Associate Director Advisory & Portfolio Solutions

Howden M&A

Howden M&A advises clients on specialist insurance and risk solutions in connection with M&A transactions, disputes and portfolio matters across Asia. Our core solutions include warranty and indemnity (W&I) insurance, tax liability insurance, and contingent and litigation risk insurance, together with insurance due diligence and other advisory support across cyber, climate, credit, political risk and other financial lines.

The team comprises former M&A and disputes lawyers, tax and accounting professionals, insurance due diligence specialists and experienced insurance practitioners.

The role will sit within Howden's Asia M&A platform and the Advisory & Portfolio Solutions team in Singapore. The successful candidate will lead advisory services, including insurance due diligence and wider advisory engagements for private equity, infrastructure and corporate clients across Asia, while coordinating Howden's technical expertise across practices and geographies. The role will also help deepen relationships with fund clients, portfolio companies, corporates, advisers and other market participants, and identify opportunities to support clients both during a transaction and following completion.

The opportunity

This is an opportunity to join a specialist, high-growth business operating at the intersection of M&A, insurance and risk advisory. The role offers meaningful responsibility across advisory engagement execution, client development, portfolio solutions and the continued growth of the Advisory & Portfolio Solutions business in Singapore and across the wider Asia M&A platform.

Role and ideal background

Howden is seeking an Associate Director to be a senior member of its Advisory & Portfolio Solutions team within the Asia M&A practice. The role will lead insurance due diligence and related advisory engagements, manage key client and market relationships, coordinate multidisciplinary teams across Howden, contribute actively to business development, and support the continued growth of the business in Singapore and across Asia.

The ideal candidate should:

• Be proactive, resourceful and commercially minded, with the ability to take ownership while working collaboratively across jurisdictions and disciplines;
• Possess a strong understanding of M&A processes and insurance due diligence, with the ability to identify, assess and communicate material insurance and risk issues in a transaction context;
• Have approximately 8 - 10 years of relevant experience, ideally gained in insurance broking, insurance due diligence, risk advisory, professional services or another transaction-focused environment. Experience advising private equity, infrastructure or corporate clients would be advantageous;
• Have demonstrated experience leading complex, time-sensitive advisory engagements and coordinating multiple workstreams, stakeholders and technical specialists with a high degree of independence;
• Have the commercial confidence and relationship-management skills to advise senior stakeholders, develop opportunities and contribute meaningfully to business development and account growth;
• Have strong analytical, report-writing and presentation skills, with sound judgement, close attention to detail and the ability to translate technical findings into clear, practical and commercially focused advice;
• Communicate clearly and confidently with clients, advisers, insurers and colleagues, both in writing and in meetings, negotiations and presentations;
• Be able to manage multiple live matters, work effectively under pressure and resolve issues constructively;
• Be fluent in English, both written and spoken. Fluency in Chinese or additional Asian language capability would be helpful but is not essential; and
• Be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Key responsibilities

The responsibilities of the role will include:

• Leading insurance due diligence engagements for private equity, infrastructure and corporate clients on buy-side and sell-side M&A processes, including scoping, project planning, coordination of technical reviews, analysis of findings and delivery of clear, commercially focused advice;
• Acting as a senior day-to-day adviser to clients and other transaction advisers, taking ownership of engagement delivery, key communications, issue resolution and the quality and timeliness of deliverables;
• Coordinating Howden expertise, resources and solutions across practices and geographies, including insurance, cyber, climate, credit, political risk, financial lines and other specialist workstreams relevant to the transaction;
• Identifying and developing opportunities to provide additional M&A insurance solutions and wider advisory services during the transaction and following completion, including portfolio value-creation and risk-improvement initiatives;
• Working with Howden colleagues across Asia and other business lines to originate opportunities, coordinate cross-border execution and deliver a joined-up client proposition to fund clients, portfolio companies and corporate buyers;
• Taking responsibility for developing and managing relationships with private equity and infrastructure funds, corporates, investment banks, law firms, accounting firms and other referral sources, and converting opportunities into active mandates;
• Supporting the management and implementation of post-close insurance programme placement, remediation and integration work, in coordination with the relevant Howden specialists and local servicing teams;
• Supervising and developing junior colleagues, including allocating work, reviewing technical analysis and deliverables, and supporting their day-to-day development;
• Preparing high-quality proposals, reports, presentations, thought leadership, data and other collateral for business development, client engagements and portfolio initiatives; and
• Contributing to the growth and strategic direction of the Advisory & Portfolio Solutions business in Singapore and the wider Asia M&A platform, including business planning, market strategy, product development, new client segments and cross-selling opportunities across the wider Howden platform.

What we value

• A client-first mindset and the confidence to operate credibly with experienced investment, legal, financial, insurance and risk professionals;
• A willingness to mentor and develop junior colleagues while contributing to a collaborative team culture;
• Commercial curiosity, creativity and enthusiasm for developing solutions in a fast-evolving market;
• High standards of integrity, teamwork and accountability; and
• An interest in building a long-term career in a specialist regional M&A advisory business.