Howden hires former Willis real estate leader Lombardo

Danielle Lombardo, a former executive at Willis Towers Watson, said Thursday she has joined Howden as vice chair of its U.S. retail operations, marking another high-profile hire since the unit launched last month.

New York-based Ms. Lombardo, previously chair of Willis’ North America real estate, hospitality and leisure division, announced the move on LinkedIn.

She joined Willis from Lockton last year.

London-based Howden has hired more than 250 staff in the U.S. since launching U.S. operations in early August.

Many of the staff came from Marsh, which has sued Howden and several former executives, but it has also recruited from other rivals. Howden said Wednesday it named former Aon executive Mark Peterson as head of construction, infrastructure and surety.

Christine Palomba

More than a dozen former Marsh executives have been appointed as managing directors and to other senior roles at Howden.

Also Thursday, Howden announced that it has hired Christine Palomba, a former Aon executive, as deputy head, natural resources for the U.S.

Previously, she was the U.S. power and renewables practice leader at Aon. She will report to Stuart Adam, head of natural resources, who joined the brokerage from Marsh unit McGriff.