Regional APAC Leader - The Warranty Group, Specialty Insurance Provider

Situation

The Warranty Group, formerly held by TPG, was a leading provider of specialty insurance programs and related benefits for the auto, home, consumer goods, and travel industries. Based in North America, the company is also present in Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific region was not meeting growth targets, while the region had been identified as the key growth area and there were plans to build upon its current businesses in the region. Regional leadership was seen as weak and unambitious.

Challenge

Identify and recruit a well-qualified candidate with the capacity to lead a business in regions that included SE Asia, North Asia (including Greater China), Australia, and New Zealand. The qualified candidate needed to understand the extended warranty business model, drive change, and meet aggressive growth targets.

Solution

Boyden conducted a very thorough search considering the few direct competitors, a broad range of insurance players, as well as other candidates across the region. Boyden also vetted 2 internal candidates. The shortlist included candidates based in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, and Sydney. Given the conservative nature of the more traditional insurance and insurance broker candidate pool, Boyden considered other financial service companies as targets.

Result

In the end, an out-of-box candidate, a corporate banker with strong cash management and exceptional regional experience, as well as strong leadership capabilities was chosen. The selected candidate was able to spur growth in the region. Growth targets were met and TPG sold the business to Assurant.