SIRC 2026: Capacity is plentiful, but softening is selective: Mandarin Re
November 5 2026 by Roshan Nambiar
Chief operating officer Mikhail Grishin warns clients not to underestimate the impact of climate change.
What are the major trends you are seeing for the upcoming renewal?
In short, capacity is plentiful, prices are sliding for quality cedents with clean, well-structured programs, and competition is rife. Mid-sized reinsurers see expansion in the region as a good source of diversification, as they always do when the market softens, and price is one way for them to get through the door.
Having said that, the softening trend isn’t uniform. Cedents shouldn’t expect an automatic reduction of this or that percentage, because reinsurers are, for the most part, applying their discounts selectively to ensure business remains profitable.
Property is softening but remains generally adequate for well-structured risks. Rates are healthier in lines exposed to geopolitical tensions, while cyber has stabilised, and engineering risks are receiving greater scrutiny.
How do you view the current risk landscape in the region?
It’s mixed. The weather is changing, and many of the impacts of the warmer atmosphere can be catastrophic.
We’ve had a couple of years of Asian catastrophe losses at about half the 10-year average. That’s got some people thinking, ‘It’s not so bad’, but that shouldn’t lead to complacency. Climate change and a strong El Nino could increase drought in some areas, and intensify typhoons, rainfall, and flooding elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the risk landscape overall is getting more and more complex and interconnected, as we see increasing links between geopolitical, cyber, and natural risks.
How is your appetite for Asian risks evolving, and does primary market softening concern you?
We’re active in 150 countries, but Asia is our home and the place where our relationships – and therefore our book – are strongest.
We see plenty of well-priced business in Asia, and our appetite is growing as we increase our capital, but we are increasingly selective. We are very much more likely to take a larger line on a familiar, adequately priced risk than to write something new where we think the rate is questionable.
We write only a small amount of proportional, but underlying rates are rising for consumer risks in many countries, which may offset an increase in ceding commissions. We will focus on technical pricing, commission adequacy, risk selection, and portfolio performance rather than premium growth.
What are the business growth strategies and focus for Mandarin Re in the next 12 months?
Our priority over the next 12 months is to achieve profitable and sustainable growth while diversifying our portfolio. We will embrace well-priced business wherever it can be found, and continue to provide new solutions to underserved clients and markets.
Geographically, we aim to strengthen existing relationships in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam and Indonesia, while selectively exploring opportunities in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and other South and East Asian markets, subject to risk quality and pricing adequacy.
What are your concerns in the APAC market, and your advice for cedents?
I’ve mentioned climate change. Everyone must be sure that they don’t underestimate the impact. I also mentioned the challenge of tourist reinsurers visiting Asia during the soft market.
Their offers may be alluring, but the market has plenty of its own capacity, great local experience, and an extremely strong offer that deserves to be compared carefully to others.
Of course, other front-of-mind concerns are rate inadequacy, catastrophe accumulation, increasing competition, and claims inflation.
As for advice, cedents that can show their potential reinsurers that they truly understand the risks they’re writing, that they have deployed and carefully analysed and modelled high-quality data to get that knowledge, and who are transparent about the processes they’ve used, will have a better renewal than those who don’t.
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