IAN Exclusive. Marsh’s former growth and strategy leader for finpro in Hong Kong and Macau, Pal Tang, is set to join Aon on Monday in a regional role, InsuranceAsia News reported exclusively. 

Leadership switch. In heavyweight moves this week, Chubb snapped up AIG regional president Chris Colahan as head of APAC for its commercial P&C business, while AIG announced the appointment of Everest Insurance’s Scott Leney as his successor. 

Opening up. After years of false starts and dithering, India has finally allowed 100% foreign ownership of insurers.

The move is likely to be a driver for deals and consolidation in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

For most international players, India will be a priority market, and there will be some deals, and many participants with a minority interest will be pushing to get themselves into a majority position, ideally a significant majority. 

Lower barriers. Vietnam has given the nod for the removal and simplification of many ex-ante regulatory requirements for (re)insurers and market participants, as part of its newly amended law for insurance businesses. 

The law also introduces a clear roadmap for transitioning to risk-based capital requirements. 

Cat losses. Insured losses from natural catastrophe again have surpassed the US$100 billion mark for the sixth consecutive year, mainly driven by the unprecedented Los Angeles wildfire loss record in the first quarter of 2025 and SCS, according to Swiss Re Institute.  

Overall, at US$107 billion, total insured losses in 2025 is 24% lower than the US$141 billion recorded in 2024. 

New capacity. Former XL Catlin and Sirius Point executive Bobby Heerasing has launched a new APAC-focused MGA with the backing of Convex and Efinity. 

The new MGA, which was flagged by this newsletter last week, will be known as Prism and will have its headquarters in Singapore and an operation in Hong Kong. 

Meanwhile, Rainmaker Group-owned MGA XS Global has launched its APAC operations in Hong Kong. Led by former AIG exec Steve Barnett, XS Global Asia Pacific was granted a license in Hong Kong in July, with Lloyds coverholder status approved in August. 

Transformative times

And just like that, we’ve hit the final Full Capacity of the year – before the festive frenzy takes over. Well, maybe not for the reinsurance world, which is still racing toward the 1.1 renewals.

Word in the market? They’re running later than usual.

It’s been a transformative year for (re)insurance industry on the whole.

The once rock-hard market has softened, even as reinsurers continue posting stellar results – combined ratios dipping into the high 70s and low 80s. After years of turbulence, the sector finally seems to be breathing a little easier.

Catastrophes may have been relatively tame overall, but the year still packed a punch. From the early LA wildfire to the record-smashing Hurricane Melissa rolling through the Caribbean.

Asia wasn’t spared either: the Myanmar earthquake rattled nerves across the region, unprecedented wildfires hit South Korea and Japan, and late-year floods devastated parts of Southeast and South Asia.

But 2025 reminded us that not all crises are natural. The Air India crash and the tragic Hong Kong housing estate fire turned global attention to the human side of risk – and the industry that stands behind rebuilding lives and economies.

Deals dominated headlines, too. Sompo’s bold grab of Aspen Re set the tone, DB Insurance entered the US specialty market with Fortegra, and whispers of an AIG–Chubb mega-merger have the market buzzing.

M&A momentum hasn’t just picked up – it’s accelerating into the new year.

Closer to home, 2025 was the year MGAs truly came of age in Asia, with new launches multiplying across the region.

And let’s not forget the tech revolution. AI stopped being just a talking point and started reshaping business.

Just this Friday, AIG announced a Lloyd’s special purpose vehicle with Amwins, Blackstone, and Palantir – a next-gen structure leveraging GenAI for portfolio underwriting. That’s not just innovation, it could be the blueprint for what’s coming.

So yes, the market may be soft, and balance sheets brimming with capital, but with investors happy and margins strong, perhaps now’s the moment for the industry to double down on innovation – across technology, products, modelling, and distribution.

Because if the past few years were about rebuilding, 2026 and beyond could be the time for insurance to reinvent itself.

People moves

Howden has been on a hiring spree this week, building out its financial lines teams with notable hires, including Aon’s Xianwei Lee and Marsh’s Eugene Lim in Singapore. It also hired Sheen Fraser in the carrier management team.

Sompo Hong Kong expanded its marine team with Clara Yip.

Meanwhile, Sedgwick added Cory Chow as managing director of Asia global specialty marine.

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.

The post The year that was appeared first on InsuranceAsia News.

Legal update. Guy Carpenter won a lawsuit against ex-employees Celeste Choi and Dominic Lee, who diverted client Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance to South Korean broker LK Re. The Singapore High Court found the pair and LK Re conspired to lure SFMI’s business, costing Guy Carpenter at least US$1.3 million in lost brokerage revenue.  

M&A news. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has blocked IAG’s proposed acquisition of the insurance business of Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia, citing concerns it would substantially reduce competition in the state’s motor vehicle and home and contents insurance markets.  

Japanese insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) has acquired at least a 12.5% stake in US insurer WR Berkley, making it the company’s second-largest shareholder. MSI is expected to gain a board seat, with its nominee to be named by March.  

New leadership. Zhu Xiaoyun is set to be the first woman to become president of China Re. The appointment follows Zhuang Qianzhi’s approval as chairman. Zhu, who joined the reinsurer in 1998, was most recently executive director and vice president. 

Nat cat brief. Japan issued a megaquake warning after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan on Monday, injuring at least 33 people and triggering small tsunamis.  

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the risk of an aftershock of 8-magnitude or higher along the Japan Trench and Chishima Trench has risen slightly.  

