Cowden Limited celebrates 50 years

It began in 1960 as a 17 year-old knocking on doors along Perth’s St George’s Terrace looking for work with an accounting firm.

The 17 year-old was Colin Cowden. He had left Hale School and was studying accountancy at night school and while he struck out with accounting firms, he landed a job as a clerk with what was, then, Eagle Star Insurance.

He continued studying at night to earn qualification with the Australian Insurance Institute, the forerunner of today’s Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance.

Today Colin Cowden leads his eponymous firm, Cowden Limited. It is Western Australia’s longest running insurance broking firm and one of only three such firms in Australia to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The young Colin Cowden worked with Eagle Star for four years before being offered a role as a broker with Leslie N Allen in Perth where he spent the next seven years servicing a client base and building his reputation.

He then moved to open a Perth office for Melbourne-based Armith Insurance Brokers before starting his own broking business, encouraged by two friends he’d met at night school.

Those early friends, Roland Bosco and the late Auke Steensma chipped in relatively small financial contributions and offered Colin an office space in West Perth, and Cowden and Associates was incorporated on the 15th of December 1972.

Colin remembers the day.

“I was effectively working out of an old bathroom,” he says. “My wife Judy and I had saved enough money to pay about six months of private and business expenses and I just hoped it would work.”

It certainly worked.

The Steensma and Bosco families remain shareholders to this day in what is now an unlisted public company with more than 60 employees and offices in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

“I am incredibly proud of our company and our people,” says Colin. “To be able to celebrate 50 years of service to our loyal and valued clients gives every one of us an enormous amount of satisfaction.”

Along the journey the firm became Cowden and Walker, and later Cowden Walker Howard as Colin was joined by long-time associates Peter Walker and Ron Howard. It was Ron Howard who had lured the young Colin Cowden to Join Leslie N Allen years earlier.

Colin and Judy began expanding their business with acquisitions in the late 1970s.

“There were a few small brokers in Perth that were struggling at the time as a result of the introduction of state legislation but we saw opportunities and decided to make the investment,” says Colin.

As their business grew in the 1980s they also seized opportunities in Adelaide and Melbourne, again as a result of the introduction of legislation (federal this time) and eventually added a Sydney office.

The expansion moves proved well timed and well executed and led to strong organic growth and a series of targeted acquisitions that continued beyond the turn of the century, including the acquisition of Brian Atkin’s Global Insurance Broking in 2016.

Colin became executive chairman of the company. Atkin became Cowden Limited’s managing director until January 2022 and remains a director of the company along with Judy and Colin, Chris Carr, Trevor Itzstein, Bob Carlier and current CEO Alan Tokeley.

Colin and Judy’s son David and daughter Julie also work in the business, which has more than 70 shareholders, many of whom are long-term employees.

As the Cowden CEO, Alan Tokeley describes Colin as an industry legend, known not only for his longevity but also for his commitment to the industry and his record as an innovator.

“Colin was the first broker to place an environmental policy back in the 1970s,” said Alan.

That policy was for Coogee Chemicals. Fifty years later, they are still a Cowden client.

Colin has also had success as a director of listed companies, perhaps most notably as one of three directors who took effective control of the old OAMPS. In his seven years, along with fellow directors Kingsley Lamont and Brian Austin, they helped guide OAMPS from a $13 million enterprise to its takeover by Wesfarmers for $700 million in 2006.

He was also an original director and shareholder of Steadfast, serving on the board for seven years from the late 1990s.

And his talents have gone beyond the insurance sector as a long-serving non-executive director of Centamin and now a major gold miner focused on projects in Egypt, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.

He was also chairman of former ASX-listed homebuilder Belcrest Corporation.

Away from his still-heavy work schedule Colin is a passionate yachtsman and proud owner of a Viking 30, a Western Australian built family cruiser and racer designed by the legendary Ben Lexcen, when he was still Bob Miller, as a competitive Half Tonner.

He’s currently the proud Patron and life member of the South of Perth Yacht Club and previously served as Club Commodore, Treasurer and, some years back, as Club Junior Captain having started sailing as a teenager.

A relatively heathy 79, Colin Cowden has no plans to retire any time soon and says he looks forward the company’s next 50 years.

“Together we have built a very solid business platform that I sincerely hope serves our clients and the industry for many years to come,” he says.

The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) paid tribute to Cowden’s longevity.

“In times of uncertainty, it is commendable that Cowden Limited have been looking after their clients for over 50 years, and we congratulate them on such an important milestone,” said NIBA Chief Executive Officer Philip Kewin.

There is also praise from Steadfast Group, the largest insurance broker network in Australasia.

“Congratulations to Colin and his team on their 50th anniversary,” said Steadfast Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rob Kelly.

“This is an incredible milestone for any company. Cowden Limited has achieved incredible success due to Colin’s entrepreneurial and strategic vision, hard work and dedication to his team.

“Colin was one of the original brokers who joined Steadfast in 1996 and served on the Steadfast board for several years. He has attended every Steadfast conference and has been a solid sounding board for me on issues that have helped Steadfast to be in the position it is today,” he said.

“With an accounting background, Colin has been a very successful businessman, has a sharp mind and is always challenging the status quo to meet the unique needs of his clients, such as developing his own in-house broking team.

“A very proud Western Australian at heart, Colin has expanded beyond WA to a national footprint, and he has developed his staff to also become successful in business in their own right.”