Australia: Aon launches new cyber solution group
Aon has appointed trusted cyber adviser Chris McLaughlin to lead its newly established cyber solutions group.
The cyber solutions group will bring together its cyber consulting and insurance solutions to meet the evolving risk needs of its clients in Australia.
Mr McLaughlin joins Aon as director, cyber solutions group in early May. He has a long career in cyber security and risk management supporting leading organisations in EMEA and previously led the cyber transformation and strategy team at PwC, specialising in providing cyber security consulting services to some of Australia’s largest companies.
In his new role, he will expand its global offering into the Australian market, growing the local team and building additional solutions.
Asia: Willis Towers Watson names head of capital, science and policy
Willis Towers Watson has announced that that Mr Augusto Hidalgo has joined as head of capital, science and policy in Southeast Asia.
Based in Manila, Mr Hidalgo brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise in developing public-private partnership solutions to climate and disaster risk in finance and insurance, particularly in climate vulnerable developing economies. In this new role, he will lead initiatives with stakeholders including development banks, UN agencies, governments, regulators and other public and private sector institutions in the areas of climate and environmental resilience. Together with the global capital, science and policy team, he will drive public-private partnerships to further the strategic objectives of the firm across Southeast Asia.
Previously Mr Hidalgo was CEO of the National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (Nat Re). He spent five years at Nat Re where he built a specialist expertise to support emerging market governments to collaborate with the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and other multilateral development agencies, and forged climate and disaster risk resilience through national and regional programmes. Mr Hidalgo has also been in the insurance industry since the 1990s, and has a strong background in corporate finance. Prior to Nat Re, he was the head of M&A at Peak Re in Hong Kong.
Asia: Sedgwick appoints new leaders in region
Sedgwick has named Mr Wayne Cheng its chief operations officer for Asia. In his new role, Mr Cheng will be responsible for executing the company’s business and growth strategy and driving operational efficiency as Sedgwick scales its business across the region.
Having worked in the insurance industry for more than 20 years, Mr Cheng has built up a wealth of experience in this sector. His specialties include data analysis, insurance claims, finance marketing, operations, project management, reinsurance and talent management. He joined Sedgwick in 2014 as general manager of Sedgwick’s Asia operations. He previously held a variety of senior roles, including vice president, chief claims officer and global claims finance analyst of a leading insurance company. He is also a chartered property casualty underwriter and associate in claims.
Sedgwick also announced its appointment of Mr Bob Neo to the role of director of its Singapore operations.
Mr Neo brings to Sedgwick over 40 years of industry experience. He has previously held prominent positions as governor of the board of the Singapore Insurance Institute, president of the Loss Adjusters Association of Singapore and managing director of a Singapore-based adjusting firm. His expertise is in large, complex risks spanning all facets of the insurance claims process, including construction all risks, power, plant and machinery, civil works, financial claims and liability losses. Mr Neo has gained international exposure handling claims in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar and Vietnam.
In his new role, he will render technical leadership, assist with business development efforts, and support Sedgwick’s regional operations across Singapore.
Asia: Markel appoints head of personal accident, contingency and entertainment
Markel International has appointed Mr Rajesh Sinha as head of personal accident, contingency and entertainment (PACE) in Asia.
Mr Sinha has 20 years’ experience as a regional underwriter with AIG and subsequently as regional director for A&H with Fairfax Asia. Most recently he was with Chubb Asia Pacific as a senior underwriter for A&H.
Based in Singapore, he will be responsible for driving the development of new product concepts across different product lines, as well as developing a profitable and sustainable PACE portfolio across Asia.
He will work closely with Markel International’s PACE team in London, managed by Mr James Leach, as well as with its offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India and Malaysia.
Asia: Nexus appoints CEO and non-executive chairman
Nexus Group announces two significant appointments to the Nexus Asia leadership team.
