Liberty Mutual Re (LM Re), the reinsurance arm of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has opened a new office in Singapore.

The company has also appointed Annie Leong (pictured) as regional underwriting manager for LM Re in Asia-Pacific, it said in a statement.

Leong joins LM Re with immediate effect, and will report locally into Matthew Jackson, senior vice president & Asia leader, and Peter Smith, executive underwriting officer at Liberty Specialty Markets in London. She will focus on building the franchise locally and will play a key role in Liberty’s Asia-Pacific portfolio.

Prior to the appointment, Leong was with Aspen Re, where she was a senior underwriter focusing on specialty lines for the Asia-Pacific region. She had also previously worked for Kiln in Singapore.

LM Re will be operating with a full treaty reinsurance license as part of the LSM Asia-Pacific office in Singapore and will have local underwriting authority, the statement added.

“For many years, we have participated in this market as a treaty reinsurer of property, casualty and specialty lines,” said Dieter Winkel, president of Liberty Mutual Re. “The portfolio has been driven by the underwriting teams in our existing offices and platforms across the UK and Europe. This is the right time to establish ourselves locally in the region and I am looking forward to working with Annie who brings a wealth of experience in property, specialty and casualty treaty reinsurance lines across Asia-Pacific.”