Liberty Specialty Markets Asia Pacific has announced two appointments following the exit of Chief Risk Officer Australia Michelle Smith.

From Monday, Head of Claims Asia Pacific Vanessa Maher will move into the CRO role, while also remaining Head of Digital for Asia Pacific.

Current Deputy Head of Claims Rob Mercer will take over from Ms Maher as claims head.

Ms Maher has spent 20 years with Liberty, holding a variety of leadership positions across claims, legal, operations, technology, strategy, change management and digital.

“With the compliance and risk environment evolving so quickly for the industry, it’s a critical time for Vanessa to be assuming the risk management responsibilities since she has a deep understanding of our operations and a proven track record within the region,” President and MD Michael Abdallah said.

“We also send our best wishes to Michelle … who has been an instrumental part of our team over the past two decades.”

Mr Mercer joined Liberty in 2015 to lead the professional and financial risks claims team, and in April last year was promoted to Deputy Head of Claims.

“We are delighted that he will now lead Liberty’s regional team of 40 claims professionals,” Mr Abdullah said.

“We’re known for our leadership role in managing some of the largest and more complex commercial claims in the region.

“Rob has demonstrated his ability to navigate the ever-changing business environment and consistently deliver mutual advantage for our broking partners and their clients.

“Vanessa and Rob have worked side-by-side in our claims team for the past six years, and I have every expectation that the continuity of having them both perform critical roles within our leadership team will be welcomed by our partners.”