At Standard Life he succeeds Roy Halliday, who was named chief executive officer last year, leaving a vacancy that was left unfilled until now.
In his new role, Smith reports to Halliday, and will be based in the company’s Time Square offices in Causeway Bay. As of the end of December, his successor at Friends Provident International (FPI) had not been named.
At Standard Life, Smith’s brief will include further developing the company’s Hong Kong business and strengthening its team, while at the same time working to develop new markets in the region, the company said.
Smith, who is originally from the UK, came to Hong Kong around 10 years ago after 16 years with Clerical Medical’s City of London operation.
Standard Life has an estimated market share in Hong Kong’s investment-linked insurance market of around 5%, based on annual premium equivalent, up from around 1.8% three years ago, according to Hong Kong government data for the third quarter of 2011. FPI’s share of the comparable sector of the Hong Kong market is not known, but thought to be roughly the same.