Former Lloyd’s Asia Pacific president Tony Egerton has been appointed CEO of Nexus Asia, while Huntington Group managing director Gerard Pennefather has been appointed non-executive chairman with immediate effect.
Principal officer at Nexus Structured Solutions, Mr Egerton is a highly-respected individual in the Asian market and has over 35 years of experience in (re)insurance and structured finance. After starting his career in the London insurance market in broking and underwriting positions, he has spent the past 20 years in Asia where he initially worked in Hong Kong with Centre Solutions before becoming president, Asia-Pacific for Lloyd’s, based in Singapore, and then joining Nexus in August 2018.
He has a master’s degree in economics from Cambridge University, holds an MBA from the London Business School and is an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.
A chartered accountant by training, Nexus Structured Solutions’ chairman Mr Pennefather spent 12 years in corporate finance and treasury in New Zealand with New Zealand Equities and Ord Minett.
Asia: Aon expands intellectual property solutions with new hire
Aon announced that Ms Guangjie Hopton has been appointed to its intellectual property solutions team to focus on clients in China and the broader Asia region.
Aon’s intellectual property solutions team is focused on helping clients manage their intangible assets while educating and expanding the marketplace. With a deep background in M&A, intellectual property and general corporate advisory work, Ms Hopton will bring extensive knowledge and experience assessing and valuing intellectual property from both strategic and transactional perspectives. She will also work closely with Aon’s Asia team to establish strategic partnerships in China and across Asia, and she will be based in Hong Kong.
She served at Alibaba Group in Hong Kong for nearly 14 years, including as assistant general counsel for international corporate. During her time at Alibaba, she worked on many milestone transactions, including the initial Yahoo investment in Alibaba and the subsequent buyback of Yahoo’s interest, restructuring of Ant Financial and the IPO of Alibaba.com on the stock exchange of Hong Kong in 2007, and the IPO of Alibaba Group on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 – one of the biggest US IPOs in history.
Originally from Qingdao, China, she graduated from Nanjing University, later obtaining a master’s degree in international education from Boston University.
Asia: Generali names new head of region and COO
Generali Global Corporate & Commercial (GC&C) announced the appointments of Mr Hayden Seach as GC&C COO and Mr Axel Roesner as new head of GC&C Asia. Moreover, it appointed Mr Furmen Chiu as senior adviser.
Mr Seach will steer Generali GC&C’s global operations, IT, technical underwriting and portfolio management. He has over two decades of underwriting experience in the commercial general insurance sector. He is a corporate market insurance specialist with a wealth of diverse experience and expertise matured in many markets across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He has also held senior positions with several leading international insurance and reinsurance companies. He studied business and holds a master’s degree in leading innovation and change through York St. John University in the UK.
Mr Roesner will be in charge of ensuring the fulfilment of the group strategy in the GC&C segment in the region. He has over 12 years of insurance industry experience in leading strategy execution, business development and operational excellence. In his previous role, Mr Roesner led operations, IT and business transformation for the corporate and commercial segment across Asia. Prior to joining Generali, he held various senior roles in a leading international insurance company in pricing and analytics and underwriting operations. He started his career in asset management. He holds an MBA in international business from California School of International Management.
Mr Chiu has has over three decades of experience in the commercial insurance sector focusing on Hong Kong and the overall Asian market. He held senior positions in various leading international companies managing business functions including underwriting, claims, distribution and reinsurance. Prior to joining GC&C he was the general manager of the non-life division, Hong Kong branch, responsible for P&C and EB business. He graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, holds a professional diploma in business studies (Insurance) and associateship in Chartered Insurance Institute.
Asia: Allianz names new regional CEO for life and health business
Allianz has appointed Ms Anusha Thavarajah as its new CEO, life and health for Asia Pacific.
Ms Thavarajah is responsible for the P&L and functional development of Allianz’s life and health business in Asia – advancing the segment’s strong growth to meet Allianz Asia’s long-term strategic priorities in the region.
