SPECIAL REPORT
Sixteen excellent young professionals are launching remarkable products and processes in Asia’s insurance industry
CONTENTS
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Feature article ................................................................... 2 Methodology ..................................................................... 3 Rising Stars 2021 .............................................................. 5 Profiles .............................................................................. 6
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SPECIAL REPORT
RISING STARS 2021
NEW IDEAS FOR A CHANGING MARKET INSURANCE BUSINESS Asia’s Rising Stars showcase celebrates the emerging talents who have demonstrated excellence and innovation to overcome the challenges of 2021.
RISING STARS BY LOCATION
China: 3 Hong Kong SAR: 1 India: 2 Malaysia: 2 Singapore: 7 Taiwan 1
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Throughout the year disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, many drove their business operations to improve efficiencies and develop innovative ways of working.
These young professionals highlighted the importance of strengthening connections at a time when social distance was imperative. Their endeavours included using advanced technologies to communicate with clients and staff. In some cases, they introduced new operations or products to serve existing and emerging industries. IB’s Rising Stars brought an eye for detail, high-quality and efficient work, and a proactive approach to the insurance industry. Known for their innovativeness and ability to cut through the industry’s traditions, these young professionals take the time to explain complex concepts to their clients and demonstrate a high degree of customer care. For many of the Rising Stars, these attributes have led to commercial success. One success story is how Rhiannon Alban-Davies, regional head of fine art & specie – Asia at Willis Towers Watson, grew the company’s fine arts, jewellery and specie insurance division by 45% year-on-year over six years. Another inspiring example is Nikhil Harne, who took on the additional responsibility of introducing digital marketing to his role at Puri Crawford Insurance Surveyors & Loss Assessors India. Together, the Rising Stars are creating the future of the insurance industry in Asia.
Innovation first All of the awardees have contributed significantly to the industry through their firms, embedding new technologies and overcoming adversities to build market share. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region, these young professionals were able to make the most of the situation. Lynette Liu, senior account manager at Marsh China Insurance Brokers, worked strategically during this time to establish industry-leading programs in her sector of life sciences, which has put the company on the map as a leading provider of services to the biotech industry. This service was critical
clients and global insurers to develop and launch a comprehensive clinical trial and product liability insurance program to assist local firms to mitigate risk exposure.” A client that benefited from the insurance program was Sinovac, which manufactured one of the vaccines distributed worldwide.
Fast adaptation The pandemic also shaped the way young insurance professionals worked. Eugene Ang, manager and loss adjuster at Crawford & Company, was challenged due to limited direct access to client sites. However, he accommodated new ways of client liaison
“My goal was for each employee to be able to answer all questions from the client irrespective of the product. Due to the system implemented, our team grew by 35% in a year” Nikhil Harne, Puri Crawford Insurance Surveyors & Loss Assessors India
METHODOLOGY Insurance Business Asia invited insurance professionals from across the region to nominate exceptional young talent for the second annual Rising Stars list. Nominees had to be aged 35 or under as of 31 December 2021 and should be committed to their career. To maintain a focus on new talent, the IB Asia team considered only the nominees who had not been previously recognised as Rising Stars. The nominations encompassed young professionals working in a wide range of insurance jobs across Asia. The nominees were asked about their current role, as well as their key achievements, career goals, and contributions towards shaping the industry. Recommendations from managers and senior industry professionals were also considered. The IB Asia team used these criteria to narrow down the list to 16 of the most promising young professionals in the region’s insurance sector.
5th as companies raced to develop vaccines against COVID-19. “Lynette has produced and placed the largest global clinical trial program in China and the largest brokerage portfolio in the life science casualty market,” a company spokesperson says. “With the COVID outbreak in 2020, the whole life science industry [faced] imminent challenges at all levels, especially local biotech companies that participated in vaccine research and development. “During the past 12 months, Lynette devoted herself actively to working with local
and continued to support the business regardless of the restrictions. “He’s a problem solver who looks for different ways and approaches to better solve any difficulty,” a company spokesperson says. “A go-getter, he never takes no for an answer. He’s committed to continuous learning and is always looking to learn something new or improve on what he knows. Eugene is growing the business portfolio through his out-of-the-box ideas.” Nikhil Harne, manager at Puri Crawford Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors, also harnessed new ideas to gain more business in
2nd annual Rising Stars showcase
45% of the winners are based in Singapore
22 years is the age of the youngest Rising Star
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SPECIAL REPORT
RISING STARS 2021
RISING STARS BY COMPANY TYPE
Brokerage 4
Claims management 3
Consultancy 1
Insurer/reinsurer 6
Loss adjusting 1
Technology 1
“Lynette worked with local clients and global insurers to launch a comprehensive clinical trial and product liability insurance program” A spokesperson for Marsh China Insurance Brokers India’s underrepresented SME market. Focusing on motor and fire insurance products for this segment, Harne was able to expand the market and provide protection for new clients more easily. At the same time, he created an internal training method to upskill workers across all insurance products.
