Munich Re has appointed Steven Chang as Chief Executive, Greater China as of August 1. Based in Beijing, Chang will lead the company’s non-life business and operations in the Greater China area, which includes mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. He will report to Tobias Farny, Chief Executive, Asia Pacific - Greater China and Australia/New Zealand in Munich.

Chang succeeds Christoph Hoch, who successfully held the role for five years and has returned to Germany to take up the role of regional head, Munich Re Facultative & Corporate, Iberia and Latin America, with effect from August 1.

Under his leadership, Munich Re expanded its presence in the Greater China region and enhanced its innovation offerings to clients through the launch of Smart Thinking Consulting (Beijing) Company Limited, a company that offers tech-enabled insurance solutions, as well as its Beijing innovation lab, aimed at bringing in new ideas around risk management and digitization of sales.

Chang joined Munich Re Group in 1997 and was one of the key contributors to the initial business establishment of Munich Re in China. He assumed the role of CEO of the Beijing Branch in 2009, with expanded responsibility for Greater China non-life clients and markets from 2013. Between 2016 and 2018, Chang was seconded to Munich Re Syndicate in London as the head of cross-platform business development, capturing synergies across various Munich Re units in the UK and abroad.

Tobias Farny, Chief Executive, Munich Re Asia Pacific, says, “Steven Chang’s role as Chief Executive, Greater China in our strategic hub of Beijing will better serve our client base. This reflects the importance of the China market to the Group. At the same time, we continue to have a strong presence in Hong Kong and Taipei, to serve our clients across the region, as we expand to offer more new services such as cyber risk management, data analytics and digital solutions.”

To continue momentum in enhancing Munich Re’s innovation offerings, Zi Jia Li has been appointed managing director, Smart Thinking Consulting (Beijing) Company Limited, also known as SiTao Consulting. He is also responsible for Munich Re’s innovation lab in Beijing. He reports to Steven Chang, Chief Executive, Greater China.

Li has more than ten years’ experience of end-to-end digital insurance solutions in Greater China, Korea and Southeast Asia. Before joining Munich Re, he held the role of chief digital officer at Chubb China and led Chubb’s InsurTech and distribution partnership with major technology players in China by leveraging big data, image processing, IoT, behaviour analysis and artificial intelligence. He has also served as head of digital programs/head of Digital China at AIG, as digital program manager at Whittington Private Equity/Direct Asia and as Digital Transformation consultant at Accenture Singapore.