People Moves: Gallagher Re Appoints Brace of Exec Appointments for N. America, Brazil and China

Global reinsurance broker Gallagher Re announced the appointment of Linda Johnson as vice chairperson for its North American team, Daniel Veiga as CEO of Gallagher Re Brazil, Treaty Operation, Jia Lou as CEO of Mainland China & Hong Kong, with effect from 1 June, and Alex Xia as head of Gallagher Re in Beijing. All the appointments are effective on June 1.

The executives’ roles and biographies are detailed below.

• Linda Johnson. As vice chairperson for Gallaher Re’s North American team, Johnson will be responsible for producing new business for large casualty and structured reinsurance solutions across North America, with a focus on New York and Minneapolis. She will also drive talent recruitment and retention across the region. Johnson will report to Tom Wafer, chairman, Gallagher Re North America.

She brings more than 30 years of industry experience to Gallagher Re. She previously spent 15 years at TigerRisk Partners, where she was a founding partner, executive team member, and most recently served as Global Legacy Solutions Practice leader. Prior to TigerRisk, Johnson was a senior executive with Aon Benfield.

• Daniel Veiga. As CEO of Gallagher Re Brazil, Treaty Operation, Veiga’s appointment is part of Gallagher Re Brazil’s continued growth plans and strategic investment in leadership. Based in Rio de Janeiro and closely connected to São Paulo, Veiga will work alongside Gallagher Re Executive Vice President Fernando Tilger and in collaboration with Luiz Araripe, country head of Gallagher Brazil Retail and Facultative Reinsurance. Veiga will report to Edson Wiggers, CEO of Gallagher Re Latin America and Caribbean, who oversees the Brazil operation in collaboration with Tilger.

With more than 18 years of reinsurance industry experience, Veiga joins Gallagher Re from IRB Re Brazil. Over the last 15 years, Veiga has held a number of underwriting and executive roles, leading the strategy and development of specialty risks from 2014 to 2021, with a strong focus on agriculture, financial lines, surety and credit, marine and aviation. Since 2021, he served as chief underwriting officer for all IRB non-life lines of business.

Veiga’s arrival within the Latin America & Caribbean division follows that of Junaid Seria, hired in February to head up Catastrophe Analytics, and Carlos Gonzalez and Harry Titherley, who joined as vice president and divisional director, respectively, in late 2022.

• Jia Lou. As CEO of Mainland China & Hong Kong, Lou brings to Gallagher Re more than 15 years’ experience, strong client relationships and a proven track record of growing, leading and developing reinsurance broking teams and businesses. He will be responsible for Gallagher Re’s strategic planning and execution within the Mainland China and Hong Kong markets, and reports to Mark Morley, head of Asia Pacific for Gallagher Re.

Most recently Lou was managing director, head of the South China region and Agriculture, at Guy Carpenter, based in Hong Kong. He began his career in the London and moved back to the region in 2010 to lead the newly established China Agriculture reinsurance treaty practice.

• Alex Xia. As head of Gallagher Re in Beijing, Xia will lead the local team to develop, diversify and further strengthen the client offering and service proposition in the northern China region, reporting to Jia Lou, CEO of Mainland China & Hong Kong. Xia began his career at PICC P&C, where he spent 19 years in various direct insurance and reinsurance positions. Most recently he was deputy head of Client Management, North China, for Munich Re, a position he held since 2016.

Topics China A.J. Gallagher