Hong Kong, 4 June 2014 – Peak Reinsurance Company Limited (“Peak Re”), the leading Hong Kong based reinsurer, has been granted a licence to underwrite long term reinsurance business by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of Hong Kong on 3 June 2014.

Peak Re believes there are significant opportunities in the life and health market in the Asia Pacific region for reinsurers who understand the region and have a long term commitment to serving their clients and the local societies.

Franz Josef Hahn, CEO of Peak Re, welcomes the new licence: “We intend to be an innovative reinsurer that offers a complete suite of reinsurance services to our clients. Having the long term business licence is a major milestone for us as we are now one of the first local start-up reinsurers to underwrite a book of both Property & Casualty and Life & Health reinsurance business in the Asia Pacific region.”

Peak Re’s Life & Health team will be led by Angela Koechli who will oversee the company’s life and health reinsurance business. “Our strategy is based on people, technology and commitment. We have a team of professionals with credible experience in life (re)insurance in Asia and the highest ethical standards. In addition, we have made an upfront investment in best-of-breed IT systems for pricing and valuation, underwriting, risk accumulation and technical accounting to optimize system automation efficiencies,” commented Ms. Koechli.

Prior to Peak Re, Ms. Koechli spent three years with Aon Benfield where she was Head of Life Reinsurance in Asia Pacific. She has more than 30 years’ life (re)insurance experience having worked with Swiss Re, Union Re, Winterthur Life and setting up her own actuarial consulting firm in 2001.  Ms. Koechli holds an EMBA degree from IVEY and is a Swiss Actuary. 

Also joining Peak Re’s Life & Health team are:

Rani Rajasingham as Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary Life & Health. Ms. Rajasingham has more than 20 years of extensive life  insurance experience in product development, pricing and corporate reporting in the Asian region. Prior to joining Peak Re, Ms. Rajasingham last served as Regional Chief Actuary at Allianz SE Reinsurance in Singapore. Ms. Rajasingham holds a master’s degree in Physics from Oxford University and a postgraduate diploma in Actuarial Science from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and holds an EMBA degree from INSEAD.

Margarette Tan as Senior Vice President, Operations, Life & Health. As a seasoned life (re)insurance professional, Ms. Tan has more than 30 years of underwriting and operations experience in Asia Pacific. Ms. Tan was Regional Manager for Projects with Prudential Corporation Asia before joining Peak Re. She has an all-rounded experience in both individual and group life management, from operations, underwriting, claims, risk management to client servicing. Ms Tan holds a master’s degree in Finance from City University of New York, is an Associate of the Australian Insurance Institute and a Fellow of LOMA. 

Santanu Kumar Dutta as Vice President, Underwriting, Life & Health. Mr. Dutta has more than 10 years of experience in the life insurance industry with comprehensive knowledge and experience in underwriting, training and operational management. Before joining Peak Re, he was Deputy General Manager of ING Vysya Life in India. Mr. Dutta holds a bachelor degree in Pharmacy from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bangalore and a MBA degree from Sikkim Manipal University in Gangtok, India.