AXA appoints Gordon Watson CEO of Asia
AXA has appointed Mr Gordon Watson CEO of Asia, which includes Japan, and a Member of the Management Committee of the AXA Group. He will assume the role on 1 Jan 2018 and will report to Mr Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA.
Mr Watson has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, the majority of which was spent with AIG/AIA. From 2011 to 2017, he was Regional Chief Executive of AIA Group’s operations in Hong Kong & Macau, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand.
He replaces Mr Jean-Louis Laurent Josi as CEO, Asia, AXA. The insurer had announced in June that Mr Josi had decided to step down from his executive responsibilities. The Interim CEO, Asia, AXA is Ms Doina Palici-Chehab.
Asia: XL Catlin appoints new Global Program & Captive Regional Director
XL Catlin’s insurance operations has appointed Ms Shiwei Jin as Global Program & Captive Regional Director, Asia. In this new role, Ms Jin, who has over 10 years’ experience in the industry, will be responsible for driving Global Program and Captive business as well as developing strong relationships with XL Catlin’s broker partners and clients across Asia.
She takes on this expanded role while continuing her position as a key member of the Global Program Centre of Excellence team. She has relocated to XL Catlin’s Hong Kong office from London and will continue reporting to Ms Sonja Ochsenkuehn, recently appointed Head of Global Programs for XL Catlin, based in New York.
Asia: Chubb creates small commercial division for SMEs
Chubb has announced the establishment of a division in Asia Pacific dedicated to the risk management needs of Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Three new appointments have been made for this Small Commercial Division:
Mr Michael Cellura, Head of Small Commercial Division, Asia Pacific. Mr Cellura has been with Chubb for more than 10 years. He was previously at Chubb in Japan leading the Property & Casualty business for four years. Mr Cellura is now tasked with bringing to bear the full capabilities of Chubb’s product innovation and channel expertise in agency, bancassurance, broker and digital channels, to serve the needs of small commercial businesses.
Mr Kieran Brennan, Head of Product Development, Small Commercial Division, Asia. Mr Brennan will focus on product design as well as the development of processes and service for SMEs. An underwriter since he began his career in the UK more than 20 years ago, he was previously with an international insurer as their Asia Pacific Chief Underwriting Officer for the SME Division.
Mr Rob Cameron, Head of Actuarial, Small Commercial Division, Asia Pacific. Mr Cameron has deep actuarial experience having worked at Chubb for over 15 years. In his new role, he will further develop new actuarial models specifically for SMEs to ensure Chubb’s value proposition is customised for this market segment.
Asia: AIG names new head of Liabilities and Financial Lines
AIG announced that Mr Scott Spaven, who is currently Head of Client & Broker Engagement (CBE) for Singapore and Southeast Asia, is stepping in to take on the additional role of Head of Liabilities and Financial Lines (LFL) for Singapore and Southeast Asia with effect from 1 December 2017.
Mr Spaven takes over from Mr Roy Wilmoth II, who is moving on to a new role as the Head of Multinational Client Servicing, North America.
His new responsibilities will see him drive profitable growth across the LFL business, improve operational performance and create industry-focused client solutions. He will report to Ms Claudia Salem, Chief Executive Officer of AIG Singapore and Head of Southeast Asia.
Asia: Zurich grows regional commercial hub with new Property and Energy appointments
Zurich Singapore is continuing to expand its commercial insurance hub based in Singapore with new senior appointments for its Asia Pacific property and energy divisions.
Mr John McCully has been appointed Head of Property, Energy and Technical Risk (“PET”) for Asia Pacific. Mr McCully, who is currently the Head of Property and Engineering of Zurich Australia’s General Insurance Business, will transition to the new role with effect from 1 January 2018.
Zurich has also appointed Mr Alex Howell as the new Line of Business Head, Downstream Energy. This appointment is also with effect from 1 January 2018, and Mr Howell will lead the Downstream Energy risk underwriting for Zurich across APAC, reporting directly to Mr McCully.
Asia: Willis Towers Watson strengthens team in North Asia with P&C hire
Willis Towers Watson has appointed Mr Evariste Yeung as Head of Property and Casualty, North Asia. He is based in Shanghai and reports to Mr Richard Collis, Managing Director for Willis Towers Watson’s Insurance Consulting and Technology business in Asia Pacific.
In what is a newly created divisional role, he is responsible for growing the North Asia general insurance consulting practice. This involves developing new business opportunities and leading the team to deliver excellent results for clients, particularly across China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan markets. This North Asia role supplements the recent appointment of Mr David Maneval, leading Property and Casualty (P&C) for South-east Asia.
His role also includes a regional remit to grow the general insurance mergers and acquisitions practice across Asia Pacific.
