Aon alleges ‘calculated and egregious’ trade secret theft by Howden

Broker Aon has filed a lawsuit against Howden US Services and two former senior employees, alleging a coordinated raid involving the theft of confidential information and the simultaneous resignation of seven long-tenured staff at a time when Howden seemingly accelerated its entry into the US retail insurance broker market.

The complaint, filed on 11 December 2025 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, is the sixth legal action brought against Howden by rival brokers since July 2025, according to Aon. No findings have yet been made by the court.

The plaintiffs in this month’s lawsuit are Aon Risk Services Companies and Aon Risk Services Northeast. The defendants are Anthony Rampersaud, a former Aon managing director with more than 23 years’ service, Nancy Montalvo, a former account executive with 26 years tenure at Aon, and Howden US Services.

Aon has alleged that Rampersaud orchestrated a coordinated departure of six Aon colleagues to Howden, while still employed by the broker, breached contractual and fiduciary obligations and attempted to remove large volumes of confidential client and financial data in the weeks before his resignation.

The first line of the published lawsuit read: “This case is about a calculated and egregious scheme of trade secret theft, contractual breaches, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference and unfair competition.”

Coordinated resignations

According to Aon’s complaint, all seven of its referenced employees resigned on 25 November 2025 within hours of each other, with most resignations supposedly submitted within minutes.

Those departing Aon included Rampersaud, Montalvo, four account executives with up to 20 years’ tenure each and an executive assistant. Aon claims the timing and sequencing of the resignations demonstrates deliberate coordination rather than a coincidence.

The complaint also alleged that two of the employees resigning gave assurances on the morning of their resignations that they were not leaving Aon, despite having already accepted job offers from Howden.

Aon claimed that the group of employees accepted offers with Howden on 20 November 2025 and that the coordinated resignations followed shortly after Rampersaud returned from a business trip to London, which Aon paid for, where he allegedly met Howden Group founder and chief executive David Howden.

‘Top secret’ folder and intercepted boxes

Central to Aon’s lawsuit are allegations that Rampersaud accessed, copied and attempted to remove confidential information shortly before resigning.

The broker’s complaint alleged that in early November 2025, Rampersaud printed documents and saved spreadsheets containing revenue projections, client pipelines and account data in a computer folder labelled “top secret”.

Aon further alleged that on 21 November 2025, seven boxes of documents were shipped from its New York office to Rampersaud’s home address – also in New York – using Aon’s FedEx account.

According to the lawsuit documentation, the boxes contained client schedules of insurance, documents marked ’proprietary and confidential’, peer benchmarking data and account revenue information covering more than 80 clients.

Aon said it intercepted the shipment of boxes before they reached Rampersaud’s home. Five of the shipping labels allegedly listed another Aon employee as the recipient, despite being addressed to Rampersaud’s home.

The complaint also alleged that Montalvo emailed a client list of 55 names to her personal email account the day before resigning.

Wider pattern of behaviour?

Aon claimed in its lawsuit that the staff departures it experienced formed part of a broader pattern linked to Howden’s expansion in the US market.

According to the complaint, more than 45 other Aon employees have resigned in groups to join Howden since September 2025.

The lawsuit also referenced five other legal actions brought by Marsh and Willis against Howden or senior individuals who joined the broker, alleging similar conduct involving team lift-outs and client solicitation.

Aon alleged that in one prior case involving broker Marsh, more than 100 employees and 60 clients were affected.

The complaint stated that Howden was not an active participant in the US retail broker market before 2025 and argued that its market entry has been driven by aggressive recruitment rather than organic growth.

Aon further alleged that Howden offered inducements to departing employees, including three-year salary guarantees and indemnities against legal action, to encourage breaches of restrictive covenants.

The complaint additionally argued that Howden’s own employment agreements contain protections for confidential information similar to those Aon claimed were breached, including restrictions on using client lists, revenue data and recruitment plans.

Aon is seeking injunctions to prevent further solicitation of its employees and clients, to bar the use or disclosure of confidential information and to require the return of all Aon property.

It is also seeking a forensic examination of devices used by the defendants, monetary and punitive damages, legal costs and the disgorgement of compensation paid during what it described as a period of disloyalty.

All allegations cited have been taken from Aon’s published complaint. No court findings have been made at the time of writing.

Insurance Times approached Howden for comment on this situation, however a spokesperson for the broker said: “No comment.”