Liberty, Howden Re, Markel, HDI: 14 APAC insurance people moves of the week
June 26 2026 by Roshan Nambiar
InsuranceAsia News wraps up the people moves from the insurance industry in Asia this week.
1. Liberty APAC CUO departs, head of casualty named as replacement
Liberty has confirmed chairman of Australia and chief underwriting officer for Asia Pacific, Michael Abdallah, will retire on September 30 after 27 years with the company.
Liberty also confirmed via a LinkedIn update that APAC head of casualty and professional and financial risks, Marcus Thomas, will take on the role of chief underwriting officer for Asia Pacific, effective from July 1.
Sydney-based Abdallah started Liberty’s Asia Pacific commercial and specialty business in Sydney in June 1999 as one of the three founders of Liberty International Underwriters
Read the full story here.
2. Howden Re deepens China bench with trio of managing directors
Howden Re has bolstered its China team by hiring Houqin Zhu as head of China treaty, Mike Xin as head of agriculture for Asia Pacific and David Song as head of retrocession for greater China.
Zhu joined the broker this month from Aon Re and has over four decades of experience in the reinsurance broking industry.
Xin was formerly with Gallagher Re, where he was an executive director within its China agriculture reinsurance team
Song, who is due to join Howden Re in October, was most recently deputy head of Hong Kong at Guy Carpenter and a senior vice president responsible for retrocession.
Read the full story here.
3. Markel taps Singapore head of terrorism
Markel International has appointed Henry Ang as its Singapore head of terrorism, as the specialty insurer looks to expand its political violence and terrorism (PVT) capabilities across Asia Pacific.
Ang joins from Everest, where he served as head of PVT for Asia and also held a dual role in property underwriting from March 2025, and will report to head of Singapore, Wanshi Lin.
Read the full story here.
4. HDI Global appoints Hong Kong head of claims, property underwriter in Australia
Viola Lee has joined HDI Global’s Hong Kong branch as head of claims.
Lee, who joined on June 8, brings more than 15 years of experience in insurance and broking.
The insurer also added Amiel Poonan to its property underwriting team in Brisbane.
Poonan joins from Barrack Broking, where he was an account manager, and has previously had stints at PSC Insurance Group and Youi Insurance.
Read the full story here and here.
5. Tower promotes claims experience, transformation head to chief claims officer
Kiwi insurer Tower has named Dan Walker as its new chief claims officer.
Tower said that Walker has been promoted to the role, effective immediately. He replaces Steve Wilson, who left and returned to Australia earlier this year.
6. Delta Insurance Australia appoints head of claims
Delta Insurance Australia has tapped Matthew Davis as its head of claims.
Melbourne-based Davis has joined from Axa XL, where he had been a senior claims specialist since August 2018.
Read the full story here.
7. Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions names APAC chief of staff
Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions has appointed Chin Fong Teh as its chief of staff for Asia Pacific.
Before joining Aon, Teh held several senior regional operations and broking roles, most recently with Gallagher Re, where he spent over four years as an executive director.
8. Willis appoints finex lead for Malaysia
Willis Malaysia has appointed Daniel Choi as head of finex.
Choi has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, having previously held roles at Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Allianz General Insurance, MSIG Insurance, and BIB Insurance Brokers.
Read the full story here.
9. GT Insurance taps COO, chief strategy and innovation officer
Arron Mann has been named as chief operating officer for GT Insurance, a partner agency of Allianz Broker Australia that specialises in the Australian transport sector
Mann joins after spending the last nine years at QBE Insurance, most recently as general manager for short-tail claims.
Yanna Walters has also been appointed as its new chief strategy and innovation officer.
Walters has returned to Australia after more than a decade in the US, and was most recently a consultant at Eliassen Group in San Diego.
Read the full story here and here.
10. QBE appoints head of P&I for Asia
QBE Insurance has appointed Callum O’Brien as its head of P&I for the Asia region.
O’Brien will be based in QBE’s Singapore office and report to Richard Inman, portfolio manager for British marine P&I.
Read the full story here.
11. Howden names power, energy director in Thailand
Howden has appointed Supaporn Chanin as director for power and energy in Thailand.
Chanin brings over 28 years of experience and specialises in construction and operational insurance, with expertise supporting corporate clients across the power, energy, infrastructure, port terminals and real estate sectors.
Read the full story here.
Other moves you may have missed
Gallagher Re has confirmed the appointment of Minesh Jani as its new CEO for India. InsuranceAsia News had reported Jani’s appointment in February. Piers Maunder, strategic adviser at Gallagher Re Australia, said that he would step down from the role at the end of June and has announced his retirement from the reinsurance industry after a career spanning nearly five decades.
The Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC) has appointed Cameron Hick as its next chief underwriting officer. Hick has initially taken up the role as CUO designate, and will work closely with current CUO Michael Pennell, will commence leave on September 14 before retiring on November 27, to ensure an orderly transition.
Sompo has announced the appointment of Henry MacHale as chief underwriting officer and head of strategy for its international markets insurance business. Sompo’s international markets comprises 22 countries across four regions: the United Kingdom, Asia Pacific, Continental Europe including Turkey, and Brazil.
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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