Asia: Ironshore Insurance expands Political Risk & Trade Credit team with new hire
Ironshore Insurance Ltd, Singapore Branch, is expanding its Political Risk & Trade Credit team in Singapore with the appointment of Mr Sam Lim to serve as Underwriter, Political Risk & Trade Credit, Asia Pacific.
He will report to Ms Boo Hui Yun, Managing Director, Ironshore Asia Pacific. Mr Lim joins Ironshore from AIG.
Asia: LOC Group expands team in Malaysia and China
Marine & engineering consultancy LOC has opened its Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur – its 12th office in the Asia Pacific region; and its 35th globally. The office will be headed by Mr Faisharul Arman Abdul Latiff who has been appointed as Managing Director.
Mr Faisharul joins LOC from Rosen where he previously held the roles of Regional General Manager and Business Development Manager in their Integrity Solutions division.
Mr Arifin Marzuki, who joins as Director, was from Scientige and before that, he was from Petronas.
The company has also appointed Mr Ke Wan to lead its team in China. Mr Donny Ng, after 12 successful years in starting and developing LOC in China, will return to Singapore to become the Business Development Director for LOC in Asia Pacific.
Mr Ke Wan joins LOC from Bureau Veritas (BV) where he was a member of BV’s China Management Committee. With more than 10 years’ experience, his remit is to spearhead LOC’s future expansion in the various markets the company serves across China.
Australia: Allianz appoints Chief Technical Officer
Allianz Australia has appointed Ms Donna Walker as Chief Technical Officer with effect from 5 December 2017.
Ms Walker joins Allianz from Insurance Australia Group (IAG). She has more than 18 years of experience spanning a variety of roles from claims, underwriting and pricing, reinsurance and actuarial services.
Australia: RMS strengthens client support with new office
RMS has opened a new office in Sydney, Australia, as part of its drive to support clients’ expansion in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
The office’s managing director is Dr Pierre Wiart, who will be responsible for client relationships and market development in Australia and New Zealand.
The focus of the office will be to help (re)insurers with the adoption of new models and to advise the region’s superannuation funds as they invest in insurance-linked securities (ILS).
Hong Kong: DLA Piper appoints new partner and head of employment team
DLA Piper has announced that Ms Helen Colquhoun has joined as a partner and Head of the Employment Team in Hong Kong.
Ms Colquhoun has over 10 years of experience practicing in London, New York and Hong Kong and she is qualified in all three jurisdictions. She was previously Special Counsel at Withers Hong Kong, where she led the Employment team.
Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated announced the hiring of Mr K.S. Gopalakrishnan (Gopal) as the country CEO for RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada - India Branch (RGA India), subject to the approval of IRDAI.
Mr Gopalakrishnan, who has over 30 years of experience in the life insurance industry, joins RGA on 1 December. In his most recent role, he was the Managing Director and CEO for Aegon Life Insurance, India.
Pakistan: IAP elects office-bearers
Mr Muhammad Rahat Sadiq, CEO, United Insurance; Mr Syed Kazim Hasan, COO, TPL Insurance and Mr Shabbir Gulamali, CEO, Habib Insurance, have been elected unopposed as Chairman, Senior Vice Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively, of The Insurance Association of Pakistan for the year 2017-18.
The election results were announced at the 56th Annual General Meeting of the Insurance Association of Pakistan. The following were elected as members of the Executive Committee: Mr Mahmood Lotia, EFU General Insurance; Mr M. Faisal Siddiqui, Sindh insurance;
Mr Ihtsham Ul Haq Qureshi, Asia Insurance; Mr Afzal-ur-Rahman, Century Insurance.
Manulife appoints Singapore CEO
Manulife has appointed Dr Khoo Kah Siang as CEO for Manulife Singapore. He will join Manulife’s Asia Executive Committee and report directly to Manulife Asia CEO, Mr Anil Wadhwani. His appointment is effective from 9 February 2018, subject to any regulatory approvals.
Dr Khoo will be responsible for the Company’s operations in Singapore, including its life insurance, wealth management and retirement solutions businesses.
Dr Khoo joins Manulife from a very successful 12-year career at Great Eastern. Most recently, he was Senior Managing Director, Strategic Business Development and Regional Bancassurance, responsible for growing its businesses across Southeast Asia.
Singapore: Qatar Re announces the appointment of Chief Executive
Qatar Re has appointed Mr Manik Sethi as Chief Executive of its Singapore branch. Effective as of 13 November 2017, he will succeed Mr Micky Lee who has decided to pursue other opportunities outside of the company.
Mr Sethi joined Qatar Re in 2016 and was Global Head of Facultative Marine. He has over 11 years of underwriting experience gained from working in various multinational insurers and reinsurers.
FWD Group has appointed Ms Poramasiri Manolamai as CEO designate for FWD Thailand, effective 1 January 2018 and subject to regulatory approval.
