Howden Re Inspire: meet Alex Pike
In our Howden Re Inspire series, we are proud to showcase our amazing team.
It’s important to us that the businesses and divisions within Howden Re reflect and contribute to the culture that we at Howden are so proud of. We are a global business with an entrepreneurial mindset, and we put our people first in everything we do. We value independent thinkers, celebrate different perspectives and experiences, and strive to make Howden a great place to work.
Our collaborative approach and collective power make us an industry leader, but it’s our people who make it possible!
Whether they’re forging a unique path in or outside business, leading the way on community impact, giving back, or D&I initiatives, or demonstrating what it takes to make a difference, we are proud to introduce you to our team.
Alex Pike is a Director in Howden Re’s Programmes team, specialising in fronting, capacity, and reinsurance solutions for MGAs worldwide.
“The role combines technical knowledge with a significant emphasis on relationship management.” he says. “I work with fronts, carriers, and reinsurance partners globally to build structures that work for everyone — whether that’s a quota share, a binder, or another arrangement. I enjoy bringing the right people together and making things happen.”
From the Army to reinsurance
At the start of his career Alex spent six years in the British Army, serving two tours in Afghanistan.
“I led a reconnaissance troop in 2009, and for my second tour in 2012 I was second-in-command of the Brigade Operations Company,” he recalls. “We worked in very high-pressure environments alongside multiple units and agencies to deliver effects on the ground within a limited timeframe. Leading a team of 120 soldiers in a combat environment, you learn to plan, delegate, and act decisively — skills that stay with you.”
After leaving the Army, Alex joined Morgan Stanley’s Prime Brokerage division, supporting hedge-fund clients across capital-markets activities. He then moved into venture capital, investing in financial-technology platforms, and then helped to create one of the first electronic reinsurance marketplaces in Bermuda.
“We worked with the Bermuda Monetary Authority for two years to create a new licencing category of ‘Insurance Marketplace Provider’,” he explains. “It was the first new regulated insurance marketplace in 150 years, focused on linking alternative capital with the reinsurance market by utilising financial-markets technology. It gave me a real understanding of how relationship-driven this industry is and that technology is a tool, not the solution itself.”
Those experiences gave Alex a broad perspective — from capital markets to ILS and alternative capital — and built the foundation for his move into reinsurance full-time.
“I’ve always been a big-picture person,” he says. “I like joining the dots, bringing together different pieces of information, and finding ways to make solutions work effectively.”
Transferring military skills to Howden Re
For Alex, his Army background continues to shape his approach to leadership and problem-solving.
“As an officer in a reconnaissance regiment, you’re not always the specialist — you have to have a deep understanding of the tools and capabilities available to you and employ them in the most effective way possible,” he explains. “You have to create and deliver the plan, ensure you have the right resources, and then work with your team to deliver the objective. That’s exactly how I try to operate at Howden Re. You build the right team, support them to excel in the area they’re good at, and keep everyone focused on the objective.”
Championing inclusion and service
Alex is a member of Howden’s ‘Service’ Network – the employee resource group which brings together colleagues with military backgrounds and those passionate about veterans’ causes.
“It’s encouraging to see Howden creating these spaces, through its Respect ERG network” he says. “The ‘Service’ network aims to connect people who’ve had similar experiences, and to support initiatives that really matter.”
Supporting veterans through London Poppy Day and beyond
A long-time volunteer for London Poppy Day, Alex has spent more than a decade raising funds for the Royal British Legion, the UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving and ex-service personnel and their families — from rehabilitation and housing assistance to mental-health and welfare programmes.
“London Poppy Day started 14 years ago when a few ex-military friends went out with buckets into Leadenhall Market to see how much they could raise in a day.”
That simple idea has grown into one of the charities’ largest annual events, now replicated in cities across the UK and raising more than £1 million in 24 hours for the Poppy Appeal.
“It’s amazing to see what started as a small group of friends shaking buckets turn into something that now accounts for a significant percentage of the Royal British Legion’s annual fundraising,” Alex says. “It shows what can happen when individuals take ownership and act together.”
In addition to volunteering with the Royal British Legion, Alex supports Help for Heroes, which assists wounded and injured service personnel, and his regimental trust, which provides financial and emotional support to veterans and families from his former unit.
“Everything I do in that space is about people helping people,” he says. “That sense of camaraderie never leaves you.”
For Alex, the Howden culture — employee-owned, collaborative, and purpose-driven — resonates strongly with the values he’s carried through his career.
“Collaboration isn’t just a buzzword it has to be built into how we work,” he says. “We succeed when we bring together the best people, draw on each other’s strengths, and use that collective energy to make an impact — in business and in communities.”
