Specialty (re)insurer Canopius has announced two leadership appointments in the APAC region.
Chen Zhang (pictured left) has taken on the role of head of claims, effective May 5. Meanwhile, Channing Chiu (pictured right) has assumed the newly created position of regional strategy and transformation lead as of May 19.
Both executives report directly to Soon Keen Lee (SK Lee), chief executive officer of Canopius APAC and Middle East & North Africa (MENA).
Zhang previously held a leadership role at Factual Mutual Insurance Company in Hong Kong, overseeing business operations and handling commercial property claims across the region.
With over 15 years in the sector, his background includes technical claims expertise and risk engineering.
Chiu brings a similarly extensive background in insurance, having held roles spanning pricing, claims, marketing, and underwriting.
Most recently, she managed SME portfolios across Southeast Asia and Greater China at AIG Singapore.
“Their appointments underscore Canopius’ commitment to building a high-performing leadership bench that is equipped to respond to the needs of our clients, brokers, and partners across a dynamic and evolving market landscape,” he said.
The Canopius appointments coincide with regional trends identified in a new Moody’s analysis, which found that insurers in APAC are facing elevated asset risk compared to their US counterparts while holding lower levels of insurance-related risk.
Moody’s review, based on data from its Capital Tool (M’CT), assessed 20 rated insurers in China, Japan, and Taiwan – markets that together generate more than 60% of APAC’s P&C premium volume.
The study found that equity investment risks account for about 30% of capital requirements among these APAC insurers – roughly three times higher than the exposure seen in the US sector. In contrast, APAC insurers have relatively low insurance risk due to shorter liability durations, driven by product portfolios centred on auto insurance.
Japan, however, was found to have the highest concentration of catastrophe risk in the region, with such exposures making up 14% of required capital. Chinese and Taiwanese carriers manage this exposure more aggressively through reinsurance.
Moody’s also noted that APAC insurers are making deliberate shifts to rebalance their capital allocations. Japanese companies have been divesting long-held equity investments and redeploying capital toward expanding both domestic and cross-border lines of business.
In China, insurers have increased their holdings in government securities, reducing credit exposure while growing their presence in non-auto sectors, including liability and health insurance.
Taiwan’s insurers have reacted to pandemic-related claims by injecting new capital, reducing high-risk assets, and expanding reinsurance arrangements to manage catastrophe liabilities more effectively.
