SIRC Archives - InsuranceAsia News https://insuranceasianews.com/topic/sirc/ Thu, 20 Nov 2025 03:31:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 From capacity to AI, 5 key themes from 2025’s jam-packed edition https://insuranceasianews.com/from-capacity-to-ai-5-key-themes-from-the-2025-edition/ Sun, 09 Nov 2025 23:30:43 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=204128 We bring you the big takeaways from last week's event in Singapore, and what they mean for the upcoming renewals.

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The Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC) last week was bigger than before, with more participants than last year and more countries represented.
The growing attendance shows the risin...

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APAC demand is there, Miller says, ahead of broad-based market softening https://insuranceasianews.com/apac-demand-is-there-miller-says-ahead-of-broad-based-market-softening/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 07:00:42 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203913 Broker has continued its buildout in Asia following the opening of its South Korea office in February.

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Miller, the specialist UK (re)insurance broker, expects a broad-based market softening across treaty and facultative reinsurance in APAC, with strong demand from reinsurers for Southeast Asian risks.

In an interview with InsuranceAsia News, Miller’s senior leaders in the region outlined their expectations for the upcoming renewal season, and outlook and strategy heading into 2026 as the broker continues its buildout in Asia following the opening of its South Korea office in February.

“From a [facultative] perspective, we have seen a softening of the market throughout this year,” said Chihiro Maekawa, head of property and casualty for Asia at Miller in Singapore.

“Facultative is not as seasonal as treaty and we have accounts renewing and accepting all year around. We have seen it throughout the year, and it is continuing to soften.”

At the upcoming 1.1 renewals, there is expected to be significant competition between reinsurers for business, with clients being able to obtain favourable terms and reinvest the savings in enhanced protections, following a tame year for natural catastrophe losses globally.

“We are entering a soft market,” said Richard Broad, head of treaty reinsurance APAC at Miller in Singapore.

“On the treaty side, we are expecting it to be competitive. The key thing is what will happen to the reinsurer results. I think they will all be very positive which means that some clients will want that support. It’s a very interesting conference to listen to how people are going to diversify and continue the growth journey in a softening market.”

“There is going to be some variances. People are looking at a softening of 5-10%, but it is very dependent on the risks.”

“Where we don’t have offices, we have set up territorial desks in Singapore to look after and target those territories from Singapore. That is our strategy in terms of our geographical footprint.”

Chihiro Maekawa, Miller

With growth in developing markets slowing, there is expected to be particularly strong demand for Southeast Asian risks from global reinsurers, creating opportunities for clients in the region, according to Broad.

“The demand is there for growth from the international markets coming into Southeast Asia,” Broad added. “That is a real positive for the region.”

Regional expansion

Heading into 2026, Miller will continue to selectively expand its offering in Asia as its growth journey in the region continues under the ownership of GIC, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, which took full control of Miller in March 2024 by buying out Cinven.

The broker has invested heavily in growing its Asia team, having opened an office in Korea this year, and expanded its Japanese operation beyond marine risks. Miller now has over 100 staff in the region, including around 60 in its main Singapore hub, close to 20 in Korea and 30 in Japan.

“We opened our Korea office in February this year which is not just marine,” said Maekawa. “It’s P&C, and we’ve just hired a credit and political risks person, and a cyber specialist. We are building our specialisms in Korea. It’s an exciting time and we are seeing lots of opportunities in the business already in its first year.

“We’re really pleased and we want to grow that even more. Our strategy is to grow deep in the countries that we want to grow in. We are not going to have offices in every country in Asia, but we will selectively grow in the countries we want to. Korea is definitely one of them, and in Japan we have had an office for three years now. We continue to expand that as well.”

Miller may expand its physical presence in the region further, although the broker is pleased with its existing footprint across Asia, and any new expansion will be highly selective in line with the broker’s “nimble” approach, according to Maekawa and Broad.

“Where we don’t have offices, we have set up territorial desks in Singapore to look after and target those territories from Singapore,” said Maekawa. “That is our strategy in terms of our geographical footprint.”

In its 2024, the first full year of GIC control, Miller made record revenues of GBP271 million (US$353 billion), up 13% from the previous year, driven almost entirely by organic growth.

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HDI Global focuses on building out Southeast Asia energy hub https://insuranceasianews.com/hdi-global-focuses-on-building-out-southeast-asia-energy-hub/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 06:00:14 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203888 Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are of significant interest to us, says the specialty carrier’s MD Alex Tarantino.

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HDI Global continues to focus on the buildout of its energy hub in Southeast Asia amid a volatile geopolitical backdrop and the ever present threat of natural catastrophe risks in the region.  

In an interview with InsuranceAsia News, Alex Tarantino, managing director and principal officer at HDI Global SE Singapore, outlined the insurer’s top priorities for growth in the region heading into 2026. 

“What we know for sure is there will be continued volatility, which we are used to managing,” said Alex Tarantino, managing director and principal officer at HDI Global SE Singapore. “I continue to forecast growth of our energy hub as we expand our proposition with the launch of upstream energy next year. This will complement our existing power capabilities, as well as our mid and downstream offerings.” 

According to Tarentino, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are three key markets that continue to be of “significant interest” to HDI heading into 2026.  

“When it comes to specific countries, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are of significant interest to us,” said Tarantino. “We have a tier 2 Labuan license in Malaysia, which we will continue to utilise, and we’re closely tracking GDP growth in Thailand and Indonesia, where we see strong potential.” 

Launched in 2024, HDI’s Singaporean energy hub offers clients coverage across the energy value chain, including downstream and renewables, and is designed to help clients navigate the energy transition by providing brokers and clients with a single point of contact for all their energy needs, according to HDI. 

“Across Southeast Asia, we are seeing huge investments into renewable energy and are bolstering and expanding our energy hub,” said Tarantino. “It is one of our fastest growing areas, especially in construction and operations. We expect continued growth as the region advances and progresses on its energy transition needs.” 

 From its Singapore hub, HDI also plans to double down on its property and marine underwriting in the region.  

“You cannot ignore the current opportunities in Singapore’s marine sector at the moment.”

Alex Tarantino, HDI Global

“As a global insurer—particularly looking at Singapore’s reinsurance and wholesale markets—we see plenty of opportunities for growth in our property line outside of energy,” said Tarantino. “We are a leading global insurer for international programmes, and across Southeast Asia, we’re seeing a wave of consolidation across such programmes. Historically, large Asian conglomerates have managed fragmented global programmes, but that’s now changing.”  

“You cannot ignore the current opportunities in Singapore’s marine sector at the moment,” added Tarantino.  

Southeast Asia has been fortunate in 2025 with natural catastrophe losses remaining relatively benign, except for the Myanmar-Bangkok earthquake in March, which caused large amounts of insured damage in the Thai capital.  

Insured losses from the recent typhoons such as Typhoon Ragasa, which struck Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Vietnam in September, have been light. 

“Everything is trending as expected,” said Tarantino. “The question is how we continue to underwrite amidst the volatility. The conversation is steering towards the tools and technologies available to underwriters today. Take AI, for example: it’s enabling us as underwriters to make smarter, quicker decisions, particularly when it comes to natural catastrophe accumulation.” 

In its 2024 financial year, HDI made global insurance revenues of EUR10 billion, up 10% from the previous year, with the Singaporean branch making a significant contribution to this growth, according to the insurer. 

HDI made Ebit of EUR702 million in 2024, with a combined ratio of 90%. 

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Booming and unconstrained property speculation fuelling India flood risk, Moody’s says https://insuranceasianews.com/booming-and-unconstrained-property-speculation-fuelling-india-flood-risk-moodys-says/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 05:00:55 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203881 While climate variability is clearly playing a part in the increasing frequency of flood losses, it's only a part of the picture.

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The fast-paced and comparatively unconstrained nature of property construction in India is fuelling flood losses for (re)insurers, according to Alok Kumar, head of Global Analytical Services and managing director for India for Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a Moody’s Analytics company.

“For two decades, the market was mostly concerned about earthquake risk, driven by the fact that India had a massive earthquake in 2001 in Gujarat, which at that time was not as industrialised as it is today,” Kumar said.

“The whole insurance market and risk transfer market was very focused on that. Fast forward to today: given the rapid urbanisation of the country, and not necessarily controlled urbanisation of the country, has resulted in weather perils such as flood becoming extremely important.

“As a country we experience a number of floods every single year, and these floods for the insurance industry are becoming important, as these are what drive the losses that they see in the lower reinsurance layers that they buy.

“Big losses are largely transferred to reinsurers, but these mid-sized flood losses largely stay on insurance companies’ books, and that’s why insurers are getting concerned about the frequency of these losses, and the fact that they are staying on their own books. That is a significant shift.”

“With the pace of urbanisation, the challenge is that they could have built anyway they wanted. And the first priority has been ‘build! build! build!’ because real estate prices are going up.”

Alok Kumar, Moody’s

Kumar accepted that climate variability is clearly playing a part in the increasing frequency of flood losses, but stressed that this is not the whole picture.

“More and more I like to call urban flooding a man-made disaster rather than a natural disaster,” he said.

“The size of losses is increasing because the urbanisation is not very well planned. There are buildings being constructed on what used to be the floods zones, or what used to be the lake beds, getting refilled. There is massive construction happening, but when the rain happens, the water has to go somewhere, and it goes to the areas that are flood plains or low-lying areas and you see massive flood losses. That’s why I call it a manmade disaster; it’s not only the volume of rainfall that is causing this.”

Flood risk management

Kumar also accepted that India has “a long way to catch up” when it comes to replicating the well-developed flood risk management infrastructure and procedures of some other countries.

“With the pace of urbanisation, the challenge is that they could have built anyway they wanted. And the first priority has been ‘build! build! build!’ because real estate prices are going up. So they’ve built a lot and now water doesn’t have any outlet. Urban India has a lot of big apartment blocks, with two or three levels of basement, and during floods these basements get filled, causing massive damage to the cars there,” he said.

He said that Moody’s already had a detailed and comprehensive flood moss for India, and has recently added a tropical cyclone loss model.

“A of flooding is also triggered by the tropical cyclones which are coming on board,” he said, adding that Moody’s ambition was to provide “a comprehensive and complete range of modelling solutions to a growing market like India.

“Now in India we have a probabilistic flood model, we also have tropical cyclone.”

Kumar was also optimistic about the prospects for modelling services in India next year as the country continues to open up to international (re)insurers after decades of relative protectionism.

“Global players are used to a risk-adjusted view of the business,” he added.

“They want to make sure they are bringing the latest science and technology to help identify and quantify the risk. That’s the shift I expect to see as more foreign players come into the market: risk management will become more scientific and more technology-based.”

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Verisk eyes expansion of hail risk solutions to Japan https://insuranceasianews.com/verisk-eyes-expansion-of-hail-risk-solutions-to-japan/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 04:00:03 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203878 The data analytics provider will also roll out its flood models for Australia and New Zealand in 2027.

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With hail becoming a broader risk globally, data analytics provider Verisk is considering expanding its hail risk solutions to Japan, said Rob Newbold, president of Verisk Extreme Event Solutions. 

“We’ve gotten a lot of questions and interest in hail risk in Japan, which has faced severe hail losses recently. We’re talking to the market to determine the need and viability for building a model for hail risk in the country,” he said.  

In APAC, Verisk currently has a hail model in Australia, which Newbold said “it has been the subject of several conversations at SIRC.” 

“Globally, that severe thunderstorm hail peril seems to be generating more interest. We call them frequency perils as they happen more often and individually have less impact, but collectively in the aggregate can be just as damaging as a typhoon,” he said, adding that Verisk also has a roadap of priorities that it is working on for other views of risk.  

“The mix of overall market need and availability of our team to deliver that model is how we’ll make that call.” 

In 2025, Verisk made a couple of investments in APAC.  

Most recently, it has launched its first inland flood models for Malaysia and Indonesia, covering a wide range of areas, including infrastructure, vehicles, marine cargo, and industrial assets. 

“We will continue to invest to bring updated, new models to this market. We believe that APAC plays an important role in the overall global insurance and reinsurance market.”

Rob Newbold, Verisk Extreme Event Solutions

“At least in Malaysia, while there is some background earthquake risk, the only really cat-exposed peril is flood. So as we talk to our clients in the region who are looking for different views of risk, flood was just a logical thing for us to bring to market,” said Newbold.  

He added that with APAC suffering from one of the largest protection gaps in the world, flood is a really good example of a peril without broad insurance penetration globally. 

In 2027, Verisk is also expected to roll out the flood models for Australia and New Zealand, completing its multi-peril offering for the two countries, which already consisted of typhoon, earthquake, bushfire and hail. 

“Australia and New Zealand are the two that we’re working on right now. And after that, we’ll talk with our clients and evaluate what’s next on the roadmap,” he said. 

New models

In APAC this year, the company has also updated its South Korean typhoon model, which has a precipitation-induced flooding component to it.  

“We will continue to invest to bring updated, new models to this market. We believe that APAC plays an important role in the overall global insurance and reinsurance market,” Newbold said.  

“Our view of opportunity in the market is to use these models to help address the protection gap. The risk is insurable. It’s a question of using the tools that are available to understand the climate-exposed cat risk and help to bring coverage to markets where it’s not currently written.” 

However, data remains a big challenge, he added.  

“I think getting availability of both exposure and actual loss data to help to build and validate the models is hard.  

“Compared to the US, for example, where rooftop level, building level data is quite common, it’s harder to get that level of granular data in different APAC regions,” he said.  

“So we have data partners, we make assumptions, we do analytics, we use GIS imagery to help get that data as much as we can. But that’s probably the biggest challenge, is availability of exposure data.” 

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Reinsurers continue to be bottom-line focused: AM Best https://insuranceasianews.com/reinsurers-continue-to-be-bottom-line-focused-am-best/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 03:00:15 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203903 Q&A with AM Best’s Christie Lee, senior director, head of analytics and head of North East Asia, and Victoria Ohorodnyk, director and head of analytics for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

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What’s your observation on the premium growth and underwriting losses in 2025 as well as outlook for 2026?

Christie Lee: I don’t think premium growth is the main focus for reinsurers in Asia. Even though the market is softening, reinsurers have been very bottom-line focused. In terms of the underwriting performance, so far 2025, it is still quite good.

Major cat losses have been quite benign and manageable, with large cat losses probably coming from Taiwan earthquake and also the Myanmar earthquake that hit Thailand.

As of first half in Q3, according to publicly announced results, both topline and the bottomline have improved.

So reinsurers are delivering good operating performance in 2025. We expect there will be rate reduction in 1.1. However, overall, the full-year performance will still highly depend on cat activities throughout next year.

There have been comments that reinsurance growth in Asia, in terms of premiums and limits purchased, is not as great as expected. What’s your view on this?

CL (pictured, below): In the North Asia market, particularly greater China, Japan and Korea, the top-line growth and risk-adjusted, exposure growth are not as quick as Southeast Asia.

This is because they are more mature markets, with economic growth in Japan and Korea relatively stagnant, while China has also slowed down, which affects the property side. However, we see rising reinsurance demand from some other areas, such as offshore wind energy in Taiwan because of government push for green energy.

Victoria Ohorodnyk: Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, meanwhile, are a bit of a mixed bag. For example, results of national reinsurers in a lot of these countries have not actually been as good as the global trends due to impacts of the secondary perils. So, they have been growing more cautiously and selectively.

So on a risk-adjusted basis, the growth still is in high single digits to low teens on average. So what we’re definitely seeing is that the prudency is still being maintained, despite the current softening conditions. They have learned their lessons from past poor performances and do not want to see deteriorating results.

There have been a lot of regulatory changes happening related to solvency regimes and RBC in APAC, how do you see that impacts the demand of reinsurance?

VO: A lot of primary companies and reinsurers are still reacting and digesting some of these ongoing regulatory changes. If we take Indonesia, for example, with the stringent capital requirements, we are expecting to see more consolidation in markets like that.

On the flip side of that, stronger regulatory regimes attract more international capacity to the markets. So the local players will need to up their game to be competitive with the international players.

The transition period might be challenging for local players, but once they get to the other side, that would make for a better, stronger market.

CL: For Japan, the consolidation happening within MS&AD between Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (ADI) means they will pull together a larger capital size. Overall, we’re expecting Japanese carriers will have stronger capability to retain more underwriting risk in their own books. And perhaps the demand on reinsurance might come down on the combined basis.

We have actually started seeing this this year. We expect the same effect by 2026 when the two large MS&AD entities combined together.

Japan property treaties are one of the largest in the world. So if there’s a premium reduction from Japan, reinsurers might have to look elsewhere for filling the top line gap.

VO: I would say the themes are largely quite similar in Australia. The demand for reinsurance, I think, can only increase with climate risks. But a lot of the regulatory developments are still ongoing. So it’s sort of a wait and see for now.

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Antares seeks to beef up business lines in 2026, with cyber and terrorism focus https://insuranceasianews.com/antares-seeks-to-beef-up-business-lines-in-2026-with-cyber-and-terrorism-focus/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 02:00:40 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203876 Insurer, which celebrates in its 10th anniversary this week, is looking to ‘fight our corner’, CEO Mike van der Straaten says.

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Antares Group, the Qatari Insurance Company-backed Lloyd’s insurer, will target growth in new lines of business in APAC and consolidate its position after its turnaround strategy gathered momentum in 2024, according to its senior management.

The insurer, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Singapore at SIRC this week, sees a softening of rates in APAC at the upcoming renewals, particularly property catastrophe, following a benign year for natural catastrophe losses in the region.

“The last two years for Asia have been quite benign for us so this year the renewal discussion is going to be very interesting,” said Li Shan Yeo, CEO of Antares Underwriting Asia, in an interview with InsuranceAsia News. “We do anticipate that it is very much going to be a buyers’ market.

“Different sectors and lines of business will have a different experience in terms of renewals

“It will not be a flat -5% reduction. It very much depends on individual lines – some will be more distressed, and others will be more moderate. “

Property renewal rates in APAC are expected to be down materially following a “benign” year for natural catastrophe losses in the region, according to Li.

The region has seen flooding in recent months and losses relating to typhoons, but barring the Myanmar-Thailand earthquake, the industry in APAC has faced few US$1 billion plus insured loss events.

Heading into 1.1 renewals, reinsurers must remain disciplined in the face of the market softening.

“If you do not maintain the discipline, you are faced with a lot of pressure on your margins, and it is not sustainable in the long term,” Li said. “We do not want another situation like 2017-18.

“There is definitely an opportunity in the sense that there is a lot of underinsurance. On the other hand, if insurers and reinsurers are not careful with the reduced margin, then we will not see much growth.”

“For us, the growth area is new lines. There are certain areas where we are really focusing like cyber, and terrorism. These are areas where we want to do more.”

Li Shan Yeo, Antares Underwriting Asia

In 2026, Antares will look to do more in lines where it is currently “very underweight,” particularly cyber, as recent large scale cyber attacks drive awareness and demand for cyber cover, according to Li.

“For us, the growth area is new lines,” she added. “There are certain areas where we are really focusing like cyber, and terrorism. These are areas where we want to do more.”

Antares has been looking to kick on following a breakout year in 2024, when its restructuring gathered pace, with a long-term target to reach US$2 billion of GWP, according to CEO Mike van der Straaten.

“Overall, as long as we are proactive in the way we do business, we will fight our corner,” van der Straaten said.

“Those that are writing pro rata have a harder battle than we have in securing terms that make it work and produce a good margin for themselves.”

In FY24, Antares grew its core ongoing business’ gross written premium by 54% in 2024 to US$1.1 billion, aided by the impact of a large reinsurance deal. Excluding this deal, the growth would have been15%.

“We are projecting [GWP] of US$1.4 billion,” van der Straaten added. “The US$2 billion target because of the market changing at the moment, we don’t think is achievable in the next couple of years, but we are still holding it down as our goal.

“We are currently at around US$1.3 billion. If we could go to US$1.45 billion, or US$1.5 billion, that would be great growth.”

As part of its current strategy, last year Antares restructured its business into three new divisions – retail, commercial and legacy.

The legacy vision manages Antares’ run-off portfolio, which is mostly comprised of a large motor book in Gibraltar, which it no longer writes, while the commercial unit houses Antares Re and its Lloyd’s Syndicate 1274, which writes property, casualty, marine, specialty and reinsurance business.

“We have stepped into that market in a very small way and we’re looking at opportunities to grow that business, but we’re very happy with the Lloyd’s results.”

Mike van der Straaten, Antares

Antares’ retail unit is responsible for its growth push into retail lines via MGAs, a key component of its growth plans.

In 2025, the Lloyd’s business has been profitable, with Syndicate 1274 posting a UK GAAP profit of US$42 million during the first half of the financial year, and a net combined ratio of 96.3% on GWP of $369 million.

The profitable result comes despite Antares provisionally reserving US$75 million to cover losses arising from the Los Angeles wildfires in January, the biggest insured catastrophe loss of 2025, and Russian aviation war losses.

“We have had the wildfires and the Ukrainian losses in the second quarter,” van der Straaten said.

“We just had our third quarter, and we are on track to meet plan again this year, and next year as looking quite favourable.

“As long as we’re proactive, I think we can achieve a good result.”

Antares expects to maintain its current Lloyd’s stamp capacity of around US$700 million amid the ongoing market softening, according to van der Straaten.

“I think [the Lloyd’s business] has reached the level where it needs to sit down and protect itself,” he added. “We are still looking at DNF, which is missing from our portfolio.

“We have stepped into that market in a very small way and we’re looking at opportunities to grow that business, but we’re very happy with the Lloyd’s results.”

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Taiping Re sees more substantive discussions around deductibles, expanded coverage options, frequency protections https://insuranceasianews.com/taiping-re-sees-more-substantive-discussions-around-deductibles-expanded-coverage-options-frequency-protections/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 01:00:49 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203868 Hong Kong-based reinsurer’s CEO Yu Xiaodong says the reinsurer strengthens market position with strategic insight and innovation.

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Taiping Re’s focus remains on maintaining underwriting discipline, improving client service capabilities and supporting its partners with comprehensive innovative solutions, according to CEO Yu Xiaodong, as the Hong Kong-based reinsurer anticipates continued market softening mainly driven by abundant capacity.

The company’s underwriting and analytics teams suggest that despite increasing climate-related losses, the reinsurance market continues to experience sufficient capacity across most regions.  

“This environment has led to more substantive discussions around deductible levels, expanded coverage options, and frequency protections,” Yu said. 

Casualty lines are expected to maintain relative stability compared to other segments, while cyber risks require increasing attention due to rapid technological advancement and widespread digital adoption across industries. 

In the near term, Taiping Re observes that cedents are particularly concerned about managing reinsurance costs for loss-affected programmes, ensuring capacity reliability amidst current market volatility, and navigating geopolitical uncertainties.  

“Longer-term considerations include the sustainability of reinsurance business models in the face of climate change, proper utilisation of alternative capital, and adapting to regulatory shifts across different jurisdictions,” Yu added. 

The company’s regional expertise remains a key advantage.  

“The company maintains a positive growth trend while providing strategic insights into the evolving market. This year marks the company's 45th anniversary. We believe that sustainable partnerships create more value than short-term market advantages.”

Yu Xiaodong, Taiping Re

Taiping Re has solidified its market position through 10 years of specialised initiatives supporting emerging sectors such as the low-altitude economy (LAE), intelligent connected vehicle (ICV), cyber security, the Belt and Road Initiative and Greater Bay Area infrastructure development, where it provides technical expertise and insurance solutions.  

Taiping Re, the global reinsurer headquartered in Hong Kong, said it continues to demonstrate resilience and long-term partnerships in a dynamic market environment.  

 “The company maintains a positive growth trend while providing strategic insights into the evolving market. This year marks the company’s 45th anniversary. We believe that sustainable partnerships create more value than short-term market advantages.” 

Innovation continues to drive Taiping Re’s value proposition, Yu said. 

The company issued Asia’s first dual-peril, dual-trigger catastrophe bond and is improving risk assessment capabilities on flood risk in Hong Kong and Macau through collaborations with universities in the region, providing clients with real-time catastrophe risk analysis in response to Super Typhoon Ragasa. 

Its AI intelligent life risk assessor platform, covering over 2,000 diseases, represents another technological breakthrough, utilizing large language models to enhance underwriting efficiency through natural language processing. 

In the cyber domain, Taiping Re China, Taiping Re’s subsidiary in the Chinese Mainland, has established a “cyber insurance innovation lab” and is developing proprietary pricing models while participating in pilot schemes led by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.  

“The company also leads in ICV research, holding a national patent for autonomous vehicle risk modelling and publishing ICV Insurance Innovation White Papers. Building on its collaboration with leading Chinese Mainland automotive manufacturers, the company worked with industry peers to develop autonomous driving insurance products,” Yu added. 

Looking ahead, Taiping Re remains committed to supporting cedents through tailored solutions, flexible terms, and its client-centric service, which combines advanced analytics with deep market understanding to address both traditional and emerging risks. 

Through consistently strong performance and continuous innovation, Taiping Re continues to reinforce its position as a trusted partner in the global reinsurance landscape, capable of navigating market cycles while contributing to industry development and social resilience through its comprehensive risk solutions. 

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Improved performance could see insurers retain more of the risk, Munich Re’s Kotak https://insuranceasianews.com/improved-performance-could-see-insurers-retain-more-of-the-risk-munich-res-kotak/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 00:00:04 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203831 Reinsurer’s regional head offers insights into slow demand growth, impact of consolidation and cautions against the growing cost of acquisition for insurers.

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Terms, conditions and structures will largely remain stable, while “attachment points might go up, which is good”, according Hitesh Kotak, Munich Re’s chief executive for Japan, India, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

The improved performance of the primary markets in the region could see insurers retain more of the risk, he said. 

“They have earned good profits, so they also tend to increase their retentions, which is what we would also love to see, as our main focus is on taking the volatility which comes from the peak risks,” Kotak added. “This is also backed by discussion with our broking partners and clients.

“Overall, pricing is very different for different markets and within a market, it’s also very different for different clients.The key is really who your clients are and what their underlying portfolio looks like, and the changes that we have seen in that portfolio over time.

“If you leave out Japan and Australia, in the rest of the region, the cycle is not very pronounced, because there has always been an adequate or even excess capacity supply.” 

Kotak also does not anticipate a significant growth in demand from the region. 

“Growth in demand is not as strong as we would anticipate given the existing,  significant penetration gap in the market. For emerging markets, you would usually expect double-digit growth, but we’re not seeing that kind of growth,” he said. 

“In some markets, the demand will grow because there has been an infrastructure fillip, so primary insurers will sell more to the end customers.” 

Economies with strong infrastructure investment and markets that saw nat cat activity will be the exceptions. 

“Having larger players in the market is good for companies like us because it creates profitable growth opportunities in the mid-term.”

Hitesh Kotak of Munich Re

According to the global reinsurer, growth will continue to come from Indonesia, Vietnam, India, and to some extent also from Thailand, because Thailand had seen a large nat cat activity earlier in the year.  

“We anticipate insurance companies to buy more earthquake capacity after this year’s earthquake event, because there is definitely a growing demand from the end customers for these covers,” Kotak said. 

“Similarly, in Vietnam, where some severe flooding events happened, I also expect corrections with rates and demand moving up in this market. ”

Meanwhile, discussing the impact of consolidation on some of the Asian markets, Kotak said it is good from a reinsurance point of view. Consolidation in the industry helps insurance companies become more sophisticated and more disciplined.  

“Having larger players in the market is good for companies like us because it creates profitable growth opportunities in the mid-term,” Kotak said. 

“In Indonesia, potential consolidation driven by regulator’s initiative of increasing capital requirements will be positive for the overall market. Along with this, the tailwinds generated by announcement of numerous infrastructure projects is another positive.”

Structured solutions 

Motivations of the clients are at the heart of Munich Re’s approach to addressing demands for protection in the lower layers of programs. 

