Full Capacity: Climate crisis strikes at Southeast Asia’s doorstep

December 13 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.   

Legal update. Guy Carpenter won a lawsuit against ex-employees Celeste Choi and Dominic Lee, who diverted client Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance to South Korean broker LK Re. The Singapore High Court found the pair and LK Re conspired to lure SFMI’s business, costing Guy Carpenter at least US$1.3 million in lost brokerage revenue.  

M&A news. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has blocked IAG’s proposed acquisition of the insurance business of Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia, citing concerns it would substantially reduce competition in the state’s motor vehicle and home and contents insurance markets.  

Japanese insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) has acquired at least a 12.5% stake in US insurer WR Berkley, making it the company’s second-largest shareholder. MSI is expected to gain a board seat, with its nominee to be named by March.  

New leadership. Zhu Xiaoyun is set to be the first woman to become president of China Re. The appointment follows Zhuang Qianzhi’s approval as chairman. Zhu, who joined the reinsurer in 1998, was most recently executive director and vice president. 

Nat cat brief. Japan issued a megaquake warning after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan on Monday, injuring at least 33 people and triggering small tsunamis.  

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the risk of an aftershock of 8-magnitude or higher along the Japan Trench and Chishima Trench has risen slightly.  

Meanwhile, Japan has lowered its projected death toll and economic losses from a potential major Tokyo-area earthquake.  

P&I renewals. P&I clubs face a crucial lead-up to the February renewals amid concerns over premium adequacy and rising claims costs. Clubs have announced 4–8% general increases, but many question if rates will cover more frequent and costly claims in the International Group pool.  

‘Not normal’: flooding unmasks climate change

When cyclones Ditwah and Senyar tore across Asia late last month, they did more than destroy homes and lives – they shattered the illusion that these disasters are exceptional. They are not.

More than 11 million people have been affected across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and even in Vietnam and the Philippines.  

About 1.2 million were forced from their homes, over 1,750 lives have been lost, and thousands more remain unaccounted for beneath the thick mud that once was farmland.  

Experts say the devastation was driven by an extraordinary alignment of forces: cyclones Ditwah and Senyar forming almost simultaneously, colliding with a strengthened northeast monsoon.  

Warm ocean temperatures – supercharged by climate change – added fuel to the chaos, creating storm tracks in places that rarely experience them. 

While monsoon rains bring some flooding, scientists are clear that this was “not normal”. 

Clearly, climate crisis no longer announces itself through distant glaciers or abstract metrics. It pours through front doors, silences communities, and erases fragile recoveries overnight.  

And the economic impacts are equally merciless.  

Sri Lanka, which had finally clawed back from financial collapse with 4.5% GDP growth this year, is expected to see that figure fall to around 3% in 2026 because of Ditwah’s destruction.  

Across Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, Moody’s Insurance Solutions estimates over US$10 billion in losses – half from business interruption alone.  

Global supply chains have been shaken again, echoing the 2011 Thai floods that crippled car manufacturing.  

Though Southeast Asia is no stranger to widespread flood events, economic flood losses over the past 10 years have not exceeded US$1-2 billion. 

Only the 2011 Thailand floods were on a larger scale, with US$45 billion of economic losses reported at the time, Moody’s noted. 

The industry faces a mounting challenge: how to price risk in a world where yesterday’s “hundred‑year” event seems to happen every other year and how to make better products and distribute them to reach the wider populations, especially on the margins of the economy. 

Meanwhile, the growing evidence for anthropogenic climate change could have serious consequences for the (re)insurance industry.  

This week, survivors of Typhoon Odette filed a lawsuit in London against oil and gas giant Shell seeking corporate liability for specific climate-related deaths, injuries, and destruction. 

The claimants said that the case draws on new climate attribution research, which found that human-caused climate change more than doubled the likelihood of an extreme weather event like Typhoon Odette. 

People moves

Aon has hired Manulife’s Ben Jones as its COO for Asia Pacific. 

HDI Global has chosen Peter Schraa as its new head of marine in Singapore to expand its marine underwriting footprint in Southeast Asia. 

Sompo has enhanced its underwriting structure in Hong Kong with the promotions of Ophelia Szeto and Jessica Lai. 

Do check out our weekly people move round-up to stay up to speed on the most important appointments in the region.     

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