Asia: Beazley strengthens underwriting team
Specialist insurer Beazley has announced the addition of new underwriters to its marine hull, cargo, political risks and specialty lines teams. Mr Song Kwang Hoon joins the company to head up its marine hull, war and builder’s risks business in Asia Pacific, whilst Mr Said Khan is now Asia Regional Head of Cargo.
Mr Ng Teck Siong will work with Mr Gordon Lam, Underwriting Manager for Beazley Singapore in the continued development of specialty lines business in the region, including professional indemnity, D&O and crime. Meanwhile, Mr Andrew Page, political violence underwriter, joins the Asia Pacific team from Beazley’s London office where he has been part of its political risks & contingency team since 2011.
Asia: Chubb unveils P&C risk engineering leadership
Chubb has named Mr Darren Cant as Head of Risk Engineering for Property and Casualty (P&C) in Asia Pacific. He will continue in his role to lead the region’s P&C Risk Engineering Services team, comprising 32 risk engineers based in 10 countries and will also retain his current oversight of the P&C Risk Engineering team in Melbourne, where he is
based.
Reporting to Mr Cant are: Mr John Stabelos, P&C Technical Risk Engineering Manager, Asia Pacific; Mr Justin Leow, P&C Risk Engineering Manager, Asia – South; Mr David Zhou, who remains Head of P&C Risk Engineering, China and will lead the P&C risk engineers based in Shanghai and Hong Kong; Ms Meg Liu, P&C Risk Engineering Manager, Asia – North, who will also provide support to the P&C risk engineering team based in Korea; Mr Kai Jaan Foo, who remains Property Risk Engineering Manager, Malaysia; Mr Peter McKay, P&C Risk Engineering Manager, Australia – Northern Region, and lead for the P&C risk engineering teams in Sydney and Brisbane; Mr John McNamara, Property Account Manager, Australia; and Mr Graham Ramsey who will continue in his role as P&C Risk Engineering Manager, New Zealand.
Asia: Clyde & Co adds new partners to team
Clyde & Co has announced the addition of three new partners in Asia Pacific as part of its global partner promotions effective this month. They are Ms Sapna Jhangiani (Singapore, Disputes), Ms Avryl Lattin (Sydney, Corporate) and Ms Janette McLennan (Sydney, Insurance).
Asia: GC&C announces new underwriting leads
Generali Global Corporate & Commercial (GC&C) Asia has promoted Mr Ken Lai to Chief Underwriting Officer Asia, Commercial Lines whilst Ms Cecilia Chang has joined the company as Head of Financial Lines Underwriting for the region, reporting to Mr Lai.
Mr Lai has 20 years of experience spanning underwriting, broker relations management and strategic portfolio development for P&C insurance business, and previously held roles as Assistant General Manager, Non-life and Division Head of Strategic & Underwriting Support at Generali Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Ms Chang is an underwriting expert with over 20 years of international experience in the insurance industry in Singapore and abroad and prior to joining Generali had held regional casualty & financial lines underwriting roles at various global insurers.
Asia: Euler Hermes appoints new head
Euler Hermes has announced that Mr Holger Schaefer will be its Head of Asia Pacific with effect from 1 June. Currently CEO of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) Pacific with responsibility for Australia & New Zealand, he succeeds Mr Fabrice Desnos who has been appointed the insurer’s Head of Northern Europe.
Australia: Talbot expands financial lines team
Talbot Underwriting Ltd has added Mr David McKenzie and Mr David Jones as class underwriters to its financial lines team. They will be responsible for establishing a local presence for the underwriter’s financial lines business in Australia and drive growth in the region.
Mr McKenzie brings more than 25 years of experience in insurance, alternative insurance products and financial markets to the company and most recently served as State Manager of Queensland for Axis Specialty Australia. Meanwhile, Mr Jones has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance and banking markets and most recently served as State Manager of Victoria at Axis Specialty Australia.
Hong Kong: Manulife appoints IT head
Manulife Hong Kong has appointed Mr Mark Van den Broek as Vice President and Chief Information Officer. He will lead the Hong Kong Information Service (“HKIS”) team in the planning and implementation of organisation IT systems in support of the insurer’s local business operations.
Hong Kong: New CEO for Sun Life
Sun Life Hong Kong has appointed Mr Jason Dehni as CEO effective this month, taking over from Mr Wim Hekstra who is returning to the Netherlands. Mr Dehni joins the company from Manulife Asia where he was most recently the Chief Distribution Officer & Chief Marketing Officer.
Singapore: AIG adds independent director to Board
AIG Singapore has appointed Mr Michael Bishop to the Board for a three-year term effective 16 March 2016. An industry veteran, Mr Bishop was the CEO of AXA Asia Pacific from 2008 to 2015, where he was responsible for both its life and non-life businesses in Asia.
Singapore: New integrated maritime and dispute resolution consultancy launched
A new maritime and dispute resolution consultancy named LWP.Sg Consultants has been set up by Mr Lee Wai Pong, former executive director of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration.
Based in Singapore, Mr Lee has received two appointments through the new consultancy: 1) Regional Advisor to Thomas Miller (SEA) Pte Ltd, and 2) Consultant to the Singapore Mediation Centre.
Singapore: Tokio Marine Kiln expands underwriting team
Tokio Marine Kiln has expanded its team with the appointment of Mr Jean-Francois Rossetto as a construction and engineering underwriter. Based in its Singapore office, he will be responsible for underwriting construction and engineering (re)insurance in Southeast Asia as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
Global: AXA announces leadership changes
AXA has announced that its CEO, Mr Henri de Castries will retire and step down from the Board on 1 September 2016, after close to 17 years at the helm. Following a recent Board decision to separate the functions of Board Chairman and CEO, Mr de Castries will be succeeded by Mr Thomas Buberl as CEO and Mr Denis Duverne as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mr Buberl was recently appointed Deputy CEO and will be appointed CEO and Director of the company on 1 September. Meanwhile, Mr Duverne will be appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. Since April 2010, he has been a member of the Board and Deputy CEO of the insurer.
