Who owns HWS Specialty?
HWS Specialty is owned by Steadfast (Australia, ASX: SDF).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Steadfast Group Limited Appendix 4E and Annual Report FY26, Steadfast Group Limited (ASX), 25 August 2026. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Steadfast Group Limited reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇦🇺 Australia, Sydney
- Origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Founded
- 1982
- Category
- Finance & insurance › Insurance › Property & casualty insurance
- Parent ticker
- ASX: SDF
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About HWS Specialty
HWS Specialty, previously branded H.W. Wood, was founded in 1982 and has been a Lloyd's broker since 2003, according to Steadfast's reports. The FY25 report says Steadfast acquired 100% of H.W. Wood in December 2024 and the business was rebranded HWS Specialty.
Ownership timeline of HWS Specialty
Where HWS Specialty sits in Steadfast
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Steadfast ownership tree →
See the full Steadfast brand portfolio (6) →
Other brands owned by Steadfast
Steadfast controls 6 brands on Brandtree, 6 of them in finance & insurance.
Also in finance & insurance
Other brands in property & casualty insurance, and who owns them
The 55 brands in property & casualty insurance on Brandtree belong to 41 owners. The largest is AUB Group, with 4; Steadfast has 3.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Austbrokers | AUB Group | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| nib Travel | nib | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| Hastings | Sampo | 🇫🇮 Finland |
| Allstate | Allstate | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Liberty Specialty Markets | Liberty Mutual | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Evanston Insurance | Markel Group | 🇺🇸 United States |
| QIC | Qatar Insurance Company | 🇶🇦 Qatar |
| AA Insurance | Suncorp Group | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Every brand in property & casualty insurance and its owner →
About the owner: Steadfast
Steadfast is a publicly listed company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Brandtree records 6 brands under its control, and it is listed as ASX: SDF.
Steadfast Group Limited's FY26 annual report gives its ASX code as SDF and describes insurance broker networks and a group of underwriting agencies in Australasia, the USA and London. The FY25 report records a Sydney registered office and an ASX listing in 2013, and the FY26 report says the head office relocated in March 2026.
🇬🇧 HWS Specialty and other British brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 543 brands that began in the United Kingdom. 282 of them (52%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, HWS Specialty among them.
- Hastings — Sampo 🇫🇮
- ICE Futures Europe — ICE 🇺🇸
- Liberty Specialty Markets — Liberty Mutual 🇺🇸
- Movo — AUB Group 🇦🇺
- Prudential (Asia and Africa) — Prudential plc 🇬🇧
- Standard Life — Standard Life 🇬🇧
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of HWS Specialty?
The parent company of HWS Specialty is Steadfast, a publicly listed company headquartered in Australia.
Is HWS Specialty British or Australian?
HWS Specialty originated in the United Kingdom in 1982, but it is owned today by Steadfast, which is headquartered in Australia. So HWS Specialty is a British-origin brand under Australian ownership.
Is HWS Specialty still owned by Steadfast?
Yes. As of 9 October 2026, HWS Specialty is still owned by Steadfast. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Steadfast Group Limited Appendix 4E and Annual Report FY26 — Steadfast Group Limited (ASX), Annual report, published 25 August 2026; retrieved 9 October 2026.
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