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“My goal was for each employee to be able to answer all types of questions from the client irrespective of the product. Due to the system implemented regarding SME insurance and the performance management system, our team grew by 35% in a year,” says Harne. Seeing the potential for new products for smaller businesses, Anuj Shah, chief operating officer at Vibrant Insurance Broking, also targeted this market. “We are now growing 20% year-on-year in terms of SME premium. I have also led in gaining many listed companies, which are in our pipeline. I also came up with the idea of ‘gas insurance’, which involved putting up stalls on petrol pumps to issue instant motor insurance,” says Shah. The gas insurance innovation generated thousands of new policies. Another growth driver was the digitisation of the company’s client-facing processes, which Shah commenced for the Vibrant team. WTW’s Alban-Davies also enabled significant growth, as well as transforming the company’s profile in her segment of Asian fine arts. “Although museums were closed, exhibitions were cancelled or rescheduled and the business of commercial organisations [weakened], Rhiannon and her team achieved another successful year by staying close to the Hong Kong art community virtually,” a company spokesperson says. “In 2020, Rhiannon expanded her client portfolio to private and individual collectors, as well as brought general specie and jewellery block clients on board. Under her leadership, the book has grown by over 40% in 2020 and remained one of the fastest growing in Hong Kong since 2016.” WTW’s head of corporate risk and broking commended Alban-Davies’ work as “everything we look for in our young leaders”.
Rhiannon Alban-Davies Regional head, fine art & specie – Asia Willis Towers Watson
Sarah Ching Senior underwriter – reinsurance MS Amlin Asia Pacific
Phone: 2195 5500 Email: marketing.hk@willistowerswatson.com Website: willistowerswatson.com
Phone: 6645 9194 Email: sarah.ching@msamlin.com Website: msamlin.com/reinsurance
Anuj Shah CMO and COO Vibrant Insurance Broking
Lee Pit Wen Regional operations director Charles Taylor Adjusting
Eugene Ang Manager and loss adjuster Crawford & Company Singapore Eu Riang Lim Manager Crawford & Company Malaysia Ivan Fung Hong Kong risk officer AIG Insurance Hong Kong James Pan Senior account executive Marsh Taiwan Jason Chou Chief agency officer Sun Life Hong Kong Jeanette Lim Regional head of agency development and incentives Chubb Asia-Pacific Lahiru Maduranga Regional manager Softlogic Life Insurance
Lynette Liu Senior account manager and AVP Marsh (China) Insurance Brokers Nikhil Harne Manager Puri Crawford Insurance Surveyors & Loss Assessors India Pin Li Lim AVP and claims advocate Marsh Asia Sonia Notani Managing director – South Asia and Middle East Outsized Vincent Xu Chief operating officer Finology Yee Kan Carmen Wu Interim healthcare leader Crawford (HK)
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SPECIAL REPORT
RISING STARS 2021
Senior underwriter for reinsurance MS Amlin Asia Pacific
SARAH CHING Senior underwriter – reinsurance MS Amlin Asia Pacific
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arah Ching has been with MS Amlin for nearly a decade. She joined the international reinsurer in March 2012 on a postgraduate scholarship, was promoted to assistant underwriter in 2013, further to obtaining her ACII accreditation, and became underwriter in 2016. At present, Ching runs the reinsurance treaty team for MS Amlin Lloyd’s Asia service company. She manages the underwriting team and liaises with the broker market across the region. An underwriting leader in the making, Ching has developed a reputation as a professional and knowledgeable underwriter with strong relationship-building and communication skills. Ching “is a disciplined underwriter that has taken the effort to understand the technical aspects of the business and goes above
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and beyond in managing the portfolio and client relationships,” says William Ho, CEO of APAC at the company. “She maintains an excellent level of discipline despite a pressured environment.” Her underwriting and leadership skills are assets for MS Amlin. Over the past year, she has underwritten and nurtured underwriting relationships during a more challenging time in the underwriting cycle, mentored staff and ensured a disciplined underwriting approach to the region, and continued to exhibit a strong underwriting track record. Ching also had the opportunity to be seconded to MS Amlin’s Bermuda office to assist in international underwriting operations. This allowed her to transfer her skills developed in Asia to a global portfolio. For her, a key achievement is being part of the team that launched Phoenix 1 Re.
“In addition to being the first sidecar transaction to be domiciled in Singapore, it is also the first sidecar to be focused solely on Asian property catastrophe risk,” she says. “This is a significant milestone not only for the company, but also for the development of the Asian reinsurance market.” Ching has stepped up to the next stage of her career: training and leading a team while developing her management criteria so she can drive and influence strategy as well as lead and train the next generation of young underwriters. Ching also plans to inspire and mentor other young women who are starting out in the reinsurance industry. She believes that although the industry has taken great strides towards diversity and inclusion, more can be done to promote gender diversity and increase women’s representation in senior roles.
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RHIANNON ALBAN-DAVIES Regional head, fine art & specie ‒ Asia Willis Towers Watson
n her role, Rhiannon Alban-Davies is responsible for the strategic Fine Art and Specie expansion plan for Asia. She also handles the private client and art insurance policies of some of Willis Towers Watson’s largest corporate clients globally. Over the past couple of years, Alban-Davies has led her team in Hong Kong to achieve consistent double-digit growth year on year despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. She expanded the team and began to oversee two other dedicated Fine Art and Specie resources in Asia. The team has significantly grown its portfolio of collectors in HK and now looks after some of the largest collections in the region. In March 2020, she was tasked to grow and strengthen the book and pipeline in the rest of Asia. The tough business environment and inability to travel didn’t deter her from winning new clients in South East Asia, China, and the Middle East. One of the few specialists in her field in Asia, Alban-Davies also works to advance the risk mitigation practice of the specialist product line in Asia and raise the level of understanding of Fine Art and Specie insurance through talks, seminars and cross-selling with other teams. She is undertaking a Masters in Law at the University of Law in London while completing ACII modules at the Chartered Insurance Institute to become a better advocate for her clients.
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