Howden’s Shweta Swaroop pushes pay data transparency in insurance

Clear disclosure drives accountability and actionable change to plug the gender gap.

UK-based Howden Group Holdings’ Asia unit is pressing for greater transparency in pay and promotions across the insurance sector as persistent gender gaps continue to hinder female leadership.

Shweta Swaroop, general counsel at Howden Asia, is calling for granular reporting on salary and promotion data, arguing that clear disclosure drives accountability and actionable change. “When it is broken down by gender, it shows disparities more clearly.,” she told Insurance Asia. “Transparency creates accountability, and accountability drives action.”

At Howden Asia, flexible work arrangements are considered a “retention and performance tool rather than a perk,” she said, with Howden resisting blanket return-to-office mandates whilst prioritising purposeful presence to support employee well-being.

Swaroop describes her move to Singapore as a career turning point.

“It was a steep learning curve, starting from scratch after being in an established job in India,” she said via Zoom. “I had to settle professionally in Singapore, away from family,” she added, noting that dealing with diverse teams shaped her resilience, empathy, and appreciation for inclusion.

Before her role as general counsel for Asia, Swaroop was regional legal counsel. She also brings experience from Manulife Singapore, Allocated Bullion Solutions, and various government and private law roles in India.

Here’s the rest of the interview.

How has your idea of success changed since taking on senior leadership roles?
"Earlier in my career, success was about building strong technical judgement and delivering well on individual matters. I always felt that success was largely an individual concept for me—the quality of my work product, the deals I was closing, and any recognition I was receiving. I measured myself against my peers on those metrics. 

As I have evolved in my career and in my current role, I increasingly measure my success by the culture and work environment I create for my team and how I enable them to make sound and independent decisions. It is almost entirely about others now rather than about me, and my success is measured by what my team members are developing within the legal function and genuinely enabling the business, keeping in mind different backgrounds and perspectives and helping them thrive."

How does the company ensure fairness in leadership promotions?
"Rather than an individual effort, it is an organisational effort, and we have kept it balanced rather than favouring one group over another. Personally, supporting women in building and advancing their careers is important to me, and where I can, I make it a priority to create opportunities for them to step into leadership roles—it is also about paying it forward.

From an organisational perspective, we have launched diversity training for hiring managers to raise awareness of unconscious bias and review recruitment, talent identification, development, rewards, and promotions through a diversity lens, with rewards and promotions anchored on skill and demonstrable performance.

Early in the financial year, we encourage setting measurable goals so we can evaluate advancement and progress, measuring midway and at year-end to ensure advancement is based on competency. Recently, the group ran a campaign celebrating female leaders across the organisation. Their stories were published transparently, encouraging junior women employees, and I was part of that campaign."

How does diversity in leadership boost business performance?
"It’s an ever-evolving process and gradually adds value rather than an overnight change. If you have diversity at the leadership level, it deliberately creates space for multiple viewpoints within meetings and ensures all ideas are examined from different angles before being put into action.

Our leaders reflect this behaviour and walk the talk, boosting learning and creativity rather than penalising mistakes, and they also connect insights across the organisation instead of relying on a one-dimensional perspective, which helps improve functional gaps, coordinate better, and reduce costly blind spots.

Diversity and inclusion are critical too. We place value on ongoing conversation, challenge, and adaptability in a fast-moving industry such as insurance broking. In our Singapore retail business, about 60% of senior management is women, highlighting our commitment to applying a diversity lens to hiring, people development, and building an inclusive workplace. These operational and organisational habits gradually reflect in financial performance, as making room for creativity, not penalising mistakes, and giving preference to diverse viewpoints shows results over time."

If you could change one industry practice overnight to speed up gender equality, what would it be?
"In any job, there has to be a sense of self-fulfilment, growth, financial stability, and feeling appreciated. Keeping that as the baseline, if I could change something in the industry, I would mandate transparency in pay and promotion data. Any opacity is an enemy to equity. Publishing granular gender data on pay gaps, promotion rates, and representation shows disparities clearly. Transparency creates accountability, and accountability drives action.

I would also normalise mentorship, sponsorship, and early access to high-impact work for women, ensuring opportunities are provided equitably. Whenever I speak to younger women lawyers, I underscore that every room you walk into, you must walk in knowing you belong there. Women should not wait to be discovered. Success comes from a combination of hard work, networking, visibility, mentors, and allies."