Specialist insurer and reinsurer, Beazley, has added four underwriters to its Asia Pacific operations in order to support continued growth in the region.
Both Dindson Phua and Mike Lu have joined the firm’s international financial lines team, while Reeta Ambaram has joined the specialty treaty team. Additionally, Jordan Schwarz is to relocate to the Singapore office as part of the mergers & acquisitions (M&A) underwriting team.
Beazley states that these appointments reflect its ongoing commitment to strengthening underwriting capabilities in the Asia Pacific region and supporting key markets.
Phua and Lu take over responsibility for the company’s full suite of specialty lines products, including D&O, professional indemnity, financial institutions and cyber, as well as healthcare liability. In their new roles, they will report to Nicholas Tey, international financial lines manager for Asia Pacific.
Phua joins Beazley from Asia Capital Reinsurance Group, and brings extensive experience in the medical malpractice and professional indemnity sector. It’s expected that his industry knowledge will accelerate Beazley’s expansion in miscellaneous medical and life sciences market, and the development of Virtual Care.
Lu brings 12 years of insurance industry experience across North Asia to Beazley, and joins from Swiss Re, where he spent six years. Most recently, he was responsible for growing the finpro and casualty business at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions in the Greater China marketplace.
Ambaram will join the specialty team and brings more than two decades of credit and surety experience to the firm. Her new role will span across specialty and surety reinsurance and she will also lead the Beazley Product Solutions offering for the region. She most recently served as head of surety (Singapore and Hong Kong) at Zurich Insurance. Prior to Zurich, she was based in Johannesburg, responsible for bonds and guarantee business at Santam Insurance Company. In her new role, she will report to Thomas Moore, global head of specialty surety.
Finally, Schwarz is set to move from Beazley’s London office to Singapore, in order to strengthen the firm’s M&A team and meet growing demand for the solution across the Asia Pacific region. He joined Beazley in 2015 and transitioned to the M&A team in 2018. In his new role, he will report to Jade Cummings.
Head of Asia Pacific at Beazley, Lucien Mounier, commented: “We are very pleased to welcome on board Dindson, Mike, Reeta and Jordan who bring diverse skillsets and broad industry knowledge to the team. Attracting and developing talent remains as important as ever during this pandemic as we look to grow and enhance our offering for clients across the region.
“Since unveiling our growth strategy last October, our regional underwriting team has grown by 40 percent and we have continued to flex and grow our offering to meet the changing needs of businesses.”
