Movers and shakers - HDI, Swiss Re Asia, Sompo International, Allianz, MSIG Asia, Zurich

HDI enters Asian political risk & credit market

Industrial insurer HDI Global SE Singapore (HDI) has entered the political risk and credit market in Asia with the underwriting appointment of James Guardino. 

Guardino joins HDI from Markel where he was a trade credit and political risk underwriter. Prior to that, he was a broker at Aon and the Texel Group. He has been based in Singapore for over 10 years.

HDI Global currently offers Property, Casualty, Engineering, Marine Cargo and Power & Energy in Asia.

The Singapore branch functions as a hub for the Southeast Asian market and underpins its ambition to be a global player.

The hire of Guardino adds political risk and credit to the portfolio and will be backed by capacity and expertise from HDI Global Specialty SE.

Guardino will have a dual reporting line, to both Graham Silton, HDI’s managing director and principal officer in Singapore and Nick Robinson, HDI Global Specialty SE’s head of political & credit risk in London.

Silton said: “I am looking forward to working alongside him as we build out our product offering in the region.”

Robinson added:  “Providing capacity and thought leadership in Singapore and the wider Asian market is a key objective within the development strategy of our political and credit risk coverage.”

Swiss Re Asia appoints Deanna Ong as new chair

Swiss Re has appointed Deanna Ong chairperson of the board of directors for Swiss Re Asia.

Ong, who serves as a director of both SRAL and Swiss Re, succeeds Lim Siong Guan in guiding the Asia business forward. Lim Siong Guan, who has chaired the SRAL board since its establishment in 2018, will retire at the end of his term.

Victor Kuk, head property & casualty reinsurance SID, takes on the additional appointment of SRAL CEO, with Daisy Ning, head life & health reinsurance APAC assuming Victor Kuk’s former role as the chief executive of SRAL Hong Kong Branch.

Daisy Ning will be supported by the branch committee in her duties.

Emily Poh joins Sompo International as head of professional lines insurance, Asia Pacific

Sompo International has appointed Emily Poh as head of professional lines insurance, Asia Pacific. She will be based in Singapore and report to Paul O’Neill, president of commercial lines, insurance, Asia Pacific.

O’Neill commented; “While we have well-established personal lines and reinsurance businesses in the region, we are committed to hiring top talent as we expand our commercial lines product offerings and relationships throughout APAC

“Emily is a highly-skilled professional lines executive with a proven track record of delivering solutions that are the foundation for lasting partnerships, and I am pleased to welcome her to the commercial lines APAC team at such a pivotal time in our growth.”

With nearly two decades of industry experience in APAC, Emily joins Sompo International from Berkshire Hathaway Specialty, where she was head of executive and professional lines, Singapore, responsible for managing profitable professional lines portfolios. Before that, she held senior professional and financial lines roles at WTW and AIG in Singapore.

Allianz appoints managing director for Asia region

Christian Sandric will join Allianz Commercial as the managing director for its Asia region from 1 September 2023, subject to regulatory approval. 

Under Allianz’s ‘Integrated Commercial’ strategy each region is led by a commercial managing director as one face to the market for mid-sized companies, large corporations, and specialty businesses

Mark Mitchell, the current regional managing Ddrector for Asia for Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS), will continue in his role until Christian Sandric joins, before stepping down to pursue opportunities outside Allianz Group.

Allianz Commercial Asia serves clients across this region, covering key markets such as China (including Hong Kong), India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.

In Asia, Allianz is targeting significant growth opportunities across the full commercial segment leveraging its services portfolio which includes multinational and risk consulting, as well as global industry and alternative risk transfer solutions.

Christian Sandric is currently president & CEO of AIG Singapore, and regional manager for Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam with overall management responsibility for AIG’s general insurance business in those territories.

In his 24-year career with AIG, he held a series of leadership positions with increasing responsibility across the United States, Australia, Europe and Asia.

Prior to moving to Singapore, he spent nine years working with AIG Japan in addition to other Asia based roles in both Hong Kong and Shanghai. 

Sandric’s appointment comes after the confirmation of similar leadership roles for other key commercial markets globally such as Australia, France, Germany, the UK, and in Iberia and Latin America. 

William Song appointed chief technical officer at MSIG Asia

MSIG Asia has announced the appointment of William Song as its chief technical officer (CTO).

In his new role, he will take on added responsibilities overseeing strategic growth areas in the region to strengthen the company’s leadership position across the markets.

Succeeding Song as the new CRO and reporting to him is Felicia Er, MSIG’s regional actuary.

She will lead in MSIG Asia’s risk management and actuarial services for the region including ASEAN, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.

Zurich appoints Sean Walker, Liam Burrell, and Reginald Peacock in key leadership roles for Asia Pacific

Zurich Insurance Group has announced key leadership appointments for its Asia Pacific commercial insurance business to strengthen regional go-to-market capabilities and drive expansion in key Asian markets.

Sean Walker has been appointed head of commercial insurance & chief technical officer, APAC, Liam Burrell will join Zurich as head of commercial insurance, Asia, and Reginald Peacock has been appointed head of marketing development for Zurich Resilience Solutions.

The newly appointed team will bring Zurich’s comprehensive risk management offerings to clients in the region, driving the effective regional and local delivery of Zurich’s global capabilities.

Ms. Tulsi Naidu, APAC CEO of Zurich Insurance Group said: “We are investing substantially in strengthening our leadership team to drive growth and position ourselves as a partner of choice for commercial insurance in the region.

“These changes are an important part of the next stage of development for our P&C business in Asia Pacific.”