For future speaking opportunities, email sbrown@commercialriskonline.com
| Company | Job Title | Name | Profile Picture | Speaker Bio | Speaking At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aon | Head of construction Asia | Vincent Banton |  | Vincent leads Aon’s regional Construction and Infrastructure practice across Asia and has 24 years of experience in the insurance and construction industries. He has managed underwriting portfolios in facultative reinsurance and direct market insurance together with working as a practicing project engineer for major civil and building construction contractors in the United Kingdom, West Indies and Australia. | Panel discussion: Powering the data centre boom – managing energy, supply chain and cargo risk in Asia’s digital infrastructure |
| Descartes | Head of EMEA Distribution & Client Management | Blanca Berruguete |  | From Descartes’ Madrid office, Blanca is responsible for EMEA business development, client services, and leads the European commercial team. During her 25 years serving clients and brokers in the commercial insurance sector, Blanca has developed a keen focus on building value for clients by listening to their needs. Most recently, she was Global Industry Solutions Director for Construction at Allianz Commercial, working closely with underwriters and key account executives to build industry-specific expertise and best practices. She previously served in leadership roles in broking and underwriting, both in London and Madrid, at firms including Generali, the Corporation of Lloyd’s of London, AIG, Zurich Insurance, as well as Heath Lambert and AJ Gallagher. She is an executive committee member of the International Engineering Insurance Association (IMIA). | Panel discussion: Evolving risk financing mechanisms – captives, parametric triggers and alternative capital markets |
| QBE | Regional Property & Construction Manager, Asia | Brendan Dunlea |  | Brendan joined QBE in May 2017 as the Asia Pacific Head of Engineering. He has since taken on the additional role of Regional Head of Property role. Before moving to Singapore Brendan was the Global Head of Power Generation, and Singapore CUO for Zurich. Prior to insurance Brendan worked in various electrical installations & maintenance roles in industries including petrochemical, industrial and real estate. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and the Australia New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF), the IMIA representative for Asia and Chairperson of the SCI/GIA Singapore Construction & Engineering Committee. | Panel discussion: Geopolitical risk and terrorism – protecting construction projects in an era of persistent instability |
| Aon | Managing Director, Construction & Infrastructure | Brian Hearst |  | For nearly four decades Brian has worked in claims, underwriting, brokering and risk management which has given multiple perspectives when it comes to advising clients on solutions to best manage their risk. Working closely with many of the foremost Data Center Development Companies he has brokered in excess of 80 Data Center Projects, including greenfield, new-build, expansion & major renovation, and complex fit-out projects, in North America, Europe and Asia. | Workshop: Building success in the U.S. – managing risk and unlocking opportunity for Asian construction investors and contractors |
| Charles Taylor Adjusting | Client and Business Development Director, Asia & Singapore Country Manager | Matthew Hessian |  | - | Workshop: Delay in Start-Up – governing the risk that decides project value |
| AXA XL | Underwriting Manager, Crisis Management & Special Risks | Carrie Huang |  | Carrie Huang has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and is responsible for managing and expanding the War, Terrorism, and Political Violence Insurance portfolio that she has specialised in for the past 11 years for Asian clients and business partners. Carrie's expertise extends beyond underwriting complex terrorism and political violence risks, she is very experienced in designing and implementing multinational program solutions that safeguard various clients' global assets, enabling them to navigate geopolitical risks and comply with local regulations and compliance requirements for their international operations. Her extensive experience encompasses risk assessment, policy and programme structuring, and engagement with reinsurance markets and local network partners for local policy issuance and management. | Panel discussion: Geopolitical risk and terrorism – protecting construction projects in an era of persistent instability |
| McLarens | Technical Director | Anthony Hutchings |  | - | Presentation: Valuing construction claims in an inflationary market |
| Cushman & Wakefield | Risk Manager | Rahul Kumar |  | Rahul Kumar is a seasoned professional with a proven track record of delivering strategic solutions to multinational clients. After building the foundation as an insurance broker servicing all lines of insurance for a diversified group of multinational clients, he joined the in-house Risk Management team at a fortune 100 technology-based industry leader and soon became the APAC lead for Risk and Insurance. More recently, Rahul is engaged as APAC leader for Risk and Insurance for a Global Commercial Real Estate firm. Rahul specialises in structuring and implementing global programs, leveraging his expertise to mitigate risks and optimise insurance solutions for the business. His expertise includes: Global program design and implementation, risk assessment and mitigation strategies, and insurance market analysis and negotiations. | Panel discussion: Evolving risk financing mechanisms – captives, parametric triggers and alternative capital markets |
| Aon | Regional Director, Construction & Infrastructure Asia | Timothy Lam |  | - | Workshop: Small projects, big losses – lessons in risk and loss prevention from Grenfell and Wang Fuk Court |
