SIRC: APAC demand is there, Miller says, ahead of broad-based market softening

November 6 2025 by

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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