Round-up of the latest news and developments from the Asian insurance market with stories from Generali, Chubb, Chaucer and more.
Leadership changes at Generali Asia in the pipeline
According to an Insurance Asia News article, Generali will be making several leadership changes in the next couple of months.
It is understood that after the promotion of Hayden Seach, who has been in the position since 2014 will now relocate to Milan for a new and more senior role at the Italian company. Ken Lai, chief underwriting officer at Generali Global Corporate and Commerical, is set to become the new head of global corporate and commercial Asia.
Kelvin Woo who currently holds the position as head of casualty underwriting Asia will take over from Lai’s chief underwriting officer role. Woo has been working in the insurance industry for more than 23 years and has been in several management roles at Generali.
Roberto Leonardi is the regional officer of Generali Asia Pacific, where the insurer operates across 10 markets.
Commenting on Generali’s 2018 results, Leonardi said: “Our 2018 annual results show a strong finish to our 2015-2018 strategic plan exceeding all targets that we had set ourselves. Asia proves its potential with a growing contribution to the life insurance segment in particular. This is a result of the hard work and dedication of our teams in the eight Asian countries in which we operate. We are well positioned to work towards the new targets in our strategic plan ‘Generali 2021’ and confident that Asia will continue to play an important role in our growth story.”
Chubb appoints Neo as accident & health head in Singapore
Chubb has appointed Serene Neo as division head of accident & health (A&H) for Singapore, effective from 25 March 2019 and will report to Scott Simpson, Chubb's country president for Singapore.
She joins Chubb with over 15 years of experience in the banking and financial services sector and will be leading Chubb’s A&H division where she will provide strategic oversight on business development and financial performance while also leading new partnerships and digital initiatives.
Prior to joining Chubb, she was the senior vice president & head of brand strategy & insights, group brand at United Overseas Bank in Singapore where she led the strategic development and management of retail banking and payment products.
Simpson commented: "I'm delighted to welcome Serene to the Singapore team. She's an experienced leader with a proven track record in product development, innovation and digitalisation. As the A&H business continues to evolve to meet the changing customer needs, I'm confident that Serene's expertise and customer-centric focus will position her well to propel the business forward."
Chaucer names Dr Zuo as non-executive director
Chaucer has appointed Dr Huiqiang Zuo as a non-executive director of Chaucer Syndicates Limited, the group’s Lloyd’s managing agency.
Dr Zuo is deputy general manager of China Re Property & Casualty (P&C) and is responsible for China Re’s international businesses and development worldwide. He also has management responsibility for the Innovative Business initiative, which is driving business model, product and customer service breakthroughs.
Chaucer, which was acquired by China Re in 2018 said in a recent press release that the addition of Dr Zuo would strengthen the Board and help Chaucer take a lead role in China Re’s international growth strategy.
Joining China Re Group in 1999, he has since held a number of senior management roles. He is currently chief international business officer of China Re Group and chairman of the Board of China Re Catastrophe Risk Management Company Limited.
John Fowle, CEO of Chaucer commented: "We are committed to ensuring we have a very strong board as we accelerate our development as a leading global underwriter. Dr Zuo has a wealth of specialty insurance and reinsurance leadership experience and technical knowledge, which together bring significant value to Chaucer. We are very pleased to welcome Dr Zuo to our Board."
SCOR Global Property & Casualty reveal new executive appointments
In a recent press release, SCOR have announced multiple personnel changes within the global Property & Casualty (P&C) operations.
Following the appointment of Jean-Paul Conoscente’s last month as CEO of SCOR Global P&C, Michel Blac is promoted to CEO of Reinsurance with effect from 1 April 2019. He currently holds the position as CEO of the Asia Pacific region (APAC) at SCOR Global P&C. Blac started his career with SCOR is 1992 holding several senior roles and has been based in Tokyo, Paris, New York, and Singapore.
Christoph Spichtig is also promoted to CEO of APAC for SCOR Global P&C and Eric Jenck to regional chief underwriting officer of reinsurance for APAC, also effective 1 April 2019. Spichtig joined SCOR in 2007 where he most recently held the position as chief underwriting officer, treaty P&C for SCOR reinsurance APAC.
Meanwhile, Jenck joined in 2005 in Singapore and since 2016 he has led the treaty P&C underwriting team in charge of the South East Asian markets.
SCOR Global P&C also announced speciality insurance appointments, effective from 1 September 2019.
