AIG, Marsh, QBE Asia, Markel, Allianz Commercial: 17 APAC insurance people moves of the week

July 4 2025 by

InsuranceAsia News wraps up the people moves from the insurance industry in Asia this week.

1. AIG appoints APAC CRO

Global insurer AIG has appointed Sandeep Gopal as chief risk officer for APAC. Kuala Lumpur-based Gopal will work closely with APAC president Chris Colahan, and be instrumental in leading the enterprise risk management strategy in the region.

Kuala Lumpur-based Gopal will work closely with APAC president Chris Colahan, and be instrumental in leading the enterprise risk management strategy in the region, according to the update.

Read the full story here.

2. Marsh names new insurer consulting group leader for Asia

Ben MacCarthy has returned to Marsh as insurer consulting group leader for Asia, based in Singapore. MacCarthy most recently worked at WTW, where he spent nearly four years, holding several roles, including head of casualty for Asia and head of real estate for Asia, both based in Singapore.

Read the full story here.

3. QBE Asia amps up wholesale team with 2 senior leadership appointments

QBE Asia continues to expand its wholesale team in Asia with two senior appointments – Cynthia Huang has been appointed head of Taiwan and Greater China desk (facultative reinsurance) and Young Jun Lee as head of wholesale Asia, construction and engineering.

Read the full story here.

4. Markel makes Malaysia and PFR moves

Markel Insurance has appointed Jasminder Kaur as country head for Malaysia, as the specialty (re)insurer looks to expand its underwriting operations in the country. In her new role, Kaur will work closely with the underwriting team in Singapore, while also working to establish and grow Markel’s underwriting capability in Kuala Lumpur.

Markel has also appointed Joanna Quigan (pictured) as a senior underwriter for professional and financial risks (PFR), with immediate effect. Quigan will be responsible for developing and managing underwriting strategies for renewing and new business within Markel’s PFR book of business in Australia, with a particular focus on professional indemnity.

Read the full story here and here. 

5. Allianz Commercial names Alex Shi as regional head of liability

Allianz Commercial has appointed Alex Shi as regional head of liability, Asia effective July 1. In this role based in Singapore, Shi will develop and execute the regional strategy for the liability line of business in Asia.

Read the full story here.

6. Aon makes moves in Japan, Thailand

Aon has appointed Keiko Seta as head of its Japan desk. Seta joins having spent the last five years at Miller Insurance Services, most recently as head of its Japan property facultative offering. She also worked as a facultative property reinsurance broker at Miller.

Aon has also named Jarut Sukkhawadee as head of commercial risk in Thailand and bolstered its domestic team through a series of key appointments.

Read the full story here and here. 

7. Aon’s reinsurance solutions mixes up Asia team

Aon’s reinsurance solutions has made three changes within its Asia team, including promoting Tom Greenaway (pictured) to the role of Asia strategic growth leader. Meanwhile, SP Hong has also been named president in South Korea, with Jay Choi appointed as a director in the country.

Read the full story here.

8. Howden Re sets up treaty capability in Hong Kong with appointment

Howden Re has launched a reinsurance broking platform in Hong Kong, with Roy Wong appointed as managing director, effective from July 21. Wong will establish and lead the build-out of Howden Re’s treaty reinsurance offering for Hong Kong based clients, “reflecting the specific requirements of the region”.

Read the full story here.

9. Generali promotes GC&C Asia head of marine underwriting

Generali Global Corporate & Commercial has promoted Jonathan Wong to its new head of marine underwriting for GC&C Asia, replacing Kelvin Chan. Wong has been with Generali GC&C for over 18 years, most recently as a senior manager.

Read the full story here.

10. Willis names new lead for Asia SRC practice

Willis has announced the appointment of Daphne Duan (pictured) as its new director of strategic risk consulting (SRC) for Asia. Singapore-based Duan will lead Willis’ SRC practice in Asia, which is an integral part of the engineering, risk and analytics team.

Read the full story here.

11. Delta revamps operational structure, appoints New Zealand CUO

Delta Insurance New Zealand has announced an executive and operational restructuring with nine new roles, including a chief underwriting officer (CUO) for New Zealand, a head of distribution and an operations manager, the company said in a press release. The Kiwi MGA has promoted Dinesh Murali to CUO, from his earlier role as general manager of portfolio and distribution. Meanwhile, Simone Batty, currently New Zealand underwriting operations manager, has been appointed operations manager, with her remit expanded to include all operations in the country.

Read the full story here.

12. Chubb strengthens in Australia and Japan

Chubb has announced three senior appointments within its global broker division in Australia. Jennifer Vanek has been named national strategic relationship manager, global brokers division. John De Felice and Ryan Spettigue have been appointed to newly created national relationship manager roles, each tasked with strengthening broker engagement and enhancing distribution effectiveness across key markets in Australia.

Chubb Japan has also promoted Akira Hayasaka to executive officer and head of claims services division. In his new role, Tokyo-based Hayasaka, who joined Chubb almost six years ago in August 2019, will report to the carrier’s Japan chief executive officer Edward Kopp.

Read the full story here and here.

13. WTW appoints regional construction director for Asia

WTW has appointed Mark Thompson (pictured) as regional construction director for Asia. Thompson will be based in the broker’s Hong Kong office, having recently relocated from Sydney, where he previously held the role of broking director for construction across the Pacific region.

Read the full story here.

14. Howden promotes head of specialty in the Philippines

Howden has promoted Lee Vanderson to the role of head of specialty for the Philippines. Vanderson has been with Howden Speciality for the last five and a half years as divisional director in the Philippines.

Howden Australia, meanwhile, has appointed Eliza Grant as head of M&A insurance. Before joining Howden, Sydney-based Grant was head of transactional risk for private equity and M&A services for the Pacific region at Marsh Australia and New Zealand.

Read the full story here and here.

15. Beazley ropes financial institutions product specialist for Asia

Specialty insurer Beazley has appointed Estee Chong (pictured) as product specialist, financial institutions, Asia, according to a LinkedIn post by Nicholas Tey, regional manager, Asia – international financial lines.

Read the full story here.

16. Allianz Asia Pacific names regional CFO

Allianz Asia Pacific has appointed Vojtěch Pivný as regional chief financial officer, the insurer announced on Monday, succeeding Aaron Fryer. Pivný brings over 17 years of experience within Allianz, spanning finance, capital management, and risk across Europe and Asia.

Read the full story here.

16. Lockton appoints director for transactional lines in India

Global broker Lockton has appointed Shubhangi Pathak as director for transactional lines in India. Pathak  is a corporate lawyer, bringing in over 16 years of experience, specialising in M&A.

Read the full story here.

Other moves you may have missed

Global specialty (re)insurer Chaucer Group has appointed Emily Brand as deputy class underwriter for energy, effective immediately, while Japanese global insurer Sompo has promoted Kelvin John Nathan to vice president of the regional project management office (PMO) in Asia Pacific, with immediate effect. 

Axa XL has appointed Vincent Shiu as client relationship leader for Asia, while Tysers Singapore has appointed Graham Gordon as a marine divisional director, reporting to William Furness-Smith, hull director and head of marine, Asia Pacific.

For more InsuranceAsia News (IAN) people moves at brokers, insurers, reinsurers, insurtechs, specialty players, MGAs and loss adjusters across Asia Pacific’s fast-growing (re)insurance markets click here.

MORE FROM: People Moves of the Week
Partner Content
Join the mailing list Designed to help you stay ahead, our daily newsletter provides a round-up of the latest news and insights, delivered straight to your inbox.
Print Edition
Subscribe to receive our quarterly print magazine.