Based in Singapore, she will report to Allianz Asia Pacific regional CEO Solmaz Altin and serve as a member of the Allianz Asia Pacific regional executive board. Her starting date, expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2019, will be announced in due course.
Ms Thavarajah joins Allianz from AIA in Malaysia, where she most recently led the business as its CEO. She brings close to 30 years’ experience from the financial services industry having served in various senior leadership roles in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Malaysia, covering life, health, takaful across finance, actuarial, product, business and operations.
India: LIC Mutual Fund appoints Mr Dinesh Pangtey as CEO
Mr Dinesh Pangtey has been appointed as CEO of LIC Mutual Fund. Mr Pangtey started his career as a direct recruit officer with LIC of India in. Previoulsy he was director and CEO at LIC HFL AMC.
Mr Pangtey has 35 years of experience across private equity, life, pension, group superannuation scheme and insurance sectors. He is a direct recruit officer in LIC at various key positions with expertise in marketing. He has served as regional manager marketing channel in western zone spanning the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. He has headed divisions in J&K, Ahmedabad and Delhi.
Mr Pangtey has a bachelor’s degree in science.
Singapore: AIA promotes new chief partnership distribution officer
AIA Singapore has appointed Mr Richard Wyber as chief partnership distribution officer at AIA Singapore.
Mr Wyber was previously head of vitality, where he established the company’s healthcare business model and led AIA Singapore’s health and wellness efforts.
He also led the Life Insurance Association (LIA) working group in Singapore to implement recommendations put forth by the Health Insurance Task Force in October 2016 through collaborations with multiple stakeholders including government agencies, life insurers and healthcare providers.
A 25-year financial services veteran, Mr Wyber took on numerous leadership roles including head of accident and health at AIA Singapore, followed by spending several years with AIA Group Partnership Distribution. At AIA Group, Mr Wyber and his team were responsible for securing the exclusive AIA-Citibank bancassurance partnership across Asia Pacific, which continues to drive the ongoing success of AIA Group’s distribution network across the region.
Singapore: Argenta Underwriting Asia expands team with new hire
Argenta Underwriting has strengthened its team in the Asia Pacific region with the appointment of Mr Simon Wilmot-Smith who has joined its Singapore-based team to write a political violence and terrorism account. Mr Wilmot-Smith, who has many years’ experience working in the Lloyd’s market including the last 12 years in the Asia Pacific region, will report to AUA’s principal underwriter in Singapore, Mr Scott Sykes.
Singapore: Sompo appoints new CEO
Sompo has announced the appointment of Mr Pui Phusangmook as its CEO.
Mr Phusangmook holds a bachelor of engineering from King Mongkut Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand and an MBA from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA.
He has worked in Singapore since 2001 and has more than 25 years of working experience in the financial services sector with the last 18 years spent in the insurance sector.
He was previously the executive VP, general manager, general insurance and group business of NTUC Income. Before joining NTUC Income, he was the COO of AXA Insurance Singapore.
Singapore Reinsurers’ Association announces executive committee for 2019/2020 term
The Singapore Reinsurers’ Association (SRA) announced an almost unchanged line-up of its executive committee (EXCO) for the 2019/2020 term of office with Mr Marc Haushofer, CEO, Asia Pacific and executive VP of Validus Re re-confirmed as SRA chairman at a special executive committee meeting.
The full line-up of the SRA EXCO for the 2019/2020 term is:
Deputy chairman – Mr Kenrick Law, Allianz Re
Honorary secretary – Ms Theresa Wee, SingRe
Honorary treasurer – Mr Desmond Tan, ACR
Member – Mr James Beedle, Partner Re
Member – Ms Ann Chua, XL Bermuda
Member – Ms Angela Kelly, Lloyd’s Asia
Member – Mr Philip Hough, Aspen Re
Member – Mr Christoph Spichtig, SCOR
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