A strong line-up of speakers has been confirmed for the Asian Claims Convention in Hong Kong next month.

The event’s theme is “the ever-changing landscape of complex losses”.

Aviation losses – including the two Malaysia Airlines aircraft – and the sinking of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia will be among the topics covered.

Tony Libke, CEO of conference organiser the Australasian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters, says these and other recent “mega-losses” prompted the choice of theme.

“We wanted to put the spotlight on liability claims,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “Some of the claims are complex, especially mega-claims.”

Singapore-based Integra Technical Services Asia MD Stephen Thorpe will discuss mega-claims, and why they are different from others.

Mark Lloyd of UK-based Waltons & Morse will talk about salvage of the Costa Concordia.

Lawyer Ashleigh Williamson from Holman Fenwick Willan in Hong Kong will cover aviation liability and the international conventions that govern such claims.

John Allum, director of Hong Kong-based Hannaford Forensic Services, will discuss the role of forensics in fire claims.

Insurance speakers will include Edmund Fernandez, Regional Claims Manager at Gen Re, who will talk about reinsurance claims management.

Mr Libke expects 150 delegates to attend at the Harbour Grand Kowloon – the biggest attendance since the event launched in 2011 in Shanghai.

“We’ve had steady growth in numbers each year and we reached 130 last year in Singapore,” he said. “It’s a great conference for networking with people from other countries.

“Being in Asia, the conference does get a fantastic cross-section of people – last year we had people from 16 different countries. It’s the major claims conference in Asia now.”

Early-bird rates are available until February 28.

The event begins on March 24 with a cocktail function and ends on March 26, the eve of the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament.

The conference brochure can be found here.

insuranceNEWS.com.au is the media partner for the convention.