Howden, Gallagher Re, WTW, Chubb: 14 APAC insurance people moves of the week
August 7 2026 by Roshan Nambiar
InsuranceAsia News wraps up the people moves from the insurance industry in Asia this week.
1. Howden MEA head returns to Singapore from Dubai, appoints construction head for Japan
Howden’s David Wall has returned to Singapore following three years in Dubai.
Wall will continue in his role as chief operating officer for Howden Speciality Asia Pacific, alongside his responsibilities overseeing Howden’s international specialty hubs, including Dubai, Miami and Bermuda, as well as supporting operations across the Middle East and Africa region.
Price Forbes’ Akihisa Hirata has joined Howden as head of construction for Japan.
Hirata (pictured) had only joined Price Forbes’ Japan practice in the Singapore office as a director in April.
Read the full story here and here.
2. Gallagher Re taps Guy Carpenter veteran as APAC fac head
Gallagher Re has named Luc Morement as managing director of its facultative business in Asia Pacific.
Morement, who is based in Singapore, joins from Guy Carpenter, where he held several senior roles including regional sales leader for APAC.
Read the full story here.
3. WTW appoints P&C head for Hong Kong, trade credit sales leader for Asean region
WTW has appointed Bruce Tsoi as head of property and casualty for Hong Kong.
He will work alongside Steve Hutchinson, who replaced Iris Chan as head of corporate risk and broking for Hong Kong and Macau in January and who also retains his existing role as head of property and casualty for Hong Kong and Macau.
Ruixiang Liu has joined WTW as trade credit sales leader for the Asean region.
Singapore-based Lui takes up the director-level role having spent the last two years at Coface as senior commercial manager.
Read the full story here and here.
4. Chubb names new country head for Malaysia
Chubb has announced the appointment of Gurudutt Joglekar as its country president in Malaysia, replacing Jon Longmore effective immediately.
Kuala Lumpur-based Joglekar joined Chubb as deputy country president in June, while Longmore will take on a new role within the firm.
Read the full story here.
5. Aon taps Zurich Indonesia CUO as Indonesia CEO, names head of growth, health solutions
Aon has hired Zurich Indonesia’s chief underwriting officer, Stephen, as CEO for Indonesia.
He will report to Jane Drummond, chief commercial officer for Asia Pacific and interim head of Southeast Asia, and join Aon’s Southeast Asia leadership team.
The broker has also named Stara Low as its head of growth for its health solutions business in Singapore.
Low joins Aon from WTW, where she was head of strategy, growth and business development in Singapore from March 2023 until August.
Read the full story here and here.
6. AIG taps senior claims executive for Asia Pacific casualty
AIG has tapped Cirilo Cabesas as a senior claims executive for Asia Pacific casualty.
Cabesas has joined AIG after over seven years at Crawford, where he held various marine roles, including assistant manager in Singapore.
Read the full story here.
7. Sompo appoints senior property underwriter for APAC 
Chantel Pountney has joined Sompo Asia Pacific as a senior property underwriter following a four-month career break.
Melbourne-based Pountney was most recently a senior property underwriter at Everest for just over two years from February 2024 until March.
Read the full story here.
8. Ageas Re appoints APAC lead underwriter to head international, specialty business
Brussels-headquartered reinsurer Ageas Re has unveiled “a new, more client-focused organisation”, effective from September 1, with APAC lead underwriter Christoph Spichtig, who is based in Zurich, leading the international and speciality business.
He will be supported by regional director for Asia, Hong Kong-based Matthew Tong, and the heads of specialty lines: Shahrokh Shahpoori Monfared for engineering, Michael Rüegger for agriculture, and Sylvie Hirn and Jeremy Robert Lilburn for credit and bond.
9. SRG promotes principal for fac to Asia head of strategy and growth
Specialist Risk Group (SRG), the specialty broker, has promoted Joanna Goh to partner and Asia head of strategy and growth, effective from September 1.
In her new role, Goh will oversee strategy and the execution of growth initiatives in Asia, with responsibility for portfolio solutions. and will report Asia Pacific CEO Collin Yap.
Read the full story here.
10. Australian broker Cowden names national head of operations
Australian insurance broker Cowden has appointed Charlotte Lau as its national head of operations.
Lau, who has been in the role since March, has over two decades of experience in roles with QBE, Crawford and Sedgwick.
Read the full story here.
11. Crypto specialist Relm plants APAC flag with APAC head hire
Relm Insurance has appointed Timothy Powell as its head of Asia Pacific and global head of underwriting performance, marking the crypto and emerging industry-focused carrier’s first dedicated leadership presence in the region and the beginning of its planned regional expansion.
Powell, a veteran financial lines and cyber underwriter, will be based in Sydney and drive Relm’s expansion across Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, with New Zealand, Southeast Asia and mainland China viewed as natural extensions.
Read the full story here.
12. Ignite Specialty Risk hires lead to drive Australia expansion
Ignite Specialty Risk, the specialist MGA focused on litigation risk insurance, has appointed Lucinda Stormont-Sainsbury to lead its expansion into the Australian market.
Earlier in her career, Stormont-Sainsbury was a contingent legal risk insurance underwriter at Liberty Global in Australia and spent more than 12 years as a lawyer at Clyde & Co in the UK and Australia.
Read the full story here.
13. Tysers Singapore appoints director for marine claims, client relations
Tysers Singapore has appointed Prantika Sengupta as its director of marine claims and client relations.
Sengupta will be responsible for enhancing the firm’s claims offering, working under chairman of claims Chris Sydenham to support clients across the marine portfolio.
Read the full story here.
14. Markel hires first dedicated claims adjuster in Hong Kong 
Markel Insurance has named Audrey Pang as a senior claims adjuster in Hong Kong, marking the Lloyd’s carrier’s first dedicated claims appointment in the territory.
Pang reports to Bo Yu, head of Asia claims, and will manage claims arising from Marke’s Hong Kong and China portfolio, with a particular focus on professional and financial risks.
Read the full story here.
Other moves you may have missed
Sean Dalton has been nominated as the next president of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI). New Jersey-based Dalton (pictured) will succeed Frédéric Denèfle, who will complete his four-year term as president. Dalton currently serves as IUMI’s vice president, having previously chaired the association’s cargo committee and has also been a member of the IUMI policy forum.
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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