Howden Re has made three senior appointments across treaty, retrocession and agriculture to build out its China and Asia Pacific business, with Houqin Zhu joining as managing director, head of China treaty; Mike Xin as managing director, head of agriculture, APAC; and David Song as managing director, head of retrocession, Greater China. All three will be based in Hong Kong.
Zhu joined on 17 June from Aon Re, where he was managing director for property and casualty reinsurance across Hong Kong and China. He has more than four decades of experience and previously held senior roles at Willis Re and TigerRisk, which Howden Group later bought and rebranded as Howden Re. In his new role he will lead the growth of Howden Re’s treaty business in China and mentor junior treaty staff.
Xin will join on 13 July from Gallagher Re, where he was executive director for China agricultural reinsurance and APAC regional business. He has more than 20 years of experience in agricultural reinsurance and has held senior roles at JLT Re and Aon Benfield. He will support the growth of Howden Re’s agricultural business across the APAC region, with China a key part.
Song, meanwhile, will join in October after 14 years at Guy Carpenter, where he was deputy head of Hong Kong and senior vice president for retrocession, China state-owned enterprise clients, and Hong Kong local clients. He previously worked at Aon Re China for eight years before that and brings nearly 30 years of experience across the Hong Kong and mainland China markets.
He will work to strengthen Howden Re’s retrocession offering and help reinsurers access capacity across Hong Kong and China.
Andy Souter, head of Asia Pacific, Howden Re International, noted China is a key reinsurance market, driven by its scale, growing demand for risk transfer and rising importance within the global insurance landscape, and that it remained a strategic priority for the firm.
“Houqin, David, and Mike each bring deep market expertise, strong client relationships, and highly complementary capabilities,” he added.
The hires follow other recent senior appointments by Howden Re in the region in 2026, including John Philipsz as head of ANZ, Cynthia Cui’s promotion to head of Asia-Pacific facultative, and Henry To as chairman of Hong Kong.
