Liberty International Insurance has made John McCabe president of Australia under changes to its Asia-Pacific leadership team.

Mr McCabe, previously COO for Asia-Pacific, will run Liberty Specialty Markets’ business in the country and work with Michael Abdallah during the role transition.

Mr Abdallah, Liberty Specialty Markets president and MD Asia-Pacific since 1999, will become chief underwriting officer for Asia-Pacific, in charge of underwriting across Liberty’s retail, commercial and specialty businesses in the region.

He will also continue as chairman for Australia.

Vanessa Maher has been made COO for Asia-Pacific, responsible for operations across the retail, commercial and specialty businesses. She has spent two decades with Liberty in the region, in roles including leadership of claims, legal counsel, change management, digital strategy, risk and governance for the commercial and specialty business.

“Mike, John and Vanessa each bring very long tenure and a wealth of experience to Liberty, and we hugely value the exceptional leadership, knowledge and insights they have consistently brought to this region,” Liberty International Insurance Asia-Pacific president Matthew Jackson said.

“I’ve spent most of my career working with these three leaders and am extremely confident they will continue to build on the great foundations we have worked to create for Liberty.”

Liberty International Insurance was formed in April last year when Liberty Mutual combined its retail, commercial and specialty operations in Asia-Pacific under the leadership of Mr Jackson, who is based in Singapore.

Mr Jackson and his team oversee Liberty’s full suite of retail, commercial and specialty insurance across the region, including the brands Liberty Insurance, Liberty Specialty Markets, Kurnia Insurance, AmAssurance and Liberty General Insurance.