Great Eastern Holdings (GEH) yesterday announced that Mr Greg Hingston will be appointed Group CEO of the Great Eastern group of companies on 1 November 2024. He will succeed Mr Khor Hock Seng who is retiring on 31 October 2024.
Mr Hingston has worked in Asia for over 20 years, based in Hong Kong, and for the last 18 years with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). During this time, Mr Hingston held various senior executive management positions across retail banking, wealth management and life insurance, including managing Wealth and Personal Banking businesses in Hong Kong and for the Asia Pacific region.
In his most recent role as CEO, HSBC Global Insurance and Partnerships, he was primarily responsible for setting strategy, and managing and growing the life insurance businesses of the HSBC Group. He has extensive experience in developing and transforming wealth management, life insurance, and personal banking businesses, focusing in particular on Asia Pacific markets.
The Nominating Committee (NC) of GEH looked at internal candidates in Great Eastern and also commissioned an executive search firm to conduct a search within and outside Singapore to identify a suite of strong candidates. After a rigorous and extensive process, a final shortlist of internal and external candidates was considered. The NC and the Board finally selected Mr Hingston as the most suitable candidate for the Group CEO role given the Group’s strategy to grow and expand beyond its core markets of Singapore and Malaysia.
Welcoming Mr Hingston as the new Group CEO, the chairman of GEH Mr Soon Tit Koon said, “Great Eastern Group would be well positioned to continue strengthening its leadership position in Singapore and Malaysia, and further expand our insurance franchise in the region. His global market expertise, proven ability to lead a large multi-geography team, and track record of successfully growing an insurance business through close collaboration with a banking group will be put to good use as we embark on our renewed growth strategy.”
Mr Khor will retire on 31 October 2024, after having served as Group CEO for nine years. Mr Khor joined GEH in November 2015 and brought with him over 33 illustrious years of insurance industry experience. Under Mr Khor’s stewardship, Great Eastern Group’s total assets grew steadily from S$65.8bn ($50.5bn) at end-2015 to S$109.0bn as at end-2023. Over the same period, significant growth was also experienced in Great Eastern Group’s financial performance such as gross premiums (S$8.7bn to S$16.3bn) and total weighted new sales (S$975m to S$1.66bn).
On Mr Khor’s decision to retire, Mr Soon said, “The Board has enjoyed working with Hock Seng over the past nine years and thank him for his stellar contributions to the Great Eastern Group. He successfully navigated the Group through the COVID-19 pandemic which was one of the most challenging periods for the insurance industry. When he conveyed his intention to retire to the Board, he kindly agreed to stay on until his successor was appointed.
“On behalf of the Board, I wish to express our deep appreciation to Hock Seng for his strategic leadership, commitment, and contribution and wish him well in his retirement. To ensure continuity and facilitate a smooth transition, I am also pleased to inform that Hock Seng has agreed to serve as an advisor to the Board to assist in all aspects of the transition for a period of six months.”
Founded in 1908, Great Eastern is a well-established market leader and trusted brand in Singapore and Malaysia.