Meanwhile, Japan has lowered its projected death toll and economic losses from a potential major Tokyo-area earthquake.  

P&I renewals. P&I clubs face a crucial lead-up to the February renewals amid concerns over premium adequacy and rising claims costs. Clubs have announced 4–8% general increases, but many question if rates will cover more frequent and costly claims in the International Group pool.  

‘Not normal’: flooding unmasks climate change

When cyclones Ditwah and Senyar tore across Asia late last month, they did more than destroy homes and lives – they shattered the illusion that these disasters are exceptional. They are not.

More than 11 million people have been affected across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and even in Vietnam and the Philippines.  

About 1.2 million were forced from their homes, over 1,750 lives have been lost, and thousands more remain unaccounted for beneath the thick mud that once was farmland.  

Experts say the devastation was driven by an extraordinary alignment of forces: cyclones Ditwah and Senyar forming almost simultaneously, colliding with a strengthened northeast monsoon.  

Warm ocean temperatures – supercharged by climate change – added fuel to the chaos, creating storm tracks in places that rarely experience them. 

While monsoon rains bring some flooding, scientists are clear that this was “not normal”. 

Clearly, climate crisis no longer announces itself through distant glaciers or abstract metrics. It pours through front doors, silences communities, and erases fragile recoveries overnight.  

And the economic impacts are equally merciless.  

Sri Lanka, which had finally clawed back from financial collapse with 4.5% GDP growth this year, is expected to see that figure fall to around 3% in 2026 because of Ditwah’s destruction.  

Across Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, Moody’s Insurance Solutions estimates over US$10 billion in losses – half from business interruption alone.  

Global supply chains have been shaken again, echoing the 2011 Thai floods that crippled car manufacturing.  

Though Southeast Asia is no stranger to widespread flood events, economic flood losses over the past 10 years have not exceeded US$1-2 billion. 

Only the 2011 Thailand floods were on a larger scale, with US$45 billion of economic losses reported at the time, Moody’s noted. 

The industry faces a mounting challenge: how to price risk in a world where yesterday’s “hundred‑year” event seems to happen every other year and how to make better products and distribute them to reach the wider populations, especially on the margins of the economy. 

Meanwhile, the growing evidence for anthropogenic climate change could have serious consequences for the (re)insurance industry.  

This week, survivors of Typhoon Odette filed a lawsuit in London against oil and gas giant Shell seeking corporate liability for specific climate-related deaths, injuries, and destruction. 

The claimants said that the case draws on new climate attribution research, which found that human-caused climate change more than doubled the likelihood of an extreme weather event like Typhoon Odette. 

People moves

Aon has hired Manulife’s Ben Jones as its COO for Asia Pacific. 

HDI Global has chosen Peter Schraa as its new head of marine in Singapore to expand its marine underwriting footprint in Southeast Asia. 

Sompo has enhanced its underwriting structure in Hong Kong with the promotions of Ophelia Szeto and Jessica Lai. 

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.     

The post Climate crisis strikes at Southeast Asia’s doorstep appeared first on InsuranceAsia News.

Brokering deals. Australian broker AUB Group’s sales talks with private equity firms EQT and CVC has been called off as the bidders walked away. The consortium informed the company that they do not wish to proceed with their bid at AU$45 (US$29.46) a share.  

Meanwhile, AUB’s competitor Steadfast has seen stocks rally after reports that PE giant Blackstone was weighing a US$4.6 billion bid for the broker, which has been in the headlines recently for the wrong reasons. 

M&A update. Tiptree shareholders have approved the sale of US specialty insurer Fortegra to South Korea’s DB Insurance. The all-cash deal, reported to be around US$1.65 billion, was approved at a special meeting on Wednesday.

DB Insurance signed an agreement to acquire Tiptree and Warburg Pincus-owned US specialty insurer Fortegra for US$1.65 billion in September. 

Nat cat brief. Asia Pacific has accounted for around half of the US$22 billion total losses from tropical cyclones this year, according to Munich Re. The losses from windstorm events this year tracked far below the inflation-adjusted averages for the past 10 years (US$100 billion economic/US$40 billion insured), and the past 30 years (US$67 billion economic/US$26 billion insured).

Asia Pacific saw 27 tropical cyclones, 16 of which were of typhoon strength, develop in the Northwest Pacific by the end of November, while five became “super typhoons” in categories 3-5. 

Elsewhere, Windstorm events have wreaked havoc across Southeast Asia and South Asia. Tropical Storm Senyar, which followed a rare track through the Strait of Malacca, has caused widespread flooding in Thailand and Indonesia, with combined economic losses estimated at about US$20 billion, according to Aon. 

Tropical Storm Ditwah, the deadliest cyclone to hit Sri Lanka since 1978, is estimated to have caused US$613-835 million direct damage and about US$40 million in damages in India.  

Meanwhile, the Philippines and Vietnam were impacted by Typhoon Koto over the past week, but the impact was relatively benign compared to other typhoons this year. 

First reported. Allianz Re has announced a leadership change in APAC with Anna Kohls to take charge of the carrier as Kenrick Law has left the firm. Kohls will relocate from Munich to Singapore to lead the third-party P&C business across Asia Pacific. Law, who has been spearheading the reinsurer for nearly 12 years in the region, will take a break, he told InsuranceAsia News. 

Wang Fuk Court fire forces market reset

The recent tragedy at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s Tai Po, where a devastating fire claimed 159 lives, is not just a heart-wrenching loss for the community but also a stark warning for the city’s insurance industry. 

Beyond the devastating human loss, the tragedy has triggered deep questions about accountability, governance, and risk culture in one of the world’s most vertical cities.  

It also threatens to upend long-standing assumptions in the insurance sector, where risk was priced too cheaply and managed too loosely for too long. 

Market dynamics will harden swiftly.  

Fitch anticipates insurers tightening project screening, mandating on-site monitoring, and hiking reserves for renovation risks –  especially high-rises with scaffolding.  

While immediate losses may be manageable, layered reinsurance arrangements and potential governmental support could mitigate longer-term impacts. 

Yet, the reality is more complex. The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers estimates that gross insured losses could reach at least US$200 million, as InsuranceAsia News had first reported.  

The loss is a substantial figure that suggests the fire may strain the financial underpinnings of the P&C sector. 

This comes on the heels of an already tumultuous year marked by extreme weather events and other notable fire losses like the one in Chinachem Tower in October, which have eroded underwriting margins and highlighted the inherent risks of insuring properties in high-density urban areas. 

The industry’s inevitable response will be a market hardening: higher premiums, stricter exclusions, and tighter underwriting for high-rise renovations.  

Industry sources tell me that insurers and reinsurers are already revisiting pricing and conditions in the ongoing renewal discussions. 

Initial investigations suggest that the fire’s rapid spread was accelerated by substandard plastic netting, tarpaulins, and foam boards used on building exteriors – materials failing basic fire safety standards.  

The picture echoes the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, where combustible cladding claimed 72 lives and subsequently reshaped the UK’s regulatory and insurance landscape.  

Like Grenfell, the Wang Fuk Court disaster exposes how fragmented oversight and cost-driven decisions can create systemic vulnerabilities with catastrophic results.  

It is already prompting calls for sweeping reform of Hong Kong’s fire-safety code, especially regarding building materials, scaffolding standards, and renovation approval processes. 

For insurers, the claims complexities are immense. Multiple overlapping policies –property all-risk, contractors’ all-risk, third-party liability, and employee compensation – blur the lines of responsibility.  

Legal wrangling could arise over “legal requirements clauses” that void coverage if safety standards were breached. 

The Hong Kong Insurance Authority has acted quickly, forming a task force led by senior executives to coordinate the industry response and ensure speedy claims processing.  

Insurers have set up hotlines, offered premium holidays and policy-loan relief, and pledged simplified claims procedures. 

These gestures, though vital in the immediate aftermath, cannot substitute for structural reform. Insurance may cushion the economic blow, but only institutional reform can prevent the next inferno. 

People moves

Liberty Specialty Markets has restructured its Asia Pacific underwriting operations. Key appointments include Marcus Thomas relocating to Hong Kong as CUO for commercial Asia and third-party APAC, and Brett Gardiner as CUO of Australia and first-party APAC.  

QBE appointed Sebastian Tjornelund as head of marine underwriting for Asia. 

Berkley Re Asia has promoted Si Wei Tay to head of claims, and Billy Kwan to head of property and business support. 

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.    

The post Reckoning after Tai Po tragedy appeared first on InsuranceAsia News.

HK Fire. In one of the worst tragedies to hit Hong Kong in recent years, at least 128 people were killed and several injured after a fire engulfed a public housing complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood. 

Hong Kong-based China Taiping is the insurer on all the property all risks, contractors’ all-risk policy (CAR) and third-party liability (TPL) covers, as InsuranceAsia News first reported. 

The insurance claim from the Wang Fuk Court housing estate is likely to be over HK$1.5 billion (US$200 million) under the master property policy with additional claims likely under the CAR, including TPL and employees’ compensation covers. 

Nat cat brief. Australian insurers have reported more than 33,000 claims following severe hailstorms that impacted southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales on Sunday and Monday. 

Suncorp said its net cost for the supercell thunderstorms is expected to be AU$350 million (US$228.5 million), which is the maximum event retention of main catastrophe reinsurance cover. 

Australia push. Munich Re Specialty has announced its expansion into Australia, which will be led by former Lloyd’s regional director for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa Chris Mackinnon. 

IAN Exclusive. Canopius’ Asia Pacific chief underwriting officer Yann Marmonier has left the Lloyd’s specialty (re)insurer, InsuranceAsia News first reported.  

Gift City. Korean Re has received regulatory approval to establish a new branch in Gujarat International Finance Tech-City (Gift City). The South Korean reinsurer plans to officially commence operations in April. 

PE funding. Thai digital insurer Roojai said it is eyeing further M&A opportunities after attracting a fresh US$60 million investment in a series C fundraising led by private equity firms Apis Partners and Asia Partners. 

P&I merger. The UK P&I Club and the TT Club have announced that they are currently engaged in discussions regarding a potential merger.  

The AI dilemma

In one of the first instances of AI-driven job losses in the insurance sector, Bloomberg reported this week that Allianz plans to cut between 1,500 to 1,800 jobs at its Allianz Partners subsidiary as part of its transition to AI.  

It is part of a broader trend among major companies increasingly adopting AI to streamline operations and reduce staffing costs. And the conversation around AI and jobs has now moved on from theoretical to a cold splash of reality. 

Executives now tout the gains in efficiency from AI in earnings reports and memos, framing workforce reductions as a necessary adaptation to an economy increasingly driven by technology. 

A US study noted that AI is responsible for about 50,000 job cuts in the country so far this year, with a sharp rise in October.  

A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggested that up to 11.7% of the US labour market could be replaced by AI, translating to a staggering US$1.2 trillion in lost wages across critical sectors like finance and healthcare. 

The financial sector is no exception. Bloomberg Intelligence predicts that global banks may cut up to 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as AI infiltrates processes traditionally handled by humans.  

It’s clear that the stakes are high and the implications could be staggering for job markets.  

However, it is not quite doomsday yet and a healthy dose of scepticism is warranted. 

There is some talk of “AI washing”, which is a word for scapegoating AI to effect layoffs that were already in the pipeline and not due to efficiency gains. 

By pinning the cuts on an unstoppable force of technology, companies sidestep blame and frame themselves as pragmatic pioneers. 

AI washing or efficiency gains, there is no denying that the underlying trend is terrifyingly real. 

There is, as always, a glimmer of hope. A McKinsey analysis offers a crucial insight: over 70% of the skills employers want today are used in both automatable and non-automatable work.  

This suggests that as adoption advances, most skills will remain relevant, but how and where they are used will evolve. So, human skills aren’t becoming obsolete, but their application is.  

The question is no longer what you know, but how you can apply it when the routine tasks are being systematically ceded to machines. 

People moves

Howden has appointed Marsh’s Alaric Lee as chief commercial officer for Asia. 

Loss adjuster Sedgwick has promoted Aruna Chandrapalan to CEO of Singapore. 

Meanwhile, vrs Adjusters has appointed former Swiss Re executive Sydney Soo as APAC director. 

Generali GC&C’s head of business development Joshua Lynch has announced his departure from the insurer. 

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.   

The post Rise of the machines: AI transition and job losses appeared first on InsuranceAsia News.

IAN exclusives. MS Amlin Asia Pacific is preparing to expand its Phoenix ILS vehicle during the upcoming 1.1 renewals and return to the ILS market in the first quarter of 2026 with a broader range of Asian risk products 

Mapfre Re is preparing to set up shop in India’s Gift City, as the Spanish reinsurer accelerates its push into the Indian market, InsuranceAsia News reported exclusively. 

HK marine pool. Hong Kong has launched a marine specialty risks insurance pool to provide stable risk coverage for the Asian shipping industry by consolidating local underwriting capacity, InsuranceAsia News first reported. 

The Hong Kong Marine War Risks Insurance Pool will be managed by Alliance Risk Transfer and counts China Taiping, PICC, CMB Wing Lung, CPIC and Asia Insurance as founding members. 

Risk losses. A fire at South Korean fashion giant E-Land’s logistics centre could potentially see hundreds of millions of dollars in insured losses from both property damage and inventory losses.  

Hanwha General Insurance is the lead carrier on E-Land’s insurance programs, with Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, DB Insurance, KB Insurance, and Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance among the co-insurers. 

The program’s reinsurers, primarily Korean Re, are likely set to face significant claims. 

Internal affairs. Lloyd’s has opened an investigation into John Neal’s six-year stint as CEO of the UK insurance exchange after “new information has emerged” in recent days. 

Lloyd’s said that it had earlier commissioned an independent fact-finding review in October over an “alleged workplace affair”. 

Meanwhile, another Australian insurance CEO, Robert Kelly of Steadfast, returned to work on Tuesday following the conclusion of an external investigation into a workplace complaint, the Australian broker said in a stock exchange announcement. 

Big move. Marsh Asia president James Addington-Smith has been appointed CEO of Marsh UK. Marsh McLennan Asia CEO David Jacob, meanwhile, will assume the additional role of president of Marsh Asia. 

IPO bound. Chubb Malaysia will list on Bursa Malaysia to comply with regulatory requirements for foreign insurers to reduce their stakes in their local units. 

The carrier’s sole shareholder, Chubb INA International, plans to divest a 30% stake in the company. 

Regulatory burden 

One of the key topics at SIRC earlier this month was changing solvency regimes and increasing regulatory and compliance burdens in the region’s fragmented insurance markets. 

Especially in Southeast Asia, regulatory changes will be a theme that will play out over the next couple of years and could potentially change the industry landscape. 

Regulator’s increasingly tough stance on capital and risk is not an incidental backdrop to market dynamics – it is the central driver of a march towards consolidation. 

Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand are rolling out the most significant solvency reforms the region has seen in decades, explicitly tightening capital regimes and demanding more sophisticated risk management.  

These moves go far beyond consumer protection or technical housekeeping; they favour scale, sophistication and balance sheet muscle over incumbency. 

In practice, only large or deeply specialised insurers can bear the fixed cost of compliance without distorting business models.  

And with these changes mandating more capital, more modelling, and more governance layers, “staying small” becomes a slow path to obsolescence. 

Indonesia shows how blunt capital thresholds can serve as an explicit consolidation trigger.  

Minimum capital requirements for insurers are being ratcheted up in phases to some of the highest levels in Asean, with reinsurance capital floors set to rise dramatically by 2028.  

These new thresholds will deliberately squeeze under-capitalised and sub-scale players toward one of three outcomes: raise fresh equity at punishing terms, sell to a stronger rival, or exit. 

It does seem that in the regulatory environment, scale is not just an advantage but a regulatory expectation. 

Regional and global carriers with diversified portfolios and access to deep capital pools are positioned to snap up assets, while local and niche firms are pushed into defensive mergers or fire-sale exits.  

People moves

Aon has named Jason Disborough as chief commercial officer for the Pacific region. 

Willis has promoted Anthony Wong to head of casualty for the Asia region. 

In a leadership reshuffle, Sedgwick has named New Zealand CEO Phil van Zyl as interim CEO of Australia and Simon Kay as chief operating officer. 

Cynthia Yuan Xi has become the new head of China Re’s climate risk research centre. 

To keep up with the latest people moves in the region, don’t forget to check out our weekly people move round-up. 

The post Survival of the fittest – Asia’s regulatory shake-up appeared first on InsuranceAsia News.

IAN exclusive. We exclusively reported that the Vietnam market is set to see a new reinsurer launch soon. Led by former PVI Re (now Hanoi Re) executive Le Hoai Nam, Alpha Re is backed by a local private corporation and banks and will have a charter capital of US$30 million.

Nat cat brief. Hannover Re has reported US$105 million in losses from March’s earthquake in Myanmar, which also affected Thailand.  

Australia’s IAG said it has received over 10,000 claims across its brands due to several significant weather events across the eastern part of the country, including the hailstorm that struck Queensland on October 26.  

M&A updates.  It has been yet another busy week for industry rainmakers. We saw yet another broker deal, with Resilium Partners-owned Cornerstone Risk Group completing the acquisition of Brisbane-based MRC Insurance and launching a corporate and specialty division. 

Meanwhile, the bid for AUB Group saw PE giant CVC joining EQT as a consortium partner.  

In other deal news, DB Insurance’s acquisition of US specialty Fortegra is facing opposition from a minority shareholder, Veradace Partners, a 5% shareholder of Fortegra owner Tiptree. 

Crypto capacity. Crypto specialist insurer 1B-i Holdings has set up operations in Singapore with a management services entity and is in the process of applying for an underwriting licence in Labuan. 

Led by former Aon exec John Morley, 1B-i aims “to be underwriting in Q1 2026” pending regulatory approvals. 

Rating trend. Aon’s global CEO for commercial risk solutions, Joe Peiser, in an exclusive interview with InsuranceAsia News, said that the current rate reduction in the primary market is expected to be temporary, suggesting that “it’ll probably last through 2026 and then bottom out”. 

Data centre disruption 

The multi-trillion-dollar data centre gold rush is redefining the global landscape, and the insurance industry is in the thick of it. 

As Asian powerhouses like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan scramble to grab a piece of this lucrative pie, it could be transformative for the regional (re)insurance market. 

Aon’s own Joe Peiser, in an exclusive interview with InsuranceAsia News, captured this perfectly: it’s “the single biggest opportunity” for the (re)insurance sector. 

With a construction pipeline in Asia soaring by over US$160 billion, data centres could be game changers. 

Aon’s Terence Williams points out, “Never has the insurance industry had to deal with such large limits for single-location platforms.”  

This seismic shift means that insurers must rethink their traditional approaches to property markets, with Aon rolling out a global practice to oversee projects from conception through to construction and operation. 

But they’re not alone. Willis has jumped on the bandwagon, launching a dedicated data centre practice in Asia, spearheaded by Lay See Ong.  

Allianz highlighted the enormity of the opportunity in Asia, noting that greater Beijing alone accounts for about 10% of the global hyperscale capacity, with projections showing the region’s IT load could double to over 8GW by 2030. Across Asia Pacific, 3.2GW of capacity was already under construction as early as 2025. 

The world’s first commercial underwater data centre is now operational in China, showcasing how cutting-edge solutions can tackle the challenges of modern tech infrastructure.  

Insurers and reinsurers alike must scramble to source the necessary capacity and the underwriting and technical expertise to navigate the choppy waters.  

Data centres face a broad spectrum of risks, including natural hazards, business interruption, environmental exposures, and cyber threats, across every stage of their lifecycle, from financing and construction to operations.  

And they also involve an array of stakeholders – from financiers and developers to operators and tenants – all of whom face a myriad of risks. 

As if that weren’t enough, the electricity demand from global data centres is projected to skyrocket, surpassing 945 TWh by 2030 – that’s more than the entire consumption of the country of Japan. 

Ageing grid infrastructure is yet another challenge that could have a domino effect in the region. 

Colin Taylor, managing director at Halliwell, a technical consultant owned by loss-adjusting specialist McLarens, said his firm has identified data centres as a key opportunity in the region. 

It focuses on pre-loss consulting to mitigate risks that extend beyond traditional engineering practices, aiming to pinpoint potential failures before they occur. 

The hyperscale investments also present opportunities for insurers from an asset management perspective. 

Tokio Marine just acquired a majority stake in Acore Capital, a US investment manager specialising in commercial real estate debt, which has funded US$134 million for a 15MW data centre in the US and US$125.3 million for a multi-state digital infrastructure portfolio. 

While AI is disrupting our lives in many ways, for the (re)insurance markets, its potential impact on underwriting, broking, and investment may prove to be the most enduring. 

People moves

Willis said that it had promoted Conor Keating to head of cyber for Asia, and Carlos Grijalva to head of cyber sales for Asia.  

HDI Global has tapped John Morrell as head of energy and power underwriting to lead its newly created Middle East energy hub. 

The Ardonagh-owned broking network Aviso Group has promoted chief broking officer Jeff Moule to CEO.  

To keep up with the latest people moves in the region, don’t forget to check out our weekly people move round-up. 

The post Plugging into the data centre gold rush appeared first on InsuranceAsia News.

IAN exclusive. We reported exclusively this week, Huntington Underwriting, in a management buyout, has acquired the underwriting businesses of Brown & Brown-owned Nexus Underwriting in Hong Kong and Labuan.  

Meanwhile, Nexus will realign its business in Asia, continuing to write A&H business from the region, but property and marine underwriting moving to Dubai. 

Deal updates. Japanese insurers continue their overseas buying streak, with Tokio Marine’s US arm acquiring Ignyte Insurance’s collector car business for US$615 million. 

The deal headlines a flurry of Pacific Rim activity: 

• In Australia, broker Coverforce split three ways, with its broking, network, and strata portfolios going to separate firms. 

• PSC Insurance acquired New Zealand’s Broking Advisors, continuing the consolidation of the Kiwi market. 
• AUB Group extended its exclusivity with EQT for a potential US$3.4 billion deal.

Cyber capacity. Gallagher Re has launched a new cyber reinsurance facility covering risks including cyber, tech E&O, and cyber property damage. 

The facility would allow flexible participation from reinsurers through fac, treaty and white-label structures, with an initial line size of at least US$15 million for fac placements and US$10 million for treaty and white-label deals. 

Nat cat brief. Typhoon Kalmaegi, which struck the Philippines and Vietnam this week, is expected to cause hundreds of millions of US dollars in economic losses. It is the deadliest disaster of 2025 so far, killing at least 142 and leaving 127 missing in the Philippines. The storm also destroyed 200,000 homes and crippled infrastructure across Cebu. 

Pockets of excitement and undercurrents of anxiety 

I’ve just emerged from a whirlwind week at the Singapore International Conference, and it was one for the books! With about 3,800 people in attendance, it was the biggest SIRC yet. 

The mood at the conference? Looks like the market is drifting back to the safety of the mundane rather than the down-to-the-wire events that it was only a couple of seasons ago.  

The reinsurance market, after all, prefers the “boring” to the chaotic. 

However, there is no doubt that in Asia Pacific, there are pockets of excitement and undercurrents of anxiety. 

There is palpable buzz about growth in key markets like Southeast Asia and India, clear opportunities thanks to raft of regulatory transitions happening and cautious optimism about consolidation in some of the major markets. 

A softening of rates is a given, and reinsurers will give in to cedents’ demands for relaxing some of the tighter terms and conditions.  

Underwriting will also relent on attachment points, despite apprehensions about frequency losses remaining high even in a largely benign nat cat environment. 

However, brokers seem to be in the driving seats for now as we are in a cycle where more capacity is chasing relatively flat demand. 

Reinsurers keep preaching underwriting discipline, but the lure of growth is hard to resist. It’s not different. It’s the same old story. Something about reinsurers and short memories… 

Enter the opportunistic underwriters, ready to roll the dice, and it won’t be too long before the chickens come to roost. 

Or as one industry player told me, we could be steering right back into the “slaughterhouse of stupid reinsurance!” 

People moves

Megan Shao is returning to Zurich as chief claims officer for Asia Pacific.  

Gallagher Re’s Vinod Krishnan is leaving for India’s Edme Insurance.  

The Hartford has bolstered its Singapore hub with Chiaw Lean and Qingyang Liu. 

To keep up with the latest people moves in the region, don’t forget to check out our weekly people move round-up. 

The post Are we on a slow road to ‘stupid reinsurance’? appeared first on InsuranceAsia News.

Deal update. Private equity interest in the insurance sector is on the upswing. This week, Australian broking group AUB received a bid from Swedish PE giant EQT to acquire 100% of the company. The unsolicited, confidential and non-binding indicative proposal values the Australian Securities Exchange-listed broker at about US$3.4 billion.  

I had flagged up the growing PE interest in the sector last week on the back of KKR’s investment in Peak Re and Blackstone’s control transaction for Indian broker ACE. 

Full payout. Record breaking storm Hurricane Melissa is expected to cause billions of US dollars of insured losses after making landfall in Jamaica, and further landfalls in Cuba and Bahamas. 

Meanwhile, the storm is likely to trigger a full payout of a World Bank sponsored parametric cat bond that is issued and listed on the Hong Kong Exchange. 

Take the hit. AIG will acquire the rights to renew Everest’s US, UK, European and APAC commercial retail business, a portfolio that totals around US$2 billion of GWP. 

The transactions sharpen Everest’s focus on its core global reinsurance business, as well as its global wholesale and specialty insurance businesses. 

Grounded. The aviation sector, which has been hit by a spate of large losses this year, is bracing for a US$10 billion market loss from the disputes over jets stranded in Russia, following its invasion of Ukraine.  

Curiously though, the bulk of which will likely be picked up by the marine (re)insurance market. This is because at the time of the loss, a number of aviation insurers had their hull war reinsurance cover provided by a marine war policy or a political risks insurance policy – both of which classes fall under the broader marine portfolio. 

On course. Global specialist MGA Rokstone is seeing opportunities in the region as “global premiums shift from Europe and the Americas to Asia”, Rama Chandran, managing director and head of marine, told InsuranceAsia News’ Between the Lines podcast. 

Backed by a multi-year US$25 million Lloyd’s capacity from Tokio Marine Kiln, the MGA, which will write all marine classes excluding P&I, is trying to look at the more complex end of the risk spectrum to compete with the conventional marine insurers. 

Two weeks into the operation, Rokstone Singapore has already started binding policies. 

It is no SIRCus!  

Next week the great and good of the global reinsurance market will be in Singapore to set the ball rolling on the region’s reinsurance renewals discussions.’ 

The Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC) is the final pit stop for the conference crowd before they get down to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. 

