Mithun Varkey

Editor-in-Chief

Email: [email protected]

Mithun Varkey is the Editor-in-Chief at InsuranceAsia News. He is a seasoned business journalist with experience covering the Asian (re)insurance, financial, M&A and legal markets. Mithun has reported from across Asia and has been based in Hong Kong for nearly a decade.

Recent articles

- November 7 2026
Full Capacity: India’s commission caps could prove costly for brokers
- Full Capacity
- Round ups
- Whitelist
- SIRC
This week's newsletter also discusses a new Lockton's Japan plans, Singapore data centre facility, Hong Kong's AIR framework review, and TFP APAC launch
- November 6 2026
SIRC 2026: 4,000 delegates, 5 themes — rates, structures, partnerships, interconnectedness, facultative
- Analysis
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- Asia
The InsuranceAsia News team brings you the big takeaways from this week's event at the Marina Bay Sands — and what they mean for the upcoming renewals.
- November 5 2026
SIRC 2026: ‘A softer market doesn’t mean a less risky world’: Lloyd’s APMEA CEO
- Analysis
- Whitelist
- Lloyd's
- SIRC
Structural risk is rising, says Emma Loynes, who expects pressure in some areas into 2027 and sees data centre and AI infrastructure dependencies as the next underwriting challenge.
- November 5 2026
SIRC 2026: VIG Re will ‘trade through cycles’, stand by good clients in Asia expansion
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- SIRC
- VIG Re
Prague-based reinsurer’s APAC managing director Marc Haushofer says, ‘Asia is a good place to grow with caution’.
- November 4 2026
SIRC 2026: Parametrics should earn a place in a program on merit: Swiss Re
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- SIRC
- Swiss Re
Opportunity is not traditional versus parametrics, but combining their strengths to provide better protection, head of the agriculture centre and parametrics Marcel Andriesse says.
- November 4 2026
SIRC 2026: Accumulation a defining challenge for cyber insurance, Swiss Re’s Giv Kahrom says
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- SIRC
- Swiss Re
Industry's objective should be growing the market responsibly, by addressing underinsurance and protection gaps, rather than focusing exclusively on rate movements, the head of APAC cyber and regional markets says.
- November 4 2026
SIRC 2026: Facultative demand rises as soft market meets a riskier Asia Pacific
- Whitelist
- Reinsurance brokers
- SIRC
- Consilium
Rob Drysdale, senior partner at Consilium, explains how a softening facultative market, a riskier backdrop are driving the specialist broker's ambitions in the region.
- November 4 2026
SIRC 2026: Peak Re to expand fac, specialty lines in India amid rating pressure
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- SIRC
- Peak Re
Hong Kong reinsurer will diversify into facultative and specialty business in India, with Sudhir Salian flagging portfolio scrutiny and discipline ahead of the April 1 renewal.
- November 4 2026
SIRC 2026: Japan’s reinsurance market shifting beyond capacity to expertise
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- SIRC
- Munich Re
Country’s investment cycle demands risk expertise, prevention and modelling with sustainable risk-transfer capacity, Munich Re’s Florian Gruson says.
- November 4 2026
SIRC 2026: Swiss Re’s regional P&C head emphasises risk understanding, portfolio quality
- Analysis
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- SIRC
- Swiss Re
Understanding trends that are shaping the risk of tomorrow, and ensuring structures and coverages match the risks being taken is key, Anna Ziswiler says.
- November 3 2026
SIRC 2026: Rate adequacy for financial lines in focus as risk environment becomes complex
- Whitelist
- Insurers
- SIRC
- Sompo
Concentration risk in cyber is an area that needs closer monitoring as businesses become more dependent on major technology providers like cloud platforms and interconnected supply chains, Sompo’s Emily Poh says.
- November 3 2026
SIRC 2026: ‘There is growing interest in alternative solutions and more tailored reinsurance arrangements.’
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- SIRC
- Malaysian Re
Ahmad Noor Azhari, president and CEO of Malaysian Re, says discipline and long-term partnerships will matter more than market cycles as capacity stays abundant and pricing softens.
- November 3 2026
Exclusive: Lockton prepares Japan entry with Kyoritsu partnership
- Exclusive
- Insurance brokers
- Japan
- Lockton
Move would deepen an existing relationship between the global broker and the in-house broking arm of Mizuho Financial Group.
- November 3 2026
SIRC 2026: Regional reinsurance growth to welcome limit expansion, better program design
- Whitelist
- SIRC
- Canopius Group
Canopius sees greater interest in restructuring programs by combining traditional XoL, structured solutions and parametric products, regional CEO Soon Keen Lee says.
- November 3 2026
SIRC 2026: Asia’s exposure is outpacing premiums as capital floods in, Peak Re CEO warns
- Analysis
- Whitelist
- SIRC
- Peak Re
Victor Kuk warns that capital keeps flowing into Asia's reinsurance market, but exposure from urbanisation, AI and climate risk are outpacing premium growth.
- November 3 2026
SIRC 2026: Competition intensifies, but discipline holds for Hannover Re
- Whitelist
- SIRC
Overall, clients are relatively comfortable with retentions and terms and conditions, Hannover Re’s Sharon Ooi says.
- November 3 2026
SIRC 2026: Unencumbered by legacy, Willis Re starts afresh in Asia
- Spotlight
- Whitelist
- Reinsurance brokers
- Asia
- SIRC
- Willis Re
Asia CEO Richard Jones says the new broker is assembling experienced talent and a client-centric model with no legacy systems to slow it down.
- November 3 2026
SIRC 2026: Softening opens door for parametrics, blended programs
- Whitelist
- MGA
- Asia Pacific
- SIRC
- Descartes Underwriting
Parametric insurance can sit alongside traditional cover to address gaps in protection, Descartes’ APAC head Ben Qin says.
- November 2 2026
SIRC 2026: Japan’s high-tech investment boom reshaping risk landscape
- Whitelist
- Reinsurers
- Japan
- SIRC
- Swiss Re
Market should be cautious not to interpret a period with fewer peak events as a reduction in underlying risk, Swiss Re’s Atsuhiro Dodo warns.
- October 31 2026
Full Capacity: Looking beyond market cycles
- Full Capacity
- Round ups
- Whitelist
- SIRC
This week's newsletter also discusses a new Lloyd's Asia coverholder, South Korea's new reinsurance program, India's distribution reforms, APAC insurers' evolving priorities and Envest Agencies' rebranding.

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