Natixis said on Wednesday that it has appointed Eddie Leung to head its Asia-Pacific insurance coverage as part of its continuing expansion in the region.
Leung, formerly at HSBC, reports to Daniel Yap, the French bank's Asia-Pacific head of financial institutions and public sector coverage.
Deal activity has slowed somewhat in the insurance sector after a flurry of disposals by European insurers hit by the global financial crisis. Auctions such as ING Groep’s multi-billion-dollar piecemeal sale of its Asian insurance franchise in 2012 and 2013 were hotly contested as insurers from Canada to Japan sought greater exposure to faster-growing economies.
Potentially the biggest insurance merger or acquisition so far this year is KB Financial’s proposed purchase of a 19.5% stake in fellow South Korean LIG Insurance for $617 million. In equity capital markets, Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation raised $491 million from the sale of over half of its stake in Samsung Life Insurance and raised $491 million in a block trade.
Leung's appointment comes as Natixis, France's second-largest bank by branches, looks to bulk up in Asia. Natixis executives told FinanceAsia earlier this year that it was looking to grow in the region, particularly in structured financing across Greater China.
Given the greater burden of the buy-and-hold investment model under the incoming Basel III financial regulatory regime, Natixis is also developing its distribution network globally.
In April it distributed one of the largest-ever US collateralized loan obligation to clients globally, the Fortress Credit Opportunities III CLO. About 15% to 20% of this CLO went to life insurance companies and other financial institutions across the Asia Pacific region who are generally keen to diversify geographically and invest in higher-yielding products.
In Japan Natixis is building out its team distributing structured loans and bonds. Natixis is one of the largest issuers of samurai bonds.
From 2011 to 2014 Leung was responsible at HSBC for asset and liability management (ALM) solutions in the region Prior to HSBC, he was with Credit Suisse in its fixed income ALM structuring team and earlier, at ABN Amro’s global markets financial institutions solutions team.
A fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, Leung has also worked at a number of insurance companies including Pacific Century Insurance, Zurich Financial and Swiss Re.
