XS Global, Sompo, Swiss Re, Marsh, Berkley Re: 14 APAC insurance people moves of the week

April 17 2026 by

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

1. Gallagher Re’s former APAC head joins XS Global Asia Pacific

Former Gallagher Re Asia Pacific head Mark O’Brien has joined MGA XS Global Asia Pacific as a treaty underwriter

O’Brien (pictured) has joined the MGA in London and will write treaty reinsurance from Asia Pacific.

Read the full story here.

2. Sompo makes multiple appointments across APAC

Sompo has expanded its Australian business by hiring a seven-person underwriting team from Everest’s local arm, with Arthur Constantinou appointed head of energy and construction and Josh Luk ashead of financial lines.

Meanwhile, Matt O’Brien has been appointed head of casualty, and Andrew Lester has been named head of property.

The insurer has also appointed three senior underwriters, Michael McCarthy in casualty, along with Chris Charnock and Warwick Hansen in financial lines.  

Meanwhile, Olivia Clark has been appointed head of aviation for Asia Pacific.

She is based in Singapore and joins from Everest, where she had been a senior aviation underwriter for almost a year.

Daniel Lukas has been named head of personal lines for Asia Pacific.

Lukas, based in Singapore, joins from Chubb, where he had spent over 11 years in analytics and personal lines roles in London and Singapore.

Read the full story here, here and here.

3. Swiss Re Asia fac head steps down, appoints APAC head of credit and surety reinsurance

Ronnie Tong will leave his role as head of P&C facultative for Asia at Swiss Re on Saturday, with Yusuke Matsumoto set to take over on an interim basis. 

He is set to take on an adviser role, according to his profile on Swiss Re’s website, while Matsumoto is the current head of facultative property for Japan.

Meanwhile, Devpriya Misra has been named head of its newly established credit and surety reinsurance hub for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

Misra, who is based in Singapore, has been with Swiss Re since 2009 and was most recently as a director at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions.

Read the full story here and here.

4. Berkley Re APAC hires former Allianz Re leader as head of underwriting

Berkley Re APAC has appointed Kenrick Law as head of underwriting and branch manager, effective from June.

Singapore-based Law was most recently regional CEO and head of P&C client management at Allianz Re, where he worked for 12 years.

Read the full story here.

5. Marsh names Asia head of industry for Marsh Risk, appoints strategic client director for Singapore

Marsh Risk Asia has appointed Didier Bélot as head of industry.

Singapore-based Bélot was previously at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (Swiss Re CorSo) for 11 years.

The broker also appointed Heath Jose as strategic client director for Singapore.

In the new role, he will enhance client relationship management through the role previously known as chief client officer Singapore,

Read the full story here and here.

6. Rare Earth Insurance revamps leadership across Asia, Europe

Hong Kong-based wholesale broker Rare Earth Insurance has announced a leadership overhaul, with Wang Wei promoted from chief executive to chairman of Rare Earth Insurance Partners in Asia Pacific.

Candace Chan, meanwhile, has been appointed chief executive for Hong Kong and Taiwan, while Mark Gu, previously chairman of the Shanghai office, takes on the role of chief executive for Rare Earth Insurance Partners in China.

Martin Ham has been appointed chief executive of Rare Earth Partners, UK and Europe.

Read the full story here.

7. Aon Reinsurance Solutions hands casualty, cyber treaty head extended role as APAC head of casualty treaty

Aon Reinsurance Solutions has handed Daniel England an extended role as head of casualty treaty in Asia Pacific, according to a LinkedIn update.

England will remain in Japan, and retains his role as head of casualty and cyber treaty in Japan, a role he has held since 2020 when he relocated to Tokyo to lead the build out of Aon’s Japan casualty and cyber treaty team.

Read the full story here.

8. Specialist Risk Group appoints Asia head of business

Specialty broker Specialist Risk Group (SRG) has promoted Halim Rosalan to the newly created role of head of business for Asia.

Rosalan’s new role includes oversight of business development, benefits solutions, corporate risk solutions, facultative reinsurance, claims, and looking ahead, strategic risk management and specialty

Read the full story here.

9. Zurich names new head of digital Asia

Zurich Insurance has appointed Digbijoy Joseph Shukla as head of digital for Asia Pacific, succeeding Roopa Malhotra, who has taken on the role of chief growth and propositions officer at Zurich Japan.

Shukla will lead Zurich Edge, the insurer’s regional digital and embedded insurance business, with a mandate to accelerate digital growth, deepen ecosystem partnerships, and advance the seamless integration of insurance into customer journeys.

Malhotra, who established and scaled Zurich Edge, will join Zurich Japan’s executive committee to drive growth, innovation, and cross‑business collaboration across the insurer’s P&C and life portfolios.

Read the full story here.

10. Coface elevates country manager to APAC head of partnerships

Coface has promoted Agnes Chan to head of partnerships for Asia Pacific.

Kuala Lumpur-based Chan has been with Coface for over 10 years, most recently as country manager of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines since October 2023.

Read the full story here.

11. Starr appoints Vichai Laotrakul as Thailand CEO

Starr Insurance has appointed Vichai Laotrakul as chief executive officer for Thailand.

Bangkok-based Laotrakul brings over 20 years of underwriting experience across multiple lines of business, will be responsible for driving growth, overseeing overall business performance, and strengthening Starr’s market position in Thailand.

Read the full story here.

12. Tokio Marine Management Australasia names new Japan business department head

Satoshi Asano has replaced Naoto Ishizuka as head of Tokio Marine Management Australasia’s Japan business department.

Managing director Ishizuka is heading back to Tokio Marine Group in Japan after four years in the role, meanwhile, Asano has over 20 years at Tokio Marine and recent experience in Indonesia.

Read the full story here.

13. Australia’s Community Broker Network confirms leadership appointments

Community Broker Network (CBN) has announced two key leadership appointments with the promotion of Elise Pedersen and the addition of Ewan Thompson, according to a press release.

Pedersen has been appointed as general manager for subsidiaries and associates and will lead the performance, growth and alignment of CBN’s subsidiary and associate businesses, working closely with its partner cohort and across the organisation to strengthen capability, unlock value and ensure businesses are well positioned for long-term success,

Thompson, meanwhile, has been appointed as general manager for partners, and will lead engagement and growth, with a clear mandate to enhance CBN’s Partner service offering.

Read the full story here.

Other moves you may have missed

Agile Insurance Group has reshuffled its underwriting leadership team as part of the MGA’s growth strategy in the Australia and New Zealand markets. Mark Hunt is stepping into the role of group chief underwriting officer. David Hughes, will succeed Hunt in the active underwriter position and continue to represent the syndicate across all classes in the London market. To support Hunt and Hughes, Mike Dalton, who is currently group head of aviation, takes on an additional role as head of underwriting for Australia to help manage and support the underwriting teams in Australia.

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.

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