Asia: The Swedish Club appoints new board members
The Swedish Club announced at its AGM that it has appointed five new board members.
The following were elected, bringing with them a wealth of experience from many sectors of the shipping industry:
- China Merchants Energy Shipping deputy general legal counsel and general manager of the legal department Dr Zou Yingying
- Cosco Shipping Lines deputy managing director Gu Zhongdong
- Costamare Shipping managing director Cpt Thanasis Beis
- Wallenius Marine general counsel Mikael Livijn
- Regional Container Lines owner representative Twinchok Tanthuwanit
Australia: BMS continues expansion with senior broking hire
BMS Group has announced that Mr Danny Gluszkiewicz is joining the growing BMS Australia team as a director of the Australian operations, effective August 2018. Based in Brisbane, he will be an integral part of the national team and report to Mr Andrew Godden, CEO.
Mr Gluszkiewicz joins with 19 years’ experience in the insurance industry, having begun his career as an account executive at QBE in 1999. He subsequently held a succession of senior roles at InterRISK Australia, building expertise in client solutions and advocacy, before becoming managing director of InterRISK Queensland in 2009.
Australia: Zurich names CEO of General Insurance
Zurich Australian Insurance has appointed Mr Tim Plant as CEO of General Insurance, Australia & New Zealand, effective 7 August 2018.
Mr Plant joins the firm from icare, where he was most recently group executive of insurance for New South Wales, which is the largest public-sector self-insurer in Australia. Prior to this, he held positions at QBE, Swiss Re, Sydney Re, QBR Re (London) and Australian Eagle Insurance.
Temporary CEO Chris Waterman will continue to oversee the company’s general insurance operations until Mr Plant’s commencement, which remains subject to regulatory approvals. Following Mr Plant’s commencement, Mr Waterman will transition to his regional responsibilities as head of commercial insurance, based in Singapore.
Australia: XL Catlin appoints portfolio solutions manager
XL Catlin’s insurance operations announced the appointment of Mr Jonathan Moss as portfolio solutions manager for Australia, effective 2 July 2018.
In this role, Mr Moss will be responsible for delivering enhanced portfolio solutions in the region, ensuring business alignment with brokers and managing relationships. He will be based in Sydney.
Mr Moss joins XL Catlin from Zurich Financial Services, where he most recently held the position of commercial state manager for New South Wales, driving all sales and distribution for the state across all product lines. Prior to this, he held various positions on both the distribution and underwriting sides at Chubb and Finn Foster APB Insurance Brokers.
Australia: McLarens expands to Perth
McLarens, the loss adjusting firm specialising in complex and commercial claims, has expanded its property loss adjusting division to Perth with the appointment of Mr Desmond Lee to the role of executive loss adjuster. Perth will be the fifth Australian office for McLarens, after Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney.
A chartered loss adjuster and qualified chartered accountant, Mr Lee brings a wealth of experience in major loss across a range of industries.
Bupa Hong Kong appoints new general manager
Bupa Hong Kong has appointed Mr Andrew Merrilees as general manager. In his new role, Mr Merrilees will focus on comprehensive health solutions in Hong Kong and growth performance across the business. He also sits on the board of Bupa (Asia).
He has over 25 years of experience across insurance and broker businesses in Australia and Singapore. He is a veteran working for global consulting firms and has developed an ability to translate business needs into viable solutions and benefits programmes. Prior to joining Bupa, he led Lockton’s regional employee benefits business across Asia Pacific. He also previously held senior leadership roles with global consultants Aon and health insurer businesses, GU Health and MBF, which is now part of Bupa Australia.
The appointment is currently in the process of being approved after vetting.
Singapore: SRA appoints Keiko Kimura as secretariat manager
The Singapore Reinsurers’ Association (SRA) has boosted its secretariat team with the appointment of Ms Keiko Kimura as secretariat manager. In this newly-created role, Ms Kimura will support the executive director in overseeing the day-to-day operations of the secretariat, with particular focus on the organisation of the annual Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC), for which the SRA is the main organiser. She will also be involved in managing the association’s other activities and events, as well as the secretariat operations.
Prior to joining the SRA, Ms Kimura was the office manager of a major retail chain’s Japan headquarters and had also served as executive secretary to the CEO of the Singapore-based Asian headquarters of a Japanese e-commerce internet company; the president of the Singapore-based Asia-Pacific headquarters of a major automotive manufacturer; as well as the general manager of a chain of luxury serviced apartments in Japan.
Singapore: ArgoGlobal appoints new regional lead
ArgoGlobal has appointed Ms Veronica Grigg as senior executive officer for ArgoGlobal Asia. Ms Grigg is based in the Singapore office, reporting to ArgoGlobal’s head of Europe, Middle East and Asia, Matt Harris.
Ms Grigg brings more than 25 years of industry experience in the Asia Pacific markets to ArgoGlobal. She joins from QBE Asia Pacific where she served as head of distribution, major trading partners. In this role, she was responsible for establishing and enhancing channel, account and partner strategies, and was instrumental in driving growth within the broker, affinity and SME segments. Prior to this, she served as QBE’s global head of distribution where she led teams across Europe, US, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
Global: Aon Reinsurance Solutions appoints leader of global portfolio broking
Mr Andrew Matson has been named leader of Aon’s newly formed global portfolio broking team - a reinsurance solutions unit that will build on the success of established pioneering facilities, while developing new facilities in line with client demand for global (re)insurance risk.
In his new role, Mr Matson will match cedents seeking additional and/or specialist capacity with carriers with a strategic appetite to diversify their current risk profile and gain access to non-correlating risks.
Global portfolio broking will work alongside the newly formed carrier solutions group led by Mr Karl Hennessy. The team will deliver insights into carrier portfolio appetite, guidance on creative treaty structures, and access to diverse sources of risk capital.
Mr Matson will continue to report to reinsurance solutions’ UK CEO Nick Frankland. A