People Moves: Zurich Names UK Chief Sustainability Officer; HDI Appoints de Varax to Interim Role to Lead French Branch; Fusion Bolsters APAC M&A Team With 3 Hires

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Zurich, HDI Global and Fusion.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Zurich Names UK Chief Sustainability Officer

Zurich Insurance Co. announced that Chief Operating Officer John Keppel will be appointed to the role of UK chief sustainability officer which is a new position on the Zurich UK executive team.

Prior to his five-year tenure as COO at Zurich, Keppel spent over two decades of his career in management consultancy working with brands such as Capgemini and Accenture. He has an in-depth knowledge of Zurich’s supplier network and facilities, as well as a broad understanding of the end-to-end UK business. This collective experience makes him well positioned to take this role, Zurich said in a statement.

In addition to his sustainability responsibilities, Keppel will continue to hold responsibilities for UK Engineering and the Customer Office.

Anita Fernqvist, currently chief data officer, will succeed Keppel as UK chief operating officer (COO), joining the UK executive team. Fernqvist will be responsible for leading our digital, data, operations and IT strategy and our continual response to technological advancement. She has a wealth of experience, having joined Zurich from IBM 17 years ago. Fernqvist has worked in a range of operations and technology roles in this time including head of Business Change and IT, head of COO Office, head of Central Operations and most recently chief data officer.

“I’m really excited to lead our journey to becoming one of the most responsible and impactful companies in the world. We’ve made strong progress over the last few years but there is so much more to be done,” commented Keppel. “Creating this new role demonstrates our commitment to sustainability, and I am so proud to be the one to take the lead and demonstrate this commitment in practice.”

Keppel’s and Fernqvist’s new roles will take effect on July 1, subject to regulatory approval.

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HDI Appoints de Varax to Interim Role as MD of French Branch

Managing Director Florence Louppe is leaving the HDI Global SE Branch France at her own request in order to take up new career challenges, effective March 31, 2022. Etienne de Varax will take over temporary management of the branch.

The management board is working on a succession plan.

de Varax, who is already a member of the local management team, takes over temporary management of the branch, subject to the approval of the responsible regulatory authorities. He will take up his new function on April 1, 2022 until further notice. Over the past 21 years, de Varax (65) has played a major role in various positions guiding the successful business development of HDI in France. He is currently director ART/ Legal / Tax / Compliance & Claims at the branch. Prior to his time at HDI Global, de Varax worked at Aon, the GAN Group and AIG in various functions.

“Etienne de Varax has broadly based expertise in industrial lines insurance and is outstandingly networked in the French market,” said David Hullin, member of the Management Board of HDI Global SE and responsible for the regions Europe (not including Germany) and North and South America.

“We are therefore delighted that Etienne is taking over temporary management at the branch. He will work closely with the Chief Underwriting Officer Philippe Klein. Both managers enjoy great trust with our sales partners and customers in France and they work closely together with colleagues in Paris and Lyon. This will allow the team in France to ensure that we can seamlessly continue our usual professional services for our customers in France.”

The company thanked Louppe for her successful work over the past years and wished “her every success in her future career and all the best in her private life.”

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Fusion Bolsters APAC M&A Team With 3 Senior Hires

Fusion, a Sydney-based speciality managing general agent that provides insurance solutions to small and medium-sized businesses, announced the appointments of three senior executives, Danielle Eliatamby, Lillian Chau, and Sabrina Chia as associate directors in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Underwriting.

Based out of Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore, the senior executives carry a wealth of expertise and experience in the M&A legal sector. In their roles, they will lead the underwriting of M&A deals across the Asia Pacific region and facilitate the issuance of policies to buyers or sellers across a broad range of industries. The appointments come at a time when Fusion is accelerating its global expansion in the M&A insurance market.

Danielle Eliatamby, who is based in Sydney, will be responsible for driving Fusion’s continued growth in the highly developed M&A insurance markets across Australia and New Zealand, as well as in Asia. Previously a lawyer in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Corporate M&A practice group, Eliatamby brings with her extensive corporate law and M&A experience, having advised clients on market leading transactions across the region. She was recognized as a rising star of the legal industry by Australasian Lawyer in 2020.

Lillian Chau joins the Fusion team in Hong Kong, where she will further expand the company’s venture into the North Asian market as part of its regional competitive advantage. Prior to joining Fusion, Chau was a corporate M&A lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright in Hong Kong and Melbourne. She has significant experience advising insurers and clients on cross-border M&A transactions. She has also had experience with client secondments at leading financial institutions.

Sabrina Chia is based in Singapore, where she will spearhead Fusion’s consolidation of its Singapore hub and add to the company’s continued regional growth. Chia is a Singapore qualified lawyer, having started her career in Corporate M&A at Allen & Gledhill. In addition, she has over 14 years of experience as legal counsel with global and listed corporations with presence across the ASEAN region in a diverse range of global markets.

Established in 2018, Fusion is a specialist underwriting agency (MGA) that has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Chicago. Fusion is part of the POP Holdings Group which invests in capital-light, niche, data and technology enabled, and well positioned businesses that are transforming M&A, Financial Lines and specialty insurance.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions