We are delighted to welcome Pippa Austin, Amanda Tai and Melissa Er to Wotton Kearney’s Singapore office. Pippa first joined WK’s Financial Lines team in Sydney in 2017 and returned earlier this year with Melissa and Amanda to expand the firm’s cyber incident response and financial lines coverage offering across Southeast Asia.

The team brings deep experience acting for both Singapore-based and international (re)insurers, advising on major cyber events, privacy risk, complex insurance coverage issues, and cross-border arbitrations. Their arrival reflects WK’s commitment to providing on-the-ground cyber expertise and financial lines support across the APAC region, helping clients navigate today’s complex, fast-evolving risk landscape.

In our Q&A, the team discuss the evolving cyber and financial lines landscape across Asia, their goals for the year ahead, and a few fun facts and personal highlights you might not have expected.

How has the landscape of cyber and financial lines evolved since you first started?

Pippa: Well, when I left Australia, cyber was only just starting to take off – I actually remember working on my first cyber file, where a lot of technical terms were thrown around that I didn’t quite understand (I have since addressed that knowledge gap!).

Since then, the market, both through insurers and brokers, has expanded rapidly, in conjunction with support from a wide variety of vendors. It’s been great to build strong relationships from all sides over the past few years.

Which data protection and privacy risks are you watching most closely in Asia’s insurance sector?

Amanda: I’m seeing a rise in cyber incidents together with increasing regulatory expectations and more assertive enforcement activity across the region. Ransomware attacks and third-party breaches are materially elevating data protection and privacy risk for insureds, with corresponding impacts on insurers’ claims exposure.

Clients are therefore taking a more proactive approach to preparedness – looking beyond incident response to how governance structures, policies, accountability mechanisms, and decision-making frameworks will withstand regulatory and board-level scrutiny.

There is also a clear and growing convergence between data protection and privacy, cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence governance, and directors’ duties. These risks can no longer be viewed as purely operational. Their effective management and oversight are now core board-level responsibilities. I support clients in aligning legal compliance with operational realities, positioning them to respond with greater confidence and resilience when incidents occur.

From your perspective, what are insurers and clients most focused on at the moment?

Melissa: Insurers and clients are naturally concerned about managing evolving risk exposure, achieving cost certainty, and being prepared to respond to multifactorial and unpredictable issues and claims that may arise. We are seeing increased regulatory-driven oversight for cyber matters and a proliferation of cyber incidents targeting industries that traditionally hold sensitive personal and business information (eg. critical information infrastructure, financial institutions, healthcare institutions).

In the financial lines space, the new key risks relate to AI regulation and cyber/data privacy management. In light of these new emerging risks, it will become increasingly important to identify issues early to achieve pragmatic, cost-effective solutions.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?

Pippa: Although I’m a little rusty now, I can speak (some!) French, German and Spanish. This combination comes in quite handy at restaurants across Europe… but that’s about the extent!

Amanda: I have participated in competitive eating contests. The medals are metaphorical, but the indigestion is very real.

Melissa: I am a certified Hatha-Vinyasa yoga teacher. Outside of work, you will usually find me in the gym, doing yoga or playing tennis.

Looking ahead, what’s a professional or personal goal you’re excited to pursue?

Pippa: Professionally, I am looking forward to strengthening our profile as market leaders through industry engagement and delivery of excellent work product, supported by a superb team and our colleagues across APAC. Personally, I’m focused on being intentional with my time so that I have space to travel and make memories with my family whilst maintaining a busy and growing practice.

Amanda: I am endeavouring to pick up a Southeast Asian language this year – guess which one! This will come in handy when managing cyber incidents in the region. I am also thrilled to officially launch our cyber and financial lines practice with such talented teammates, and to continue building in this industry alongside trusted business partners and new connections in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Melissa: I am excited to be starting WK’s cyber and financial lines practice in Singapore, and even more so doing it alongside the best team! We are looking forward to working with familiar partners and exploring new partnerships and opportunities in the region. After hours, I am actively working towards my first pull-up – all tips are welcome!

Connect with the Team

If you would like to find out more about how WK can assist your business in navigating cyber risk, data protection, and financial lines developments across Southeast Asia, please reach out to Pippa Austin, Amanda Tai and Melissa Er.