People Moves: QBE Promotes Desch as German General Mgr; Trium Syndicate Taps TMK’s Metsanvirta as Active U/W; Markel Announces Key Hires for Singapore, HK

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at QBE Europe, Trium Syndicate, and Markel in Singapore and Hong Kong.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

QBE Promotes Desch as German General Manager

QBE has named Fabian Desch as the next general manager for Germany, pending regulatory approval.

As the head of Distribution for QBE Europe since 2022, Desch has helped manage the German team since his predecessor Andrea Brock went on gardening leave in May.

The upcoming GM will start his new role once all regulatory approvals are in place. He will report to Beatriz Valenti, director of Insurance at QBE Europe, from Sept. 1 to ensure a smooth transition.

Before joining QBE, Desch had two decades of experience on the broking side. He started his career with Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in project management and rolling out various IT programs. He then headed commercial services for Northern Germany. Progressing from placement officer to head of placement, he became a senior director in 2019 as head of broking for Germany and Austria and then deputy head of broking for Western Europe.

As head of Distribution for QBE Europe, and together with his team, Desch has grown QBE’s broker relationships across Europe, successfully implementing growth initiatives in collaboration with underwriting, and driving forward customer initiatives.

In his future role as country manager, he will design and implement QBE’s plan for Germany across the offices in Duesseldorf, Hamburg and Munich, focusing on underwriting expertise and broker service.

“Over the last few years, we have done a great job positioning QBE in the German market and expanding our line of products, including the marine launch,” commented Valenti. “Fabian can build on this as we further grow marine, but also cyber, sustainable energy and pharma life science. QBE will also be developing its multinational programmes and positioning itself as a leading insurer for Germany.”

Part of QBE Insurance Group, QBE European Operations is a trading name of QBE Europe, QBE UK Ltd., QBE Underwriting Ltd., QBE Management Services (UK) Ltd., and QBE Underwriting Services (UK) Ltd.

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Trium Syndicate 1322 Taps TMK’s Metsanvirta as Active Underwriter

Trium Syndicate, the Lloyd’s of London cyber and property cat insurance specialist, has appointed Hanna Metsanvirta as underwriting performance director and active underwriter for Syndicate 1322.

In her new role, Metsanvirta will sit on the s1322 board and chair Trium’s Underwriting Committee to oversee the delivery of Trium’s underwriting strategy and performance. She succeeds Jeff Bores as active underwriter.

Metsanvirta comes to Trium from Tokio Marine Kiln where she was group head of Underwriting Management. In that role she was tasked with improving underwriting results, governance and culture. She played a pivotal role in transforming the syndicate in a short time to achieve outperforming status and become a Lloyd’s top quartile performer.

Metsanvirta began her industry career with KPMG Consulting. She went on to become a senior financial solutions underwriter at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (now known as MS Amlin) and a short while later was promoted to strategy and analytics specialist for s3210. She was invited to join Lloyd’s as a Syndicate Performance Executive 2014 and was later promoted to a newly established Oversight Manager role.

Metsanvirta earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Studies from City University and is an Associate of Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) in the UK. She later studied sustainability management at Cambridge University.

“Ms. Metsanvirta is a highly respected authority on syndicate strategy, underwriting oversight, product control, compliance and relationship management with Lloyd’s capital providers,” said Josh Ladeau CEO of Trium. “Her deep experience with Lloyd’s and the London market will accelerate the expansion of our operations in the US, UK and beyond.”

Trium 1322 is a specialty lines Lloyd’s syndicate providing global cyber and US commercial property cat insurance via its US and UK based service companies, (Trium Cyber U.S. Service Inc.; Trium Cyber UK Services Ltd.; and Trium Property U.S. Services, Inc.).

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Markel Announces Key Hires to Singapore and Hong Kong Teams

Markel, the insurance operations within Markel Group Inc., announced several key hires to its Singapore and Hong Kong teams.

Alvernia Xu has been appointed to head of Operations – Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Xu joins Markel from Liberty Specialty Markets, where she worked as senior manager, Operations since 2021. During this time, she was responsible for the overall management of the Asia Operations team across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. In her new role, Xu will ensure that Markel has best-in-class operational infrastructure to underpin its growth plans, improving efficiency both for clients and team members. Xu will report to Christian Stobbs, managing director – Asia Pacific, at Markel.

Jenny Choi joins Markel in Hong Kong as senior underwriter, Casualty. She comes from Swiss Re, where she was, most recently, senior casualty facultative underwriter. Choi brings extensive experience of underwriting a wide range of casualty risks across Hong Kong and Taiwan, which will play an important role in helping to expand Markel’s Casualty portfolio in Asia.

Anna Tan joins Markel in Hong Kong as senior underwriter, Fine Art & Specie. Previously, she worked for Hamilton Insurance Group, where she was employed as senior underwriter, Fine Art & Specie. Tan’s connectivity and track record across Asia – most recently in Greater China – will help to strengthen Markel’s rapidly growing profile as a lead market for Fine Art & Specie insurance in the region.

Olga Wong joins Markel in Singapore, assuming the role of senior underwriter, Professional Financial Risk (PFR). Before joining Markel, she served as a senior financial lines underwriter at AXA XL. With 20 years of experience in financial lines underwriting across Asia, Wong’s appointment will bolster Markel’s Financial Lines proposition, particularly with brokers in the Singapore market.

Choi, Tan and Wong will report to Kevin Leung, chief underwriting officer – Asia Pacific, at Markel.

Markel has also named Isabelle Wong as cargo underwriter, with responsibility for developing and underwriting marine cargo business in the Asia-Pacific region. Wong joins Markel from Willis Towers Watson and will be based in Singapore, reporting to Wanshi Lin, senior marine underwriter at Markel.

Topics Germany