THE head of HSBC Holdings’ insurance business is unexpectedly leaving the Asia-focused lender after two years in the post, and will be replaced by veteran insider Ed Moncreiffe.

Greg Hingston will pursue opportunities outside the firm, according to a statement from the bank. Moncreiffe has been with HSBC for 18 years and held a number of leadership roles including head of life and pensions Brazil. The changes are effective immediately.

“Insurance, one of our fastest-growing businesses, is integral to our strategy to become a leading global wealth manager,” said Nuno Matos, who runs HSBC’s wealth and personal banking business.

“We will build our recent investments in HSBC Life to capture new opportunities in Hong Kong and supercharge growth in mainland China, Singapore and India, while continuing to deepen penetration in the UK and Mexico.”

Hingston, who took over as global chief executive of HSBC’s insurance unit in January 2022, closed the group’s first acquisition in the sector in a decade, building out the China business.

The lender has been expanding in Asia with billions of US dollars in fresh investments and in February 2022 completed its purchase of AXA SA’s Singapore unit, a deal that effectively doubled the size of its insurance business in the city state.

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HSBC recently reported fourth-quarter profit fell 80 per cent after taking unexpected charges on holdings in a Chinese bank and from selling its French retail operations. However, rising interest rates globally boosted HSBC’s full-year earnings to a record.

The bank is several years into a strategy of pivoting its business increasingly towards the faster-growing markets of Asia, where it makes most of its money.

Disposals of businesses in France and Canada have been balanced by acquisitions of insurance and wealth management assets in Asia, a region with swelling ranks of the rich. BLOOMBERG