SIRC 2026: Asia wealth buildup fuels casualty business for Berkley Re

November 3 2026 by

Berkley Re is strengthening its casualty offerings across Asia to tap into one of the global economy’s fastest-growing markets, APAC CEO Glen Riddell said.

“Asia’s GDP has been growing over the last 10-15 years, and so companies have got bigger assets to protect, which thus automatically increases the demand for the liability market,” he said.

The growth of casualty is primarily from general liability, especially around products liability, according to Riddell.

“As Asia has become the powerhouse of manufacturing globally, you see there’s a greater tendency of companies to buy product liability insurance for those products that they have manufactured and look to export, particularly to the US,” he said.

“One of the areas of expertise at Berkley Re Asia Pacific is in the casualty space, where we assist primary insurance companies to get into the liability market space, or, if they’re already into it, to enhance the offerings that they’ve got for their customers.”

Berkley Re Asia Pacific would help clients in terms of underwriting expertise, claims management expertise, and training, so that over time, casualty can become a mainstream product in their respective markets, Riddell added.

The reinsurance provider also leads casualty programs across the region.

“In Asia, property is definitely the lion’s share of the reinsurance market. Berkeley Re Asia Pacific, meanwhile, have a more balanced share between property and casualty, and we probably have a higher share of capacity for casualty than other reinsurers do, as that’s one of our areas of expertise,” he said.

The four key markets in Berkley Re Asia Pacific ’s casualty portfolio are Japan, South Korea, China, and India, where the business opened up a Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Gift City) operation in December last year, the CEO added.

“India is developing and starting to open up. Gift City has been a higher area of focus for the market overall as it starts to develop over time,” he said.

Navigating volatility

Riddell stressed the importance of navigating the evolving risk environment and maintaining long-term relationships with clients amid the current softening market cycle.

“At Berkeley Re Asia Pacific, we are not everything to all clients. We have a fairly small niche group of clients, and we believe in long-term relationships. And with a softening market, one of the things that can happen is that [the relationships] can change, and there can be uncertainty,” he added.

“And we’re living in a very uncertain world, with changes across the market cycle, nat cat losses and the investment market. Therefore, we see our long-term relationships as fundamentally important.”

Riddell also noted that while nat cat activity has been relatively quiet, the year is not over, with the hurricane season in Florida and the Caribbean ongoing.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific, El Nino is bringing high uncertainty and volatility, as Australia and Indonesia are expected to experience a period of drought, while the monsoons in India could potentially be shorter.

“What does this mean for the likes of catastrophe reinsurance and crop reinsurance? We could be seeing crop reinsurance loss activity on the increase because it’s more susceptible to drought,” Riddell said.

Meanwhile, northern Asia, including Japan and South Korea could see more windstorms as a result of the El Nino, Riddell added.

Capacity to capability

Meanwhile, wearing the hat as the chair of the Singapore Reinsurers’ Association (SRA), Riddell expects this year’s Singapore Reinsurance International Conference to be “another very big event” with attendees from over 80 countries.

“The theme this year is capacity to capability, meaning that capacity is more than just capital, and it’s the technology and the underwriting expertise that the reinsurance market can provide to insurance companies,” he said.

Presentations will explore macroeconomic trends, geopolitics, and AI, alongside the launch of an AI handbook by the SRA.

Riddell also emphasised the enduring value of face-to-face interaction, with reinsurance continuing to be a people business.

“Although the reinsurance market is adapting to technology, some parts of it are still about old-fashioned relationships,” he noted, encouraging delegates to maximise meeting opportunities,” he said.

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