Global: Specialist broker adds director to team
Specialist binding authority broker Capsicum Delegated Authority, has announced that Mr Daniel Snowden will be joining its team as a director, based in London. He will be responsible for growing the firm’s offering across multiple territories, particularly Asia, Australia, Scandinavia and South Africa.
Global: Crawford & Company reveals new executive team
Global claims management specialist Crawford & Company, has revealed its new international management structure, with a fully aligned “G6” executive team and shared services leadership in place. The G6 team comprise Mr Andrew Bart, CEO, Asia Pacific; Mr John Jenner, Commercial Director, International; Mr Clive Nicholls, CEO, UK & Ireland; Mr Stephen Pearsall, Finance Director, International; Mr Kieran Rigby, CEO, Europe & Latin America; and Mr Pat Van Bakel, CEO, Canada.
Meanwhile, the International Shared Services team include Mr Benedict Burke, Chief Client Officer, International; Mr Phil Churchman, Chief Information Officer, International; Ms Pauline Holroyd, Vice President of Human Resources, International; Mr Mike Jones, Chief Operating Officer, UK & Ireland; and Mr Chris Pinney, General Counsel, International.
Global: dacadoo appoints Vice President Sales for North America
Digital health engagement software company dacadoo has announced that Mr Matt Park has joined dacadoo americas, Inc. as Vice President Sales for North America, based out of Boston. Mr Park has a long and successful track record selling Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to clients in the USA and Europe and has successfully led start-up companies through fast growth and successful exits.
Global: Ironshore appoints Marine Re chief
Mr David Callaghan has been appointed President of Marine Re and will be responsible for overseeing Ironshore’s global marine treaty portfolio. Most recently Vice President and Senior Treaty Underwriter for Marine Re since the division was established in 2009, he has more than 20 years’ experience in the specialty marine insurance sector.
Global: New HR lead for Munich Re
Mr Michael Hinssen has been appointed Head of Human Resources at Munich Re, reporting directly to Mr Joachim Wenning, the Board member responsible for Human Resources. In his new position, Mr Hinssen is responsible for the worldwide human resources interests of 15,000 staff members in the reinsurance group and the Munich Health division.
For China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Mr Tony Tan has been appointed Head of Human Resources for Greater China at Munich Re. Prior to his appointment, Mr Tan has served in similar capacities at Willis, Prudential and Aviva.
Global: PartnerRe unveils new Chairman, senior appointments
PartnerRe has named Mr John Elkann as Chairman of the Board, whilst Mr Emmanuel Clarke has been named President and CEO of the company, subject to regulatory approvals. Mr Elkann is also Chairman and CEO of Italian investment giant EXOR SpA, and Mr Clarke, who was formerly CEO of PartnerRe Global and a member of the executive management team since 2010, has been with the company for 19 years, during which time he was instrumental in building its global reinsurance business.
Meanwhile, Mr Mario Bonaccorso, formerly Managing Director at EXOR, has also been appointed Chief Financial Officer of PartnerRe, taking over from Mr Bill Babcock.
Global: Maritime Cook Islands boosts presence in Europe
Ship registry Maritime Cook Islands (MCI) has named Mr William Hastings as a Technical Manager serving the European region, and in so doing significantly boosting MCI’s presence in Europe. He will be based in Cyprus.
Global: Providence names new executive director
Providence has appointed Mr Peter Drummond to the new role of Executive Director – Global Strategy. In his role, he will be responsible for the global strategic planning for the brand, including the review of the company’s strategy in key territories such as Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Global: XL Catlin appoints new lead for client & broker management
XL Catlin has appointed Mr Philippe Gouraud as Head of Strategic Client and Broker Management for its Insurance segment. He reports to Ms Kelly Lyles, Chief Regional Officer, Insurance. Alongside all aspects of client and broker management, Mr Gouraud will specifically help drive best-in-class service in the areas of global programmes and captives.
Meanwhile, Mr David Guest has been appointed as Country Manager for Singapore. In this role, he will be responsible for the development and growth of XL Catlin’s insurance business locally, in addition to his current role as Regional Leader for Crisis Management insurance in Asia Pacific.
Global: TigerRisk adds ILS expert to team
Reinsurance broker and risk/capital management adviser TigerRisk Partners has appointed Mr Philipp Kusche as Partner and Global Head of Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) and Capital Solutions.
In his new role reporting to Mr Tony Ursano, President, he will develop next-generation ILS and other insurance risk-to-capital solutions.
Obituary
Korean Re Chairman passes away at 90
Mr Hyuk-Hee Won , Chairman of Korean Re has passed away peacefully on 29 March. He was 90.
He is survived by his oldest son Mr Jong-Ik Won (Adviser to Korean Re), second son Mr Young Won, the youngest son Mr Jong-Gyu Won (CEO of Korean Re) and two daughters (Ms Jong-In Won and Ms Gye-Young Won).
The late Mr Won had played an important role in growing the company into one of the top 10 reinsurers in the world, demonstrating his management philosophy that centred on accountability and performance. He became the majority shareholder of the reinsurer in February 1998 and had served as its Honorary Chairman, Chairman (Director) and the Chair of the Board of Directors.
Asia Insurance Review conveys our deepest condolences to the family of the late Mr Hyuk-Hee Won.