The annual jamboree has grown to be one of the most important events in the global insurance conference calendar and, certainly, the most important one for the region. 

And we’ll be there, with boots on the ground, serving up the most extensive and in-depth coverage from the event and bringing you unfiltered access to the minds that move the market.  

As for the themes at SIRC? They won’t stray far from the trends we’ve already seen: softening prices, record-high capacity, and reinsurers eager to align with clients’ growth ambitions.  

Gallagher Re said that the reinsurance market in APAC has “turned a corner” following several years of hard market conditions. 

Yet, beneath this, significant regional nuances are emerging, which will play out in the coming renewals. 

A key talking point is the growing need for more capital solutions among Asian cedents. 

They want bespoke structures, tailor-made to fuel their ambitions and tame their volatility. And reinsurers, flush with cash, are suddenly all too willing to play along. 

Meanwhile, regulatory changes and consolidation is reshaping the landscape from Japan to Jakarta, which is bringing reinsurance’s role as a capital enabler to the fore. 

As the industry enters the final, frantic lap of reinsurance dealmaking, what is to be expected? 

Orderly renewals? Perhaps. But boring? Anything but. 

People moves

Steadfast CEO Robert Kelly has chosen to “stand aside” on a temporary basis amid an investigation into a workplace complaint. 

India’s GIC Re has named Hitesh Joshi as interim chairman and managing director. 

MSIG has appointed Eric Schaap as senior vice president and global broker engagement manager. 

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.    

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Peak Re. In a rare deal, marquee private equity investors have decided to back an Asian reinsurer. 

Hong Kong reinsurer Peak Re has found backing from KKR and Quadrantis Capital after shareholder Prudential Financial decided to divest its minority shareholding. 

KKR and Quadrantis Capital are projected to own about 11.27% and 1.80% of Peak Re’s issued share capital, respectively, while Fosun International will retain approximately 86.71% as the majority shareholder.

Tokyo drift. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) is making a significant move to establish a foothold in Japan, signalling its intent to tap into this vital market. 

As reported by InsuranceAsia News, Marc Breuil, the regional president for Asia and the Middle East, confirmed that the company has registered a new entity with Japan’s Legal Affairs Bureau. It is, however, awaiting the insurance license from the Financial Services Agency. 

Breuil said that BHSI plans to recruit a small team of Japan underwriters with experience in multiple areas of expertise and one or two senior leaders with experience in insurance underwriting. 

Greater goals. Markel is gearing up to make waves in Greater China, with marine and AI-related coverage taking center stage. 

Chelsea Jiang, managing director for Greater China, who took the helm in July, revealed to InsuranceAsia News that the specialty (re)insurer aims to become the largest syndicate on Lloyd’s China platform by GWP by year-end. 

As Markel celebrates its 10th anniversary in Shanghai, it’s targeting double-digit growth in 2025. The company has already seen a staggering 220% growth in China in 2024, a clear indication of its momentum. 

Steady hands. Global insurance broker Howden is embarking on an ambitious expansion across Asia, aiming to establish itself as a top-tier broker in every market it enters. Newly appointed CEO Rohan Bhappu laid out this vision in his first strategic remarks since taking the helm on October 1. 

Bhappu’s dual-pronged growth strategy hinges on significant investments in entrepreneurial talent and strategic acquisitions, building on the impressive growth that saw the firm expand “10x in 10 years” under founding CEO Chye Huat. 

“We’re not just expanding into new geographies; we’re also growing within countries and enhancing our existing businesses,” Bhappu stated. “Our goal is to be the leading broker in every Asian market we operate in.

Big bets and bigger ambitions 

This week, we saw three among the world’s largest private equity firms making multi-million-dollar commitments to the Asian (re)insurance sector. 

First, we had the Peak Re investment from KKR and Quandrantis Capital earlier this week. While it doesn’t bring new capital to the Hong Kong reinsurer, it provides an exit for its long-term investor, Prudential Financial, and, more importantly, showcases the potential the industry has to offer. 

Soon after, we saw Carlyle Group team up with Fortitude Re for an Asian reinsurance sidecar with US$700m deployable capital, primarily focused on life and annuity businesses. It also counts several other stellar investors, including T&D Insurance Group, AllianceBernstein, Shinhan Life, and National Pension Service of Korea (NPS), among others. 

And later, as InsuranceAsia News exclusively reported, Blackstone has made its foray into the sector in the region through the buyout of Indian homegrown intermediary ACE Insurance Brokers. 

We are not used to seeing the bellwethers of the investment world making big punts on Asian (re)insurance businesses. 

We have seen a few investments in Australia, but the global private equity firms have largely shied away from putting their money on Asian insurers, except of course, the occasional Japan deal. 

While these investors aren’t strangers to the ways of the insurance world, having made significant bets on players in the US, Bermuda, UK and Europe, they have largely kept their distance from Asian insurers – save for isolated deals in Japan or Australia. 

But that cautious stance is shifting, and fast — it is refreshing for the region, which is not accustomed to courting the big boys of the investment world. 

Apollo Global Management’s stellar exit from Aspen Re to Sompo and Warburg Pincus’ sale of Fortegra to DB Insurance may well have been catalysts. 

There is buying power in the Asian markets, and there is also the potential to roll up businesses, be it intermediaries, reinsurers, or, down the line, MGAs, to create regional champions. 

It isn’t just the marquees; even insurance specialists like BP Marsh, which had until 2025 not made much of a splash in Asia, are singing a different tune. 

