HDI Global has named Peter Schraa to the newly created role of head of marine in Singapore, effective 1 December, the insurer announced in a media release on Monday.
Schraa joins from his stint as senior marine underwriter for AXA XL and has more than 20 years of marine and cargo market experience, which includes time in Europe and close to a decade in Asia.
Before AXA XL, he spent two years with digital cargo insurer Breeze also as senior marine underwriter. He earlier worked for over four and a half years at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, where he helped set up the marine cargo line for Asia-Pacific, as well as nearly a decade at Chubb, including as marine underwriting manager for Asia.
Schraa will report to Alex Tarantino, managing director and principal officer of HDI Global Singapore, and will focus on expanding marine underwriting in Southeast Asia. The insurer said the appointment supports its plans to grow marine service offerings for its clients in the region, and to back brokers and buyers with solutions amid changing supply chain and logistics risks.
“Peter’s appointment is an important step in deepening our marine expertise on the ground, sharpening our response to client needs and reinforcing our position as their preferred partner in transformation,” Tarantino said. “His extensive international background and years of experience in the region give him a clear understanding of the risks and opportunities our clients face across Southeast Asia.”
The move follows HDI Global’s recent appointment of Nikita Tikhonov as head of marine global risk. It also comes amid several key moves by HDI to strengthen its capabilities in the region.
Last month, the business tapped BHSI’s Jeremy Wang as underwriting manager as part of its financial lines push in the region. It has also made a series of underwriting moves, including those of Ecton Chung as senior underwriter, engineering, in Singapore, Vijay Brundavanam as senior engineering underwriter in Melbourne, and Peter Button to lead underwriting for professional lines in the Australian states of NSW and ACT.
