Miller, the independent specialist (re)insurance broker, is pleased to announce its further expansion into the Japanese market, building out its specialty offering into non-marine insurance lines via its Japanese business, Lead Insurance Services Limited (Lead). 

Tokinori Kono will join as Head of Non-Marine Broking, building out an expanded set of product capabilities for Miller in Japan. He joins following 7 years as General Manager at I&T Risk Solutions (now Comos Risk Solutions), prior to which he spent 4 years at Aon. He began his career at Tokio Marine and also has experience in setting up a successful international trade business that monitored and managed risk. 

This appointment reflects the success of the acquisition of Lead and Miller’s long-term aspirations to grow its business in the Japanese market by both scale and product line. 

Miller acquired Lead in 2022, following a longstanding 25-year relationship between the two businesses. Founded in 1994, Lead is a Marine focused broker that specialises in Hull, War Risks and Protection & Indemnity insurance. 

Ron Whyte, Head of Asia at Miller, commented: “The appointment of Kono-san  to expand our Japanese offering underscores our successful partnership with Lead and furthers our growth opportunities in an important insurance market. Asia remains a cornerstone of our ambitious international objectives and we look forward to making further announcements in due course as we continue to develop our presence in the region.”

Toru Suzuki, President of Lead, said: “We are excited to take this next step in scaling our offering in the Japanese market. Miller has provided us with a great home to achieve our growth ambitions and I look forward to working with Kono-san as we continue to provide the same high-quality advice we are known for in a new area of the market.”