Chubb has promoted Hayden Baker to the role of Head of Property & Casualty Australia & New Zealand, replacing Chris Gough who takes the role of Head of P&C Asia.

The changes come after Melbourne-based Head of Property and Casualty Asia Pacific Grant Cairns, a Chubb veteran of two decades, was appointed AIG Australia CEO. 

Chubb now says it has "appointed dedicated and separate leadership to run its Property & Casualty businesses in Asia and Australia & New Zealand”.

“We have every confidence in their ability to lead these large complex portfolios and deliver the market leading solutions our clients and partners demand of us,” Regional President Asia Pacific Paul McNamee said.

Melbourne-based Mr Baker, who will report to local Country President Peter Kelaher, has been at Chubb more than five years, most recently as Head of Financial Lines A&NZ. He formerly spent more than seven years at Allianz, finishing as Professional Indemnity & Cyber Underwriting Manager.

Sydney-based Mr Gough has worked at Chubb for over a decade and has also had stints at Allianz, QBE and CGU. He joined Chubb in Hong Kong in 2013 to build its Employee Compensation Insurance portfolio and in early 2021 replaced Mr Kelaher as local P&C head when he moved to the local Country President role.

At the time, Mr Kelaher said Mr Gough was “a proven leader with a strong vision for the business,” and had demonstrated leadership in underwriting, analytics and portfolio management.

AIG had been searching for a new local CEO after Nigel Fitzgerald departed to join Steadfast as COO.