Profile
“Follow your intuition, drive it and be relentless about it. Energy and relentlessness matter more than people give them credit for”
Howard Pepper,
Momentum Broker Solutions
There are people who end up in insurance, and there are people who end up building something from it. Howard Pepper is firmly in the second camp. The founder of Momentum has been named an Industry Icon 2026 by Insurance Business UK — recognition that speaks not just to his professional track record, but to the way he has quietly reshaped what a broker network can look and feel like.
Pepper is disarmingly modest about the journey. “Nobody really chooses insurance,” he says. “But there comes a point where you realise it is less about insurance and more about business, and that changes everything.”
It’s a distinction he draws with the ease of someone who has lived both sides of it – the corporate years, the learning curve, the gradual accumulation of ambition – before eventually taking the leap to build something of his own.
That leap became Momentum. Asked about his single biggest achievement, his answer is immediate and unadorned: “Starting Momentum. That is the one.”
For Pepper, that act of creation back in 2010 – of generating employment, controlling one’s agenda, building something that genuinely matters – represents the realisation of everything that had been quietly brewing through his earlier career. What makes his story particularly compelling is that it wasn’t the product of some grand plan.
“I always wanted more responsibility, but I never had a fixed plan,” he admits. “I followed the opportunities that felt right.” In an industry not always known for agility, there is something refreshing about a leader who prizes instinct as highly as strategy. “Follow your intuition, drive it and be relentless about it,” he says. “Energy and relentlessness matter more than people give them credit for.”
Press House, Narborough Business Park, Enderby LE194XT
(312) 784 6010
john.jennings@jencapgroup.com
www.linkedin.com/in/howard-pepper-mbs/
momentumsolutions.co.uk
Howard Pepper
Managing Director
Momentum Broker Solutions
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
“Retaining the culture you set out to build in the first place, as the business grows, is the challenge that never really goes away”
Howard Pepper,
Momentum Broker Solutions
1982–2004
2005–2009
2010–2017
2010–Present
2016–2026
Regional Managing Director at Marsh
1982–2004
Managing Director at Oval Group
2005–2009
Non-executive Director at Bell & Co.
2010–2017
Managing Director at Momentum Broker Solutions
2010–Present
CEO and Founding Member of Jencap
2016–2026
Milestones
As a founding member of WOW! (Women. Opportunity. Winning.), an employee resource group created for all women of Ryan Specialty, Phillips Topping has long championed for women in the industry.
“It’s very important to set an example and to not only inspire but mentor other females,” she adds.
In addition to her sharp marketing eye, the key to Phillips Topping’s success lies in her high-energy approach and positive attitude.
“As the leader of a team, it’s important to motivate and encourage your team members. People work very hard and do their best and it’s important to recognize these efforts. For my career overall, my attitude has been one of curiosity. The more you can learn, the better you’ll understand the business, and then the deeper your knowledge will become, making you a better team member.”
Chief underwriting officer of executive risk at Chubb
President of financial insurance solutions at Kemper
Chief underwriting officer at Axis Capital
CEO of global Insurance at Endurance
CEO of global Insurance at Sompo International
But Pepper is quick to push back on the idea that Momentum’s success is a personal achievement. When asked what accounts for it, his answer barely pauses on himself. “It is absolutely not about any individual. We have created a really good team who have been completely committed to what we are building.”
He speaks about culture with the conviction of someone who has watched it make or break organisations from the inside. “Retaining the culture you set out to build in the first place, as the business grows, is the challenge that never really goes away.”
On the industry’s future, he is characteristically straight. “We can be a bit of an industry of dinosaurs and the world is changing fast.” AI, shifting client expectations, the pace of technological change – Pepper doesn’t pretend these are problems for someone else to solve. Staying relevant, he suggests, is what keeps you honest.
As for legacy, he wants something that outlasts him: “a long-term sustainable business that creates employment and supports entrepreneurial people.” He’s prouder, he says, of the people Momentum employs and the businesses it has helped launch than anything else. “The people and the businesses we support, that is the legacy that matters.”