Munich Re has appointed Tobias Frenz as CEO of its Singapore operations and Surbhi Goel as managing director and head of P&C in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Frenz (pictured above) succeeds James Park, who is leaving the Munich Re Group. Frenz will take on the role of Singapore CEO in addition to his existing responsibility as head of digital solutions for the life and health business in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. In this expanded capacity, he will continue to be based in Singapore, reporting to Daniel Cossette, chief executive, life and health, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.
“Tobias brings more than 20 years of leadership experience and deep reinsurance expertise to this role, along with a strong understanding of the transforming insurance industry in Asia-Pacific,” Cossette said. “As CEO Singapore, he will be responsible for overseeing Munich Re’s long-term growth ambition in this important market, as well as our commitment to being a great employer that is dedicated to developing our diverse talent here. We would like to thank James Park for successfully leading the branch over the past three years.”
Frenz has been with Munich Re for 20 years, having worked in Germany, the UAE, Malaysia and Singapore in various client management and senior leadership roles, including heading its retakaful business. As head of digital solutions, he oversees the development the group’s life and health digital technologies, including AI, predictive analytics, and augmented automated underwriting and claims solutions. He holds a master’s degree in mathematics and economics from the University of Dortmund and a certificate in Islamic finance from CIMA. He is also a fellow of the Actuarial Society of Germany.
Goel (pictured directly above) is responsible for Munich Re’s property and casualty business in Singapore and Southeast Asia, reporting to Roland Eckl, chief executive of Japan, India, Korea, Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Goel joined Munich Re in Singapore in April from HDFC ERGO, the group’s joint venture in India, where she held a senior role responsible for reinsurance, property and casualty underwriting. She has 20 years of experience in reinsurance, business development, structuring and procurement, broking relationship management and underwriting of property and casualty lines of business. She holds a BA honours degree in economics from Delhi University and a postgraduate diploma in insurance and risk management from Birla Institute of Management Technology.
“Surbhi’s ability to form a deep understanding of client needs because of her extensive experience in primary insurance – both today and in the future – is a great asset to our leadership team in Southeast Asia,” Eckl said. “She will focus on positioning Munich Re as a partner to our clients for traditional risk transfer as well as co-creating bespoke solutions to new and emerging risks.”
