Asia-Pacific’s growing appetite for global financial risks

That is according to the senior vice president and regional leader of Liberty international Underwriters Asia Pacific (LIU) Ben Hissey.

Hissey expressed this view to StrategicRISK following the appointment of former deputy head of the London credit and political risk team at Zurich Andrew Beechey (pictured) as LIU’s new head of global financial risks for the Asia-Pacific region.

Singapore-based Hissey, whose is responsible for the management of LIU’s offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, said that an increasing number of financial institutions and other organisations were transacting worldwide business from Asia.

“They have an increased appetite for credit and political risk products, and a heightened awareness of the role these products play in supporting enterprise risk and capital management strategies,” he said.

Hissey indicated that Beechey’s knowledge of the global credit and political risk market was the primary reason why he had been hired by LIU.

Beechey will move to Singapore in September after a spell at Liberty Mutual Insurance’s (LSM) headquarters in London. (LIU is part of LSM’s global specialty unit.)

Beechey worked for Zurich for nine years and, prior to that, spent 10 years in Marsh’s credit and political risk division.

LSM’s chief underwriting officer – specialty and reinsurance Matthew Moore said that Beechey’s appointment reflected the continuing growth of the insurer’s global financial risks business.

“This has been a very successful book for us, hence the desire to build a strong base in the Asia-Pacific region, where we see considerable potential,” he said.