Under the Spotlight with Sasa Hu

Sasa Hu: From Actuary to Regional CEO

Some careers are planned. Sasa Hu's was built. From wheat fields in China to the CEO's office in Asia Pacific, she moved deliberately, progressively, and with a clear-eyed willingness to step into the unfamiliar. 
 
From her early days as a pricing actuary in Australia, Sasa has charted a course defined by trust, rigour and a series of deliberate pivots. A move to Switzerland opened the door to global reinsurance. A trip to China sparked an unexpected passion for agricultural risk. And a steady track record of execution, across complex portfolios, challenging markets and cross-cultural teams, laid the foundation for her rise to the most senior executive leadership role in the region. 

It is a progressive path to the top that the actuarial profession rarely sees mapped so clearly, from technical specialist to global portfolio head to regional executive leader. Sasa spoke with Actuaries Digital about the decisions that shaped her journey, the lessons she carries, and what she would tell the young actuary she once was. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in the actuarial profession — and what eventually led you to reinsurance and a career that would span the globe? 

I did not know much about actuarial science when selecting university subjects. My understanding of the profession grew throughout the four years of study, particularly during the control cycle course, where I was able to connect the different disciplines and see how actuaries contribute to the success of insurance companies.  There was also a strong sense of responsibility, as we learned about companies that had failed and the role actuaries play as protectors not only of insurers and shareholders but, more importantly, of policyholders and the wider community. 

My first actuarial role involved CAT modelling, reinsurance pricing and capital modelling, which provided a foundation of understanding how reinsurance supports risk and capital management.  I was very keen to broaden my experience beyond the ANZ markets, and reinsurance offered the global exposure I was looking for.  So when a headhunter contacted me about a role in Switzerland, I immediately seized the opportunity and moved into a reinsurance treaty pricing role. 

You've built global expertise working across Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas over a 20-year career. What are the most meaningful similarities and differences you've noticed — in business culture, market dynamics, and the way people work? 

Business culture varies significantly depending on the maturity of the economy, insurance penetration, and the legal environment.   

In fast-growing economies, there can be a gap between historically observed insured losses and current exposure due to rapidly changing infrastructure and demographics. In more mature markets, both policyholders and insurance companies tend to have a well-established understanding of risks and exposures. This drives differences in purchasing behaviour and market dynamics across regions. 

The most meaningful similarity I’ve noticed across the globe is that reinsurance remains a people business, with a strong focus on trust and respect.  While markets may cycle between buyers’ and sellers’ conditions, clear communication and transparency are always highly valued. 

In 2014, you made a deliberate pivot from reinsurance pricing into agricultural underwriting — a specialty that demanded an entirely new kind of global expertise. What drew you to agriculture, and what did you have to learn from scratch? 

The main reason was that I was seeking a new challenge. After working as an actuary for 10 years, including seven years pricing treaty business, I was keen to do something new.  My first exposure to agriculture reinsurance came during a trip to China, where I served as a translator for an agriculture underwriter based in Zurich. The underwriting questions were very different from those in the Property and Casualty business. It is a niche class, so the reinsurance underwriter engages deeply with both primary underwriters and policyholders (farmers). At the same time, natural perils and political risks both play a significant role in underwriting considerations.  

The biggest knowledge gap was in crop fundamentals (and livestock as well), including growing cycles, how different crops are exposed to risks at various stages of growth, and how those risks can be mitigated. I vividly remember standing in front of a wheat field for the first time with a client who remarked that they wouldn't hire anyone who could not tell the difference between wheat and green chives. Unfortunately, I couldn't.

Overall, critical thinking skills are always valuable when assessing risks. While actuarial methods were not directly applied, the analytic mindset remained essential. 

Your career traces a rare arc — from pricing actuary to global portfolio head to regional CEO. What do you consider your biggest career achievement, and was there a single decision that unlocked that global path? 

The biggest achievement I am proud of is turning around the profitability of the agriculture portfolio after taking on the Global Head role. The book had suffered losses for three consecutive years, and there was significant pressure from senior management to improve performance. We also knew that some other reinsurers had closed their agriculture books and departments for the same reason. Difficult decisions were made to shrink and refocus the portfolio into the most profitable segments. 

There was no single decision that unlocked my career path. Rather, it was a track record of execution that led to the opportunities I have had. Reinsurance is a global business, and quality of work opens doors. Dedication and collaboration are well recognised, both internally and externally. 

The transition from actuary to underwriter to executive is not a well-mapped path. What advice would you give to actuaries drawn to commercial leadership or a global specialty role — and what do you wish someone had told you earlier? 

The most important mindset shift in moving to a commercial role is recognising that we need to be good listeners and think from others’ perspectives. Actuaries are very good at analysing data and producing high-quality work, but in the commercial arena there is much more to consider: what customers want and need, what the organisation’s goals and objectives are, and where conflicting priorities exist. Very often, the solution requires both technical skills and soft skills, and it may also involve negotiation and compromise. 

One thing I wish I had understood earlier is that the same event can be seen and experienced differently by different people, and those experiences shape their thinking. To be an effective leader, it is important to gain an understanding of and commitment to common goals within the team. We should never assume that everyone is on the same page without explicitly communicating expectations. 

If you could sit down with the young actuary you once were — fresh to the profession and still mapping out the path ahead — what would you tell her? 

Seek out a variety of work and learn from everyone you meet along the way. Every experience is valuable, regardless of whether it seemed good or bad at the time.