Stuart McMurdo has been promoted to CEO of SCOR Speciality Insurance Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) operations. He will keep his current remit as CEO of SCOR UK and of The Channel Syndicate. Prior to joining SCOR in 2018, he was the head of reinsurance for Santam Limited in South Africa.
In Latin America (Latam) the specialty insurance operations unit, Fabio Pinho is promoted to CEO. His remit will include SCOR Business Solutions Latam, as well as the Brazilian insurance company, Essor, of which he remains CEO. Pinho founded Essor in 2011 before it became fully owned by SCOR.
In addition, Pierre Favennec has been promoted to head of strategy and development and will directly report to Conoscente. He joined SCOR in 2017 and holds the position of head of business development. Former head of strategy and development, Adrian Jones, Deputy CEO of P&C Partners is focused on growing the P&C Ventures business, with an expanded team.
Laurent Rousseau, deputy CEO of SCOR Global P&C and CEO of the Speciality Insurance unit commented: “The establishment of the specialty insurance business unit in September 2018 marked a key change in SCOR Global P&C’s organisational structure, by bringing together insurance business platforms built separately over the years.”
Conoscente said: “Following the organizational changes announced in September 2018, SCOR Global P&C continues to adapt its structure to serve its strategy and be more client-centric. Today’s announcements confirm the depth of our talent pool and our desire to promote the personal and professional development of our existing teams.”
Chaplin joins DXC Technology as global head of sales
Former chief executive for Lloyd’s in Asia Pacific, Kent Chaplin, has joined DXC Technology as global head of sales, reinsurance and specialty.
Chaplin has run Asia Pacific operations since 2011 and prior to that he was head of claims in London. He was later replaced by Iain Ferguson, president and chief operating officer for Lloyds Japan. Chaplin is a well-known market figure in Singapore and will be based in the technology firms Lion City office.
DXC has a large presence in the technology insurance claims space globally and provides a host of software and back office services, and the tech giant was created after a merger between tech giants CSC and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services in April 2017.
Chaucer partners with marine insurtech Concirrus to drive underwriting change
Chaucer, the specialty international (re)insurance group has announced its new partnership with marine insurtech company Concirrus to focus on driving technological change in the marine insurance market and enhance its underwriting while also adding value for clients.
The new partnership will allow Chaucer to benefit from the use of Concirrus’ data analytics platform, Quest Marine which analyses billions of historical and real-time marine data to look at marine risk in a more targeted.
Clients can combine these insights with their existing underwriting knowledge to support amore effective portfolio segmentation but also a differentiated approach to risk selection and pricing to other competitors in the market.
Philip Graham, head of marine at Chaucer said: “Deploying the Concirrus data analytics platform, Quest Marine, will help us to deliver greater intrinsic value to clients as we enhance our existing underwriting expertise with data-driven behavioural risk factors.”
Adding: “Bespoke risk customisation is the ultimate goal if we want to maximise client benefits and aim to stay ahead of the competition.”
Andrew Yeoman, (CEO) at Concirrus, said: “It’s great to be working with Chaucer – an organisation that clearly recognises the vital role technology will play in the future of the insurance market. Our Quest Marine platform is making its mark on the industry with organisations spanning the whole of the sector taking stock of the many benefits it can offer,”
He continues: “We’re also delighted that Chaucer will join the Concirrus Power20 – the aim of which is to create a community of like-minded visionaries from the marine insurance market to work in collaboration to achieve long term success. We want to bring together the marine (re)insurance market and make a difference – that is, to help the market return to profitability.”
AIG Singapore appoints president & CEO
AIG has appointed Christian Sandric as president and chief executive officer of its Singapore arm. He will report into Sachin Shah, Asia Pacific CEO of AIG General Insurance and will be effective from April 2019.
In his new role, Sandric will be responsible for leading AIG’s business and operations in Singapore focusing on developing its position in South East Asia’s insurance sector.
Prior to this appointment, Sandric was head of personal insurance for AIG Japan, based in Tokyo. He held multiple leadership positions across several markets during his 20 year career with AIG. Sandric also serves on the board of directors of AIG Japan Holdings, AIG Sonpo Japan, AHA Japan and AIG Advisors Korea.
Shah commented: “I am pleased to appoint Sandric to lead our Singapore business. His deep industry expertise and international experience will bring enhanced value to our distribution partners and clients. Sandric will be a great addition to the Asia Pacific leadership team as we focus on delivering sustainable, profitable growth.”