Ms Manolamai will lead FWD’s growing business in Thailand to drive the delivery of its technology-driven customer-led strategy.
Ms Manolamai brings over 25 years’ experience in the Thai insurance industry to FWD. She will work closely with the incumbent CEO of FWD Thailand, Mr Mike Plaxton through a leadership transition period until her appointment is effective on 1 January 2018. Mr Plaxton will be retiring in 2018 after over 48 years in the industry, half of which have been in Asia.
Global: AIG names Chris Townsend as CEO
AIG has announced that Mr Chris Townsend will join the company as CEO, International General Insurance.
In this newly created role, Mr Townsend will lead the International operations of AIG’s General Insurance business, with responsibility for executing its growth strategy and building on the company’s extensive international footprint to support a profitable, client focused organisation. He will report to Mr Peter Zaffino, CEO, General Insurance, as a member of the General Insurance Executive Leadership Team and is expected to join the company in the first quarter of 2018.
Mr Townsend has over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. He previously served as president of MetLife’s Asia region. Mr Townsend had joined MetLife from AIG, where he held senior roles with increasing responsibility based out of London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and Hong Kong.
Global: AXIS Reinsurance introduces new CEO
AXIS has appointed Mr Steve Arora as the CEO of AXIS Re. Mr Arora joins the company from Swiss Re where he spent 18 years in a variety of senior positions, most recently as Head of Casualty Reinsurance and as a member of the Reinsurance Executive Committee. He has extensive international experience and leadership capabilities and has been recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.
Mr Arora, who will lead AXIS Capital’s $2.2 billion USD reinsurance business, will become a member of the Company’s Executive Committee where he will report to President and CEO Mr Albert Benchimol.In addition, the company announced that AXIS Re Interim CEO Mr Jan Ekberg will resume his previous role as President and Chief Underwriting Officer of AXIS Re Europe upon Arora’s formal appointment in January 2018.
Global: LIMRA and LOMA updates board of directors for 2018
LIMRA and LOMA has announced the election of Mr Michael J. Doughty, president and CEO, Manulife Canada, as chair of the LL Global board of directors for 2018. Mr Doughty succeeds Mr Rino D’Onofrio, president and CEO, RBC Life Insurance Company.
Mr Brandon D. Carter, chairman and president, USAA Life Insurance Company, was elected vice chair and will succeed Doughty as chair in 2019.
Global: PartnerRe appoints new Chief Risk and Actuarial Officer
PartnerRe Ltd has appointed Mr Turab Hussain as Chief Risk and Actuarial Officer, effective 4 December 2017.
As a member of PartnerRe’s executive management team, Mr Hussain will have executive responsibility for risk management, capital modelling and reserving, and will be based in PartnerRe’s Stamford office.
Mr Hussain has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industries. He joins PartnerRe from The Hartford Financial Services Group, where he has served as Chief Insurance Risk Officer since 2014.
Mr Hussain succeeds Mr Marvin Pestcoe who, as previously announced, will retire in 2018, after working to ensure a smooth transition.
Global: Dr Ludger Arnoldussen joins RMS to strengthen Its position in European market
RMS announced that the seasoned insurance executive, Dr Ludger Arnoldussen, is joining the company as it extends its commitment to European markets, and to Germany in particular. Dr Arnoldussen will be working with RMS as a senior managing director within the RMS client service organisation, led globally by RMS president, Mr Mike Pritula.
Dr Arnoldussen arrives at RMS with a distinguished track record in business development in both the insurance and reinsurance sectors, including as a member of the Board of Management at Munich Re, and the head of its German and Asia-Pacific divisions.
Global: SCOR Global Life establishes a new executive leadership team
SCOR Global Life has announced the creation of a new Executive Leadership Team. Under the leadership of Mr Paolo De Martin, CEO of SCOR Global Life, the new Executive Leadership Team includes:
- Mr Simon Pearson, deputy CEO of SCOR Global Life, as Head of Global Markets, overseeing the implementation of SCOR Global Life’s strategy at regional level while leveraging strong global capabilities. Mr Pearson is based in London.
- Ms Brona Magee as Head of Client Solutions, ensuring a suite of innovative solutions is available to SCOR Global Life’s clients. She is based in Dublin.
- Mr Bruno Latourrette as Chief Knowledge Officer and Chief Actuary, focusing on expanding the knowledge of risk for the benefit of SCOR Global Life and its clients. He is based in Paris.
- Ms Corinne Trocellier as Chief Operating Officer, enabling strong delivery capabilities through the investments in technology and the continuous focus on talent. She is based in Paris.
- Mr Michael Breuer as Chief Financial Officer, driving the strategic alignment of performance metrics and intensifying SCOR Global Life’s value creation focus. He is based in Cologne.
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