| Descartes Underwriting | Assistant Vice President – Business Development | Zhi Wei Leong |  | Based in Singapore, Zhi Wei is a professional in the insurance and risk management industry, specialising in corporate business development and parametric insurance solutions. Currently serving as an assistant vice president at Descartes Underwriting, his role involves building strategic client relationships, analysing weather-related exposures, and offering specialised risk mitigation solutions across the Southeast Asia region. Prior to joining Descartes, Zhi Wei has previously worked as a senior analyst at Marsh, specialising in structuring programs based on different underwriters risk, appetite and pricing and marketing the clients’ risks to reinsurers. | Panel discussion: Weathering the future – climate risk, extreme weather and insurance for Asian construction |
| Aon | Global Head of Construction & Infrastructure | James MacNeal |  | James is currently Aon’s Global Head of the Construction and Infrastructure Practice which includes over 1000 specialist colleagues in 48 countries. In this role James is responsible for growth, thought-leadership and best practice in this key industry practice. James is also the relationship lead for certain Aon clients. He has over 35 years of construction insurance experience, of which 21 have been with the Aon Group. He was previously at Marsh where he led the UK Construction Units broking team. James has travelled extensively and placed a wide variety of major construction projects in most parts of the world, for Owners, Contractors and Infrastructure Funds. James has a strong track record of delivering on clients' expectations with some of the largest firms in the Construction sector. He has designed insurance programmes across a wide variety of industry segments, with particular specialisation around energy/power, digital infrastructure and transportation. James is actively engaged as the Executive Sponsor / Account Director on some of Aon's largest construction accounts and leads the carrier relationships in this key industry. | Presentation & panel discussion: Construction outlook – growth, volatility and risk in a shifting economy |
| HDI Global | Head of Energy, Power and Engineering Eastern Region | Haris Michaels |  | - | Panel discussion: Powering the data centre boom – managing energy, supply chain and cargo risk in Asia’s digital infrastructure |
| Fenchurch Law | Partner | Toby Nabarro |  | - | |
| Allianz Commercial | Claims Manager, Natural Resources & Construction | Jason Ng |  | - | Panel discussion: Delay in Start-Up – navigating the evolving claims landscape for major projects |
| Cube Highways | Sr. Vice President and Head - Insurance | Puneet Panchal |  | Puneet has over 18 years of experience in insurance and risk management, including 11 years in the construction industry. Puneet was in business development with the leading insurer in India for 6 years, later leading the insurance portfolio of technology & construction group ANDRITZ for South East Asia region for 9 years. He is currently heading the risk and insurance function at Cube Highways, the largest platform of road highways in Indian region. | Panel discussion: Weathering the future – climate risk, extreme weather and insurance for Asian construction |
| Charles Taylor Adjusting | Managing Director, Hong Kong | Corey Poon |  | - | Workshop: Small projects, big losses – lessons in risk and loss prevention from Grenfell and Wang Fuk Court |
| Fenchurch Law | Senior Partner | David Pryce |  | David was a founding partner of Fenchurch Law, which was the first law firm in the UK to specialise exclusively in representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes. Ranked as a leading individual by both Legal 500 and Chambers, David leads Fenchurch Law’s Reinsurance & International Risk practice group and has a particular focus on insurance disputes arising out of large construction projects both in the UK and abroad. | Workshop: Small projects, big losses – lessons in risk and loss prevention from Grenfell and Wang Fuk Court |
| Complex Claims | CEO | Alan Purbrick |  | Alan Purbrick is an experienced insurance professional, having worked in the industry for over 30 years. His background is construction, engineering and energy. Alan was the founder and CEO of CCi, a company specializing in providing technical time, cost and engineering solutions on some of the World’s largest insurance claims. He is credited with developing Project Monitoring and techniques for solving large and complex delay claims, particularly in relation to DSU. Alan recently became the CEO of Complex Claims, a leading independent loss adjusting company, with offices in the Middle East and London. | Panel discussion: Delay in Start-Up – navigating the evolving claims landscape for major projects |
| QBE | Regional Cyber Lead (Asia) | Sam Russell-Vick |  | Prior to joining QBE, Sam began his insurance career in London underwriting Cyber for two different Lloyd's of London Syndicates. After which, he relocated to Singapore to take on the role of Lead Cyber & Technology Underwriter for a specialty insurer and reinsurer, underwriting both Cyber and Technology Errors & Omissions Insurance across Asia and Pacific. | Presentation: Cyber risk in construction – strategies for risk managers and insurance buyers |
| Aon | Chief Commercial Officer, Construction & Infrastructure | Tariq Taherbhai |  | Tariq is the Chief Commercial Officer for Aon’s Global Construction & Infrastructure (C&I) industry specialty. In his role, Tariq is tasked with developing and implementing the global growth and marketing strategies for the specialty. In addition, Tariq works with other leaders to ensure that the full capabilities and expertise of Aon are properly delivered to the firm’s global C&I clients. Tariq has significant experience with project finance and public private partnerships, having advised on multiple large, complex projects over the past two decades. Before joining Aon, Tariq was vice president of the project legal group at Infrastructure Ontario, with responsibility for all legal and procurement matters related to public private partnerships procured by the Province of Ontario, Canada. | Workshop: Building success in the U.S. – managing risk and unlocking opportunity for Asian construction investors and contractors |