Swiss Re shuffles Asia Pacific management roles

Swiss Re has made several changes to roles within its Asia management team with Mark Senkevics becoming head of P&C underwriting for APAC, based in Sydney.

Senkevics will hand over his current role as head Australia & New Zealand to Sharon Ooi, who will relocate to Sydney. The changes will be effective from September 2020.

Over the last decade, Senkevics has led Swiss Re in Australia and New Zealand across both the life and health (L&H) as well as the property and casualty (P&C) businesses. He had previously held branch head roles in Taiwan and South Korea, and currently sits on the board of the Insurance Council of Australia and is a committee member for the life board for the Financial Services Council.

Ooi has been with Swiss Re since 2006 following Swiss Re's acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions, and has held numerous roles within the company, including as head P&C underwriting APAC which she will hand over to Senkevics. She will continue to lead the firm’s diversity and inclusion efforts across APAC when she relocates to Sydney.

Russell Higginbotham, Swiss Re Asia CEO, said: "These appointees bring decades of experience into their new roles. But more importantly, what they bring is an ever-present desire to innovate to meet the challenges of today and the future. I am especially pleased to be able to make this announcement, and I have no doubt that they will help steer us – and our clients – through these unprecedented times."

Senkevics commented: "Sharon's demonstrated client focus, deep industry knowledge across a wide range of markets, and more recently her experience leading our underwriting team across APAC positions her well to support our clients as they navigate these challenging times and then into the future."

Ooi said: "These are big shoes to fill, and I want to thank Mark for handing over a business that is growing and solving our clients' needs at their point of need. I am looking forward to the challenges and I hope to be able to play a small part in helping Australia become a more resilient place to live, work and thrive."