LONDON, Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Employee benefits specialists Drewberry has been acquired by Brown & Brown (Europe) Limited (Brown & Brown).

Founded in 2009 by Andrew Jenkinson and Tom Conner, Brighton and London-based Drewberry offers employee benefits solutions, workplace pension support, consumer and business protection and private medical insurance services.

Following the acquisition, Drewberry will operate as part of Premier Choice Group (PCG), Brown & Brown’s health, employee benefit and protection division.

Andrew Jenkinson and Tom Conner will join the Premier Choice Group leadership team, and all Drewberry teammates will remain in their current roles and locations to ensure continuity and service excellence.

Commenting on the acquisition, Andrew Jenkinson, Director and Co-Founder of Drewberry, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Drewberry to join forces with a global leader like Brown & Brown while continuing to deliver the tailored, personal services that our customers have come to expect.”

Stephen Hough, Director of Premier Choice Group, added: “Drewberry has established itself as a forward-thinking, service-led business in the employee benefits market.

“Their unique technology platform, workplace pension service and specialisation in key growth areas align perfectly with our vision at Premier Choice Group, and we’re excited to welcome Andrew, Tom and the entire Drewberry team to PCG.”

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The terms of the deal are undisclosed.

About Drewberry

Drewberry is a trusted provider of employee benefits and financial services, offering solutions in workplace pension support, private medical insurance, consumer and business protection and more. Their innovative platform helps businesses and employees access tailored benefit solutions with ease. For more information, please visit www.drewberryinsurance.co.uk.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE: BRO) is a leading insurance brokerage firm, delivering risk management solutions to individuals and businesses since 1939. With over 16,000 teammates and 500+ locations worldwide, we are committed to providing innovative strategies to help protect what our customers value most. Our Europe group operates retail broking, specialist MGA, network and Lloyd’s businesses, enabling the business to serve the growing insurance and risk management needs of its customers. 

For more information, please visit bbrown.com/uk or bbinsurance.com.

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• Builds on Aon’s efforts to support Ukraine’s economy, insurance industry and preparation for reconstruction – representing more than $465M in public and private capital for war risk insurance
• New €110 million guarantee scheme through the EBRD to provide reinsurance capacity for international reinsurers and Ukrainian insurance companies to cover war related risks in Ukraine
• Supports re-engagement of international reinsurers in the Ukrainian war insurance market and has attracted market interest with international reinsurer MS Amlin joined by three Ukrainian Insurance Companies: INGO, Colonnade and UNIQA

DUBLIN, Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have structured a tailor-made and highly innovative facility supporting the revitalization of the war risk insurance market in Ukraine. With support from Aon, the EBRD has launched a new guarantee designed to boost the provision of reinsurance capacity to private sector insurers, addressing the ongoing challenges posed by the war.

Under the new €110 million Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Guarantee Facility, the EBRD will support global reinsurance companies through a guarantee covering losses on specific war-related risks underwritten by local Ukrainian insurers. The structure seeks to leverage existing market infrastructure and tested risk transfer mechanisms from the insurance industry to provide the protection private sector investors require. 

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to a significant reduction of reinsurance capacity available to the market, as international reinsurers have largely withdrawn from Ukraine. This left local insurers considerably limited in their ability to offer commercial war risk insurance products. By making war risk insurance more accessible, the facility will stimulate business activity and economic growth, paving the way for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction.

The first-of-its-kind program is designed as an open platform that can transact with different insurance market participants that seek to benefit from the guarantee. The global speciality reinsurer MS Amlin is the first international reinsurance partner to join the EBRD facility. The structure allows MS Amlin to transfer reinsurance exposure off their balance sheet, which enables the UK-based reinsurer to re-engage with Ukrainian insurers and provide the much-needed war risk cover.

The Ukrainian insurance companies INGO, Colonnade and UNIQA are among the first local market participants who will be actively driving the expansion of the product in the Ukrainian market. Given their wide distribution network, it is expected that the facility will enable the provision of war risk coverage to businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises at scale.

Initially, the scheme will cover inland cargo, motor vehicle damage, and railway rolling stock, with the flexibility to expand to a broader range of assets based on evolving market demand. As such, insurance policies are generally short-term, the facility will be able to recycle capital and provide coverage for a multiple of the guarantee amount, depending on the number of policies sold and the frequency of claims. Based on this approach, the EBRD’s guarantee may insure up to EUR 1 billion worth of goods and vehicles in transit each year, driving significant economic impact.

The facility is initially backed by France, the United Kingdom, Norway and TaiwanBusiness–EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund. Additional donor support has been pledged by the European Union and Switzerland. Further donor contributions will enable the growth of the EBRD guarantee over time.

Moreover, EBRD and Aon have coordinated closely with the Ukrainian Ministry of the Economy and the National Bank of Ukraine to ensure the provision of war risk insurance policies to Ukrainian companies and to further strengthen the Ukrainian economy. The facility is designed to be complementary of facilities offered by other international organizations and the Ukrainian government.

Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the EBRD, said: “This is a significant milestone for Ukraine and a testament to the EBRD’s unwavering commitment to supporting the country’s real economy. The EBRD’s guarantee will enable private sector reinsurers to re-engage on Ukrainian war risk and build a resilient insurance market in Ukraine. This is crucial to giving businesses confidence that their assets are protected, which in turn will unlock and accelerate investment in Ukraine.”