BP Marsh, through its portfolio companies, has made two investments in Asia this year – Amiga Specialty and Fraction Brokers Asia. 

Is this a tipping point for the industry in the region? It certainly feels like it. 

The influx of smart money is a vote of confidence in the maturity and dynamism of Asia’s insurance landscape. 

This is an unmistakable sign that big global players see Asia as fertile ground for insurance innovation and growth. 

This also a shot in the arm for the region’s insurance entrepreneurs grinding away and the disruptors waiting in the wings. The world’s most discerning investors are here and scouting for the next champions. 

People moves

AIG has appointed Jenny Boyd has head of client and broker engagement for Asia Pacific.  

P&I club NorthStandard has appointed Michael Hustler as its new head of Asia Pacific. 

QBE Insurance Group has appointed Chris Killourhy as its new group chief financial officer.  

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.    

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Brand overhaul. Marsh McLennan announced a plan to unify its powerhouse businesses under a single, master brand, no prizes for guessing, Marsh!

This new branding takes effect in January 2026 and then, throughout 2027, its four distinct businesses will fold into the new brand architecture in a phased transition.

Marsh and Mercer will both go to market under the Marsh brand, while Guy Carpenter will be reintroduced as Marsh Re.

Oliver Wyman will retain its name, presented as “a Marsh business”, with its operating unit becoming Marsh Management Consulting.

M&A update. Global broking giant Howden continued its Pacific build-out with the acquisition of Auckland-based Omni Insurance Brokers.

The deal enhances its reach in Auckland and expands into the central North Island and complements Howden’s combined broking business in New Zealand, now comprising Howden Broking NZ, Bridges Insurance, Sherpa, Howden Commercial Affinity and Howden Corporate.

Mainland’s marine steer. Huatai Insurance Brokers, a mainland broker backed by China Re, kicked off a new shipping insurance venture with BMS Group’s teams, BankServe and CLP.

In the deal, Huatai will handle the domestic underwriting, while BankServe and CLP focus on the international side of things.

It aligns with China’s “Chinese ship, Chinese Insurance” strategy, ultimately supporting the broader goals of the “Maritime Silk Road” and ensuring greater security for global supply chains.

Tech-tonic shifts. This was a week of intense cyber insurance coverage for us as the region’s industry leaders gathered in Singapore for the InsuranceAsia News Asia Pacific Cyber Risk and Insurance Summit on Wednesday.

The key takeaway? AI-related cyber risks are set to dominate corporate risk management in the next year, as highlighted by Veronica Tan from Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency.

According to Tan, the industry is “on the cusp of a transformation,” as a result of AI technology, with the impacts of its implementation just beginning to have an impact.

Meanwhile, the rise in large-scale cyber-attacks is pushing companies across the Asia Pacific to seriously consider cyber insurance.

Teck Siong Ng from Beazley pointed out that cyber risk has become a top concern for boards in recent years, especially after incidents like the Jaguar Land Rover breach.

On the pricing front, Axa XL’s Sam Bye remarked that rates have significantly dropped since the last hard market cycle, driven by 2018-2019 ransomware losses. With more capacity in the market, companies can now better manage their cyber risks, but the potential for rate increases remains on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Coalition’s Stephen Wares pointed to the critical need for SMEs to embrace cyber insurance: “Whilst the headlines all go to Jaguar Land Rover, Asahi, Qantas and Marks & Spencer, these are large companies and they will survive. But for SMEs, what can seem to be relatively small amounts of money can be devastating and shut down businesses.”

And he says there has never been a better time to buy cyber insurance, noting that “it is far easier to apply for than it’s ever been”, and prices have come down significantly since the heights of 2022.

Beyond the shipping lanes 

Geopolitical risk, a dominant concern for businesses in 2025, is intensifying.

The long-running economic contest between the world’s two largest economies has opened a new front, signalling a protracted period of uncertainty.

In a tit-for-tat move, China instituted a special port fee for vessels linked to the US, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing economic tug-of-war between the two countries.

The fee, about US$56 per net ton, is set to be applied to all US-linked vessels, including ships owned by US enterprises, or entities with more than 25% US ownership; US-flagged, or built in the US vessels.

The sliding fee schedule, rising to US$157 per net ton by 2028, is a timeline of intended escalation.

Chinese authorities frame the fees as legitimate means to safeguard its interests, urging the US to rethink its “unreasonable suppression” of China’s maritime sector.

The broader implications of these measures are troubling: a retaliatory spiral that contracts global trade and heightens uncertainty.

Who bears the cost – the vessel owner or the charterer? The answer is buried in the fine print of charterparty agreements, which will likely become a fresh source of litigation.

And the repercussions extend beyond shipping costs.

The reciprocal port fees represent more than a maritime dispute – they are the physical manifestation of a fragmenting global economy.

While companies were puzzling out ways to deal with the US tariffs and port fees, they are now left to find a way around the latest development.

This is illustrated by the case of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean.

While some Korean firms announced US investments to circumvent the Trump administration’s proposals, Hanwha Ocean now faces direct sanctions, with China targeting five of its US-linked subsidiaries.

This highlights the interconnected nature of global supply chains and the potential for collateral damage in this geopolitical standoff.

People moves

It wasn’t the busiest week for high-profile appointments in the region. 

Notably, QBE Re has appointed Cindy Foo as its new head of treaty for Asia. 

Allianz Trade promoted Yusuke Hata as regional head of Japan desk for North Asia and Singapore. 

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.   

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