2023 from KPMG UK where he worked in the Deal Advisory department, specialising in Banking and Payments transaction services. Prior to Deal Advisory, Dominic trained in the Banking Audit department at KPMG, specialising in the audits of large UK Corporate and Investment banks.

Dominic is a Chartered Accountant and holds a first-class honours degree in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies from the University of Bristol, having graduated in 2018.

Aidan joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in February 2024 from Deloitte UK where he spent four years working in the Insurance Audit department, specialising in the audits of Lloyd’s of London Syndicates, large global brokers and P&I clubs.

Aidan is a Chartered Accountant and earned a BSc (Hons) in Business Management from King’s College London, having graduated in 2019.

Harry joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in April 2024 from Aalto Capital, a boutique financial advisor, where he focused on SME capital raises and M&A transactions. Prior to corporate finance, Harry spent a placement year at Morgan Stanley working across various Finance teams.

He holds a first-class honours degree in Accounting and Finance from Durham University, having graduated in 2023.

David joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in September 2024 after interning with the team during the summer.

David earned a bachelor’s degree in Politics and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). David is also a graduate from the Imperial College Business School, where he received a Distinction in MSc Management.

Steve Bensinger joined Howden Capital Markets & Advisory in 2015 as a Senior Advisor and is based in New York City. Steve has over 40 years of professional and executive experience within the insurance industry, including roles as board member, chairman, president, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, treasurer, comptroller, interim legal officer and human resources officer, and partner with a big four accounting and consulting firm. Steven has been responsible for a wide range of high-level assignments involving expertise in strategic planning, crisis management, operational management, turnarounds, financial management and reporting, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, spin-offs, restructurings, joint ventures, bank and investment community relations, securitizations, treasury, rating agency relations, and corporate governance.

He has held management and executive positions with national and international insurance and reinsurance companies in which he was called upon to achieve organic growth, perform turnarounds, establish new operating subsidiaries, execute mergers and acquisitions, and attain recapitalization. Steve has demonstrated innovative leadership in helping companies achieve strategic goals and enhance enterprise value.

Steve has held management and executive positions with FTI Consulting, Inc., The Hanover Insurance Group, American International Group, Combined Specialty Group (an Aon Corporation subsidiary), Trenwick Group, Chartwell Re Corporation, Skandia America Corporation, and Coopers & Lybrand. He is also a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Finance Committee of the International Insurance Society, a member of the Board of Directors and Strategic Planning Committee of Ronald McDonald House of New York, past member of the Board of Overseers, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, and past President and Board member, Stern School of Business Alumni Association. Steve also serves as an independent director on the boards of The Doctors Company and Kinsale Capital Group.

He holds a CPA certificate and the CGMA designation.