Greg Case, CEO of Aon, said: “Aon’s steadfast commitment to Ukraine compels our firm to continue to identify new opportunities for businesses to invest in the country during the ongoing war. This innovative new facility in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development further enhances the stability of the insurance market in Ukraine and strengthens the foundation for economic resiliency and growth.”

Martin Burke, Chief Underwriting Officer, MS Amlin, said: “We are proud to support this innovative solution, providing much needed reinsurance capacity to help the domestic Ukrainian insurance market rebuild itself and support local businesses and clients. One could not find a better expression of our company purpose, providing continuity in uncertain times, than through our commitment to this scheme.”

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Yulia Svyrydenko, first Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine said: “We are sincerely grateful to the EBRD and all parties involved in launching this insurance mechanism. The market has been eagerly anticipating it. I am confident that this mechanism will provide much-needed support for small and medium-sized businesses, which have been severely affected by the war. It will help attract investments into the Ukrainian economy and serve as a signal to other market players that new insurance mechanisms can and should be implemented, as there is clear demand from the private sector.”

This latest announcement with the EBRD builds on Aon’s work over the last year to support Ukraine’s economy, insurance industry and preparation for reconstruction – representing more than $465M in public and private capital for war risk insurance. In June 2024, Aon worked with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to create a first-of-its-kind insurance program to support war risk policies for businesses operating in Ukraine. The firm also called on the (re)insurance industry to remove blanket exclusions for risks originating in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus in order to help Ukraine’s resilience and catalyze economic growth.

Since February 2022, the EBRD has deployed €5 billion in Ukraine, focusing on supporting energy security, vital infrastructure, food security, trade and the private sector, alongside key policy reforms. The EBRD’s Board of Governors approved in 2023 a capital increase of €4 billion to support investment both in wartime and reconstruction. 

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Through actionable analytic insight, globally integrated Risk Capital and Human Capital expertise, and locally relevant solutions, our colleagues provide clients in over 120 countries with the clarity and confidence to make better risk and people decisions that protect and grow their businesses.

Follow Aon on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram. Stay up-to-date by visiting Aon’s newsroom and sign up for news alerts here.

Media Contact
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MADRID, Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Equiduct, the retail-focused pan-European exchange, announced today that iBroker Global Markets S.V. is the newest trading participant to join its Best Execution service, Apex.

iBroker is the leading online broker in listed derivatives in Spain, specializing in the retail segment. Now, with its incorporation into Equiduct and as part of the company’s new strategic plan, it is expanding its product offering to include European equities and ETFs.

iBroker and its clients are already leveraging Equiduct´s high quality market data products, which offers a real-time consolidated view of liquidity from twelve major European markets.

By joining Equiduct, iBroker and its retail investors’ client base, now have access to pan-European liquidity for over 1,900 stocks and ETF, joining over 7 million retail end clients that already benefit from the best-in class execution and market-data services provided by Equiduct.

Equiduct is fully committed to working alongside the Spanish retail brokerage community to ensure that an ever-growing number of individual investors receive the best possible execution for their transactions in Spanish & European equities and ETF.

Enrique Martí, CEO, iBroker, said: “Our incorporation into Equiduct strengthens iBroker’s commitment to providing our clients with the highest quality execution when trading in European equity markets. For retail investors, ensuring transparency in execution is not just an added value but an essential obligation. Thanks to Equiduct, we now have advanced tools that enable us to meet this premise in an exceptional way.

We are excited about this new chapter, where we aim to position iBroker Global Markets not only as the benchmark for Spanish investors specializing in derivatives but also as a prominent option for a new profile of retail investors interested in equities, ETFs, and savings and investment products.”

Wail Azizi, Chief Strategy Officer at Equiduct said: “I’d like to congratulate and welcome Enrique, Jon and the wider iBroker team to our exchange. We are delighted to be their chosen partner for expanding their retail business into European equities and ETFs. By delivering Best Execution on Europe’s most popular names and cost-effective high-quality data, we enable iBroker to offer unparalleled value to their retail investors.

iBroker’s success in the derivatives market demonstrates their leadership in making financial markets accessible to retail investors. Their strong commitment to financial education aligns seamlessly with Equiduct’s mission to promote and empower retail investment. This partnership reflects our shared dedication to driving positive change in pan-European trading for retail investors.”

Notes to editors

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About Equiduct
Equiduct is an innovative, client driven pan-European exchange enabling retail brokers and institutional clients to achieve Best Execution in the most fragmented stocks and ETFs across 12 markets covering 16 European headline indices. Equiduct is a market segment of Börse Berlin, a regulated market operator under Article 44 of MiFID II. Börse Berlin is regulated by the Competent Authority Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe – Börsenaufsichtsbehörde and participation in trading is governed by German and European law. In 2023 it reported a turnover of €79bn and an overall ADV (average daily volume) of €310m.

About iBroker
iBroker Global Markets Sociedad de Valores is a leading Spanish online broker specializing in derivatives for retail investors. It provides brokerage services for futures and options on major international markets such as CME Group and EUREX, as well as OTC derivatives including CFDs and Forex.

The firm offers advanced trading platforms, developed in-house with a strong emphasis on technology. Its mission is to deliver an intuitive, secure, and efficient investment experience across both web and mobile platforms, with seamless integration options for leading solutions like TradingView and Visual Chart.

Through its recent agreement with Equiduct, iBroker has expanded its financial product offering to include European stocks and ETFs. The company plans to continue adding new products throughout 2025, reaffirming its commitment to innovation and diversification.

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