Acquinex bolsters senior leadership team, hiring Josh Cowen as CEO

Acquinex, the specialist financial lines Managing General Agent, has strengthened its leadership team with a series of key appointments as it looks to capitalise on recent market momentum. Both co-founders Chris Jackson and Chris Thompson will move into new roles within PIB Group, as Josh Cowen joins the Acquinex business this week as CEO. Alongside Josh joining the business, Henry Pearson has been appointed as Head of UK – W&I and Matthew Andrews joins as Head of Title.

Josh Cowen joins Acquinex from Chubb, where he was Senior Vice President, International Transactional Risk. His experience in the insurance and MGA sector has seen him hold roles at Aviva, AIG and Fusion Specialty. He will report directly into PIB Group’s specialty business and will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the business.

With Josh Cowen’s arrival, Chris Jackson moves into a newly created role responsible for PIB Group’s Specialty MGA strategy. This role will see him focus on the company’s growth strategy into broader Specialty markets, which began earlier this year as he led the acquisition of Litica. Both Acquinex and Litica will report into Chris Jackson as specialist brands leading niche markets. Chris Thompson will assume a head of product development role within PIB Group’s wider MGA businesses.

Henry Pearson joined Acquinex in June 2025 from Liberty Global Transaction Solutions, where he was most recently Head of UK, CEE and MEA. With a legal background, Pearson moved into the insurance sector more than 10 years ago. He has since held roles at Ambridge Europe and Pembroke Managing Agency before joining Liberty Mutual.

Matthew Andrews joined Acquinex as Head of Title in May 2025. An experienced underwriter across the UK and EEA, Andrews was most recently at Aviva, where he was a senior member of the Title team. He was responsible for launching and growing Aviva’s European underwriting team as well as the creation of a M&A and Title workstream. In his role at Acquinex, Andrews will focus on the integration of Title into the Warranty & Indemnity (W&I) processes in every jurisdiction.

Chris Jackson, Co-Founder at Acquinex, says, “As we enter the next stage of our growth journey, it’s critical that we have the right people to drive forward the business. We’ve invested heavily into our senior team this year, and we’re already seeing the appointments of Henry and Matthew paying dividends.

“Josh joining as CEO is a huge win for Acquinex and our clients. He has a proven track record working for international teams in large-scale companies, and I look forward to working alongside him as he leads and scales the core business.”

Josh Cowen, CEO at Acquinex, says, “As the M&A market continues to evolve, the need for accessible transactional risk and specialty insurance products is more important than ever before. There’s never been a more exciting time to join Acquinex as the business looks towards its next phase of growth, product offerings and global expansion. Acquinex has consistently demonstrated best-in-class service for its target market along with market-leading innovation – this is why it boasts such impressive client, broker and capital relationships. I’m excited for everything that the future holds.”

Image: Acquinex

Robert Welbourn Robert Welbourn is a contributing reporter for Claims Media. His background is in banking and finance; he has worked for a number of high street banks and trading platforms. He's also a published author and freelance writer and editor.