“Our view on structured solutions covers depends on the motivation of the client. If the client’s motivation is to achieve a certain objective, like helping the P&L or supporting the balance sheet, then we are open and a leading player in that discussion,” he said.  

“But if the motivation is not very clear, if it is to benefit the cycle and pass on the losses to the reinsurer, then obviously, we are not interested.”

New distribution channels 

On the challenges of the market, Kotak said the biggest concern he has is that the cost of acquiring the business is getting too high.  

“Many insurers are competing for the same agents and, in the end, for the same customers. As a consequence, the cost of acquiring business goes up,” he added. 

“I think we have to focus more on creating additional demand via new agents. This is tough, very tough but a market necessity.

“Our penetration gap in the emerging markets still has room for improvement and supporting markets through creating more distribution is the best way forward. Existing products are good enough. We just have to sell more and reach more people. I think we need more feet on the street.”   

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Motivated market drives appetite for alternative structures: Gallagher Re’s Jones https://insuranceasianews.com/motivated-market-drives-appetite-for-alternative-structures-gallagher-res-jones/ Wed, 05 Nov 2025 23:00:19 +0000 https://insuranceasianews.com/?p=203863 With both insurers and reinsurers pursuing growth, the broker expressed a strong sense of optimism for clients during the 1.1 renewals.

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As the market is getting motivated with growth aspirations of both reinsurers and insurers, there is a notable rise in appetite for alternative or structured solutions, said Richard Jones, chairman for Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Korea, of Gallagher Re.  

“I always like a motivated reinsurance market because it usually produces some innovative structures and people are willing to talk about alternative structures. 

“That market has always been alive out here, but we’ve found more players coming in and saying, yes, we can consider structured solutions, longer-term arrangements, which is helping the clients out to achieve their goals because our clients want to grow their business as well,” he said.  

“Since the last 1.1 renewal, we have seen reinsurers being more flexible and cedents getting a slightly easier, more straightforward renewal.” 

With both insurers and reinsurers pursuing growth, Jones expressed a strong sense of optimism for clients during the 1.1 renewals. 

There’s a lot of chat around keeping discipline and I completely understand that. But I think there is more capital available and they want to use their capital.  

“So that in itself should help us to create some more innovative products which are going to help maybe with the attritional end of the business,” said Jones.  

Of course, there’s still pressure in the system, but I would like to think that there’ll be some further flexibility and open-minded solutions which obviously will be at the forefront.” 

“I think there's a good opportunity for clients to make the most of that and help them grow their business.”

Richard Jones, Gallagher Re

As cedents navigate challenges, such as the changing model of agency business going over to digital as well as developing risks, including cyber and the energy transition, reinsurance can provide essential support, according to Jones.  

“And in the longer term, if they want to go into new products, there is an appetite from the reinsurers, who are keen to make strategic partnerships to manage portfolios in a market that’s becoming a little bit more flexible.  

“I think there’s a good opportunity for clients to make the most of that and help them grow their business. 

Besides, the growing MGA space, which is stepping into the specialty line, is also providing a consistent immune capacity, which is going to be of use in the future, he said.   

“Yes and it’s giving cedents more options and I think that’s a positive thing. 

Growth in Asia 

The primary insurance markets are having challenges in growing, according to Jones.  

While India and China are seeing “definite growth” with many positive indications, insurers in certain regions of Asia, such as Korea, are facing challenges to expand their domestic business. 

“But what’s quite exciting is that they’re now looking overseas. We saw recently the headline purchase of Fortegra by DB, Samsung and their Canopius investment, etc. 

I find that very energising for the region and it’s great to see more Asian-based entities going global and overseas, they start bringing product back. And from our viewpoint, we can bring real value with our global reach. 

In my view, Asia, at the moment, is a pretty dynamic and healthy market,” he said, adding that it’s important to find innovative solutions to match the motivated market, where re(insurers) both want to grow 

My key message is we need to match the motivated reinsurance market. 

“This is so that we can get great results for our clients and align with their own goals. If we can match the two, it’ll be a very successful outcome.” 

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