RSA Asia CEO Chris Colahan is moving to Sydney to head up the local arm of a new global insurance company being formed by investment and insurance giant Berkshire Hathaway.

Mr Colahan, an Australian, is based at present in Singapore. He will be responsible for the Australia and New Zealand operation of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI).

He was profiled in the June edition of Insurance News (the magazine).

Mr Colahan has been in charge of RSA’s Asia operations since 2012, but the unit was sold in August by the UK parent, which is raising $US2.7 billion ($2.88 billion) in fresh capital after suffering large losses.

insuranceNEWS.com.au understands Mr Colahan, a strategic change and mergers and acquisitions specialist, played a substantial role in selling RSA’s China business to Swiss Re and its Hong Kong and Singapore operations to Allied World.

BHSI was set up in the US last year, with the intention of creating a global specialty insurer. It has already poached several senior executives from AIG Asia, including Hong Kong and Taiwan head Marcus Breuil, who will head up BHSI Asia.

Mr Colahan told insuranceNEWS.com.au he is constrained from speaking about BHSI’s plans for the Australia and New Zealand unit until he begins work in Sydney early next year.

BHSI has already raised competitive pressures in the US market by offering a wide range of property and casualty products, and recently announced new products in surety, construction, directors’ and officers’, healthcare and travel insurance.