Full capacity: Asset-intensive life reinsurance: setting stage for a regulatory showdown?

June 7 2025 by

Welcome to Full Capacity, a weekly briefing on all the most important developments of the past week with a personal take on the news from our editor-in-chief, Mithun Varkey, delivered to your inbox every Saturday.

Making a splash. London-based specialty MGA Rokstone Underwriting has docked in Singapore with marine industry veteran Rama Chandran at the helm.

The MGA backed by US$25 million multi-year Lloyd’s capacity, plans to write all marine classes.

M&A spotlight. It was a busy week for deal makers in the loss adjusting space in Australasia. McLarens deepened its Australia network with the acquisition of Melbourne-based boutique loss adjusting firm Property & Forensic Assessing.

Adenes Australasia, which includes vrs ANA, snapped up Kiwi loss adjuster Citywide Assessors.

Challenging odds. While a number of mid-sized brokers are attempting to carve out their niche in the fiercely competitive Asian market, crafting the right strategy feels like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Yet, there’s a growing belief that growth is indeed possible beyond the corporate giants. We delved into what it truly takes for smaller brokers to claim their seats at the high-stakes table alongside the titans of Marsh, Aon, and WTW.

Under the weather. In the insurance press, while the spotlight often shines on nat cat-induced property losses, the repercussions on our delicate agricultural economy frequently go unnoticed.

This week, we explored how extreme weather events and shifting climate patterns are jeopardising essential agricultural output, prompting a shift from traditional crop policies towards alternative and mixed covers.

We also examined the emerging protection gap in Australia’s wine industry, where traditional all-risk coverage for viticulture has largely vanished. The chasm between the risks faced by the sector and the ability of existing insurance products to provide meaningful protection is widening, and there is an urgent need to cork it.

Between The Lines. In the latest episode of our fortnightly podcast, we sat down with Markel International’s president Andrew McMellin, to discuss the specialty (re)insurer’s strategic priorities, its Asia Pacific plans and his take on the wider challenges facing the industry.

The InsuranceAsia News editorial team also brought you exclusive insights into our stories and the leads we are chasing. You can listen to it on Apple or Spotify.

Double-edged sword?

The life reinsurance sector in Asia Pacific is buzzing with activity, and it’s hard to ignore the whirlwind of asset-intensive reinsurance deals unfolding.

Just this past week, three major transactions were announced, with deal values aggregating to billions of dollars.

While the large block reinsurance transactions have been largely focused on the Japanese market, Resolution Life on Thursday announced its first deal in Hong Kong. This comes on the back of a block reinsurance transaction with Japanese carrier Anshin Life, a domestic life insurance subsidiary of Tokio Marine Holdings, last month.

RGA announced two deals this week. One with Tokio Marine’s life arm Anshin Life, the announcement follows an approximately JPY100 billion (US$700 million) paid-up block of whole life policies reinsured through a coinsurance deal last month.

Another one with Japanese carrier Dai-ichi Life Insurance reinsurers JPY150 billion (US$1 billion) of statutory reserves.

In March, there were two mega deals in Japan. Taiyo Life closed a US$4 billion reinsurance deal with Bermudan reinsurer Fortitude International Reinsurance. Meanwhile, Japan Post agreed to a US$3.6 billion block reinsurance transaction with Talcott Life Re.

Clearly, the trend of asset-intensive solutions as a financial optimisation tool is catching on.

The growth in the space is reflected in demand for talent as well. Last month, Apollo-backed life reinsurer Athene tapped Munich Re’s head of financial solutions Hugo Choi, as senior vice president of corporate development in its Tokyo office.

As regulatory requirements tighten, with a keen eye on risk-based capital, life insurers are feeling the heat to maintain adequate capital levels. Block reinsurance transactions can help reduce risk exposure and optimise capital, but they aren’t exactly winning over the regulators.

The Financial Services Agency in Japan has launched an investigation into the rising trend of domestic life carriers transferring policy liabilities to private equity-backed reinsurers overseas.

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors sounded the alarm in a report in December, predicting continued growth in asset-intensive reinsurance transactions driven by interest rates, credit spreads, pension reforms, and demographic changes.

They also flagged concerns about concentration risks, increased complexity, regulatory differences, and potential conflicts of interest.

So, while the deals keep rolling in, the question remains: are we simply setting the stage for a regulatory showdown? For now, though, Asia’s life reinsurance scene is anything but boring!

People moves

With QBE’s head of marine for Asia, Rama Chandran, exiting to join Rokstone’s new Singapore office, QBE Asia has onboarded Sebastian Tjornelund as interim head of marine for Asia in addition to his current position of regional head of P&I for British Marine.

Everest Insurance has kicked off an engineering practice in its recently opened Australian operations with Chubb veteran Bilal Chohan joining.

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has appointed Aimee Curtain as head of property and specialty for Australia and New Zealand amid its leadership shakeup.

Don’t miss our weekly roundup of personnel moves to keep you in the loop on the latest key appointments in the region.

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