Howden appoints new group chief financial officer

Howden has appointed Susan Panuccio as its new group chief financial officer, effective 6 January 2026.

Panuccio will bring more than 30 years of global financial leadership experience to the broker’s board as the company pursues its plans for the future.

She will join Howden after more than two decades with News Corp, having spent the last eight years as chief financial officer. Before this, she held senior board and leadership positions at News Corp in the UK and Australia.

Prior to that, Panuccio worked for AngloGold Ashanti and Ansett Australia, having started her career as an accountant with KPMG.

David Howden, chief executive at Howden, said: “After a long and careful search, I am delighted that in Panuccio we have found an incredibly well-respected group chief financial officer with sharp commercial acumen, rich experience of transformation and growth in a US-listed global company and a personal and collegiate approach to building a business.

”I am very much looking forward to working with her as we continue to build Howden.”

Panuccio added: “After a fantastic 20 years with News Corp, the opportunity to join Howden in this next ambitious chapter is genuinely exciting. Howden and the leadership team’s energy and passion really stood out.

“The business model and growth strategy are clearly unique and I am excited to get started.”

Promotion

The move comes as Mark Craig, who has served as group chief financial officer for the past six years, prepares to step into the new role of chief investment officer.

Howden said: “In 2019, when Craig took over the role of chief financial officer, the group had revenue of £725m and 5,000 employees. This has grown to £3.5bn and 23,000 employees.

”During this time, Howden has undertaken more than 200 acquisitions, grown organically at over 14% per annum and completed substantial debt and equity raises. 

“He has been absolutely integral to this success and I’m delighted that his contribution and our partnership will continue as he steps into this new role focusing on our investment activities.”