MESSAGE FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

David Bearman Chief Executive Officer

WELCOME TO OUR FIRST EDITION OF AVENTUM WORLD

These are very exciting times for the Group, and I hope all of you have been able to get a feel for that excitement as we have shed our former ‘Direct’ name, and venture forward as Aventum.

I’m extremely proud of how this process has been managed, and of everyone in the organisation for how they have taken these changes in their stride.

I believe that Aventum will give us the strong recognisable brand we need to make a real mark on the global stage. As you will find in this edition, we have already been hiring fantastic individuals to our teams this year, and under the Aventum name we will become even more attractive to marketleading talent.

Supported by all-important central services provided by the Aventum core teams, our broking vertical, Consilium, and underwriting vertical, Rokstone, have continued to go from strength to strength this year. All businesses have shown impressive growth, through both excellence in service and the launch of new products, with big plans for the rest of the year.

So, the message is simply keep doing what you’re doing! The response to Aventum internally and externally has been incredible so far, and if we continue to abide by the Aventum values that have taken us to where we are today, I believe there is nothing we can’t achieve.