Sompo names Nicholas Walsh to succeed Shea as SIH board chair

Walsh brings over 50 years of insurance industry experience.

Sompo has appointed Nicholas Walsh as Independent non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors for Sompo International Holdings Ltd. (SIH), effective immediately. 

Walsh, who joined the SIH board in June 2022, succeeds James Shea, who was named Chief Executive Officer of Sompo P&C last month whilst continuing as CEO and Executive Director of SIH.

Walsh brings over 50 years of insurance industry experience, including a 42-year tenure at AIG, where he held senior roles such as Vice Chairman of AIG Property and Casualty Inc. and CEO of its international general insurance business. 

He currently serves on several boards, including Endurance Worldwide Insurance Limited, McGill Global Solutions LLC, and previously with Jardine Lloyd Thompson PLC and its U.S. subsidiaries.

In addition to Walsh’s appointment, Sompo also named Monica Cramér Manhem and Yoshihiro Uotani to the SIH Board as Independent Non-Executive Director and Non-Executive Director, respectively.

Cramér Manhem, with nearly four decades of experience in insurance and reinsurance, has been an Independent Non-Executive Director at SI Insurance (Europe), SA since 2023. 

She was previously CEO at SiriusPoint International and held various leadership positions at Sirius International since 1985.

Uotani, who was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of Sompo Holdings in April 2025, has served as the Group Chief Risk Officer since 2021. 

He has more than 35 years of international insurance experience, having worked in Germany, the UK, the US, and Japan.