Willis, Howden, Allianz Commercial, Swiss Re, Aon: 12 APAC insurance people moves of the week

January 23 2026 by

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

1. Willis boosts Pacific finex offering with double Aon swoop, reshuffles Asia construction, HK P&C teams

Willis has announced two appointments to its financial, professional and executive risks (finex) business in the Pacific to “support the growth of its specialty businesses in the region.”

Sydney-based Stephen Trickey confirmed his departure from Aon after 35 years, and joins Willis as the head of growth for the Pacific.

Eden Fletcher succeeds Jill Stewart as head of finex in the Pacific following her retirement from Willis.

Sydney-based Fletcher was most recently head of specialty solutions for Aon in Australia.

Willis has also hired Alex Benson as Asia claims head for construction and natural resources. Benson will focus on providing claims advice, advocacy and resolution services to Willis’ clients in the region.

The broker also added Jess Li to its Hong Kong and Macau property and casualty team as a director. Li has joined Willis after almost a decade at Aon, where she was most recently a senior account manager.

Read the full story here, here, and here.

2. Howden boosts business development, employee benefits teams as quartet join

Howden has said that Cyrus Cheung has joined as a senior director for business development, while Flora Yip has joined as a senior director within its business risks team.

Cheung rejoins from Marsh, where he has been a vice president for the last four and a half years. Yip, meanwhile, was head of commercial risks at Lockton since 2022.

Howden has also expanded its employee benefits team with Michael Chan joining as a director and Jan Ng appointed head of sales.

Read the full story here.

3. Allianz Commercial Japan appoint head of distribution management, head of liability

Casey Sandler has been appointed as division manager of distribution management at Allianz Fire and Marine Insurance Japan, effective from March 1, according to a press release.

“[Sandler] will spearhead the refreshed distribution strategy in Japan as Allianz Commercial strengthens strategic partnerships and expands its market presence in the country,” said the press release.

Allianz Commercial Japan has confirmed the appointment of Yoshio Motohashi as head of liability.

Tokyo-based Motohashi joined from MS&AD at the start of the year.

Read the full story here and here.

4. Swiss Re taps senior client underwriter in India, senior casualty treaty underwriter in Sydney

Swiss Re has appointed Kelvin Kumar as a senior client underwriter in Mumbai.

Kumar, who has over 16 years of experience in insurance and reinsurance, has relocated from Kuala Lumpur to Mumbai for the role.

The reinsurer also hired Alexander White as a senior casualty treaty underwriter. He joins from Munich Re, where he had last held the position of senior underwriter for casualty and treaty since April.

Read the full story here and here.

5. Aon promotes Asia MD to Malaysia CEO, appoints Australia national practice leader for housing

Aon‘s current managing director and head of growth for Asia, Neelay Patel, has been promoted to CEO of Malaysia.

In his new role, Patel will oversee Aon’s business in Malaysia across commercial risk solutions, health solutions, talent solutions and wealth solutions.

Ben Williams has returned to Aon as national practice leader for housing in Australia.

He was previously employed for almost nine years, from 2013 to 2022, holding several roles, including client manager, client executive, and service executive.

Read the full story here and here.

6. AIG elevates Angus Hon to professional indemnity lead for APAC

Angus Hon has been appointed regional professional indemnity (PI) lead for Asia Pacific at AIG.

Hong Kong-based Hon will focus on driving profitable growth in commercial PI across Asia Pacific, strengthening AIG’s product and people capabilities, and enhancing regional collaboration.

Read the full story here.

7. QBE Re names Sven Liu as its new head of greater China

QBE Re has appointed Sven Liu as its new head of greater China.

Liu (pictured) is based in Singapore and reports to Cindy Foo, head of Asia treaty, and will oversee QBE Re’s portfolio management and growth in the greater China region.

Read the full story here.

8. QBE names taps national portfolio specialists for Australia financial lines and NZ

Jeno Capo returned to QBE New Zealand as national portfolio specialist.

Auckland-based Capo had earlier spent over seven years at NZI Liability as a technical manager for financial lines.

QBE also handed Daniel Smith new role as national portfolio specialist for financial lines in their Australian branch.

Brisbane-based Smith has been with QBE for more than 15 years, originally joining in July 2010 as an underwriting support officer.

Read the full story here and here.

9. Chubb appoints NZ construction lead, elevates regional manager to Cornerstone relationship manager in Australia

Chubb has appointed Candice Strydom as its New Zealand construction lead.

She joins from Vero Insurance, where she has been a senior construction and engineering underwriter since September 2022.

Chubb also promoted Daniel Farrell to senior Cornerstone relationship manager.

Sydney-based Farrell was previously the marine manager for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from July 2022.

Read the full story here and here.

10. Allied World names lead underwriter for Australia property division

Allied World has appointed Mark Chisholm as vice president and lead underwriter for its Australia property division.

Melbourne-based Chisholm joins from IAG-owned CGU Insurance, last holding the dual role of property national underwriting manager and corporate underwriting manager for property since May 2018 and October 2015, respectively.

Read the full story here.

11. Oneglobal Broking appoints marine director

Commercial (re)insurance broker Oneglobal Broking has tapped Geovenn Lim as director for marine.

Singapore-based Lim will lead and grow the broker’s marine P&I segment, delivering pragmatic and client-focused insurance solutions to support shipowners in navigating complex risks, the statement added.

Read the full story here.

12. SBI General Insurance hires motor underwriting lead

SBI General Insurance has appointed Chandan Kumar as vice president and lead for motor underwriting.

Mumbai-based Kumar has over 14 years of experience in underwriting roles, having previously spent more than seven years at Liberty General Insurance.

Read the full story here.

Other moves you may have missed

Anita Hong has joined MS Amlin as APAC financial controller for Asia Pacific. Hong was previously at TD, the Canadian banking group, for over a decade, and was more recently senior finance manager for APAC at TD Securities.

Hannover Re appointed Prateek Maheshwari as CFO for the India branch. He relocated from Sydney to Mumbai for the role, following over three and a half years as a financial accountant for Hannover Life Re of Australasia.

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.