MetLife hires Asia reinsurance exec from Milliman

MetLife has appointed Nigel Knowles as head of capital & reinsurance strategy for the Asia region.

Knowles will be based out of MetLife's Asia region office in Hong Kong and will start with the company on July 27, 2014.

He will report to Toby Brown, chief financial officer of Asia for MetLife.

In this new role, Knowles will take on the regional leadership for supporting MetLife's businesses, across their 10 Asian markets, in managing their capital efficiently, ensuring balanced risk and return in an optimal manner and securing pricing competitiveness, strong solvency and enhanced cash flows. The role will have oversight over local solvency capital, pricing capital, economic capital and rating agency capital.

Knowles will also take the lead for all of MetLife's reinsurance relationships in Asia, helping to ensure enhanced coordination, scale leverage and alignment across the region, with the added remit of identifying opportunities where MetLife can use reinsurance more strategically.

Knowles joins from Milliman's Asia practice where he has served for the past five years as a principle in their Asia Insurance Consulting practice. Prior to Milliman, Knowles has worked as managing director of insurance Solutions for HSBC in London, vice president of life and pensions for Credit Suisse, and various other actuarial roles in an 11 year career with Standard Life.

Brown said: "I am extremely pleased that we have someone of Nigel's calibre joining the MetLife team. Nigel brings a wealth of technical experience, leadership acumen, and relationship building skills to the business as well as a solid track record of delivery which will prove invaluable in driving further value enhancement in Asia.”