Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has announced the appointment of Gobinath Athappan as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Asia as well as Chairman of Singapore Re, pending regulatory approval.
Athappan has been with Fairfax for 23 years, holding key leadership positions including CEO of Falcon Insurance in Hong Kong and Pacific Insurance in Malaysia. Since 2015, he has served as Vice-Chairman of Fairfax Asia.
Fairfax Financial Holdings made the announcement following the death of Ramaswamy Athappan, former CEO and Chairman of Fairfax Asia Ltd., who passed away at the age of 78 in May. Ramaswamy Athappan had been a significant figure in developing Fairfax’s insurance operations in Southeast Asia over the past 22 years.
Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax, praised Athappan’s contributions: “Gobi has done an outstanding job for Fairfax and has been an integral part of building Fairfax Asia. Gobi brings many years of industry experience and has been an ambassador of the culture of Fairfax.”
