Lloyd's has appointed Kent Chaplin as the new head of its Asia Pacific operations based in Singapore. He will replace Keith Stern, who is now Lloyd's regional manager for the UK and Ireland.

Effective January 2011, Chaplin will manage Lloyd’s operations across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Chaplin has been Lloyd’s head of claims since 2004, overseeing the its claims management strategy and providing leadership on market-wide claims issues.

Chaplin also served as claims director for Aon Professional Risks, specializing in financial institutions, professional indemnity and directors & officers.

Lloyd’s director of international markets, Jose Ribeiro said the Chaplin’s skills and industry experience will be an asset to the operations in Asia and key to aspirations to build on Lloyd’s presence in this important market.