Cyber, property cornerstones in Beazley’s APAC growth strategy

November 7 2024 by

“Asia is not new to me, even though the role is quite new. Being here for a number of years before moving into this role has given me the opportunity to really understand all the markets in the region,”  Schappell told IAN.

Schappell took over the role on August 1 but has been with Beazley’s Singapore Office for almost six years now, leading the carrier’s international financial lines and cyber claims team.

She highlighted the strong foundation she inherited: “I took over a very well-oiled machine in the region. My predecessor did a very nice job in building the team out, both [in terms of] people and products, and expanding that over the last five-six years.”

Beazley will be focusing on growing its property footprint in the region further after having made three hires this year, according to Schappell. This path is also aligned with the carrier’s regional strategy.

“We feel that we have a lot of experts across the globe within Beazley in the property space to do that in a strong way,” she said.

Cyber will also be an important cornerstone in the carrier’s growth strategy in APAC.

“From cyber perspective, we have a lot of large clients who are buying. Cyber insurance demand is expected to be US$40 billion by 2030. We want to be at the forefront of that growth,” Schappell said.

Beazley will be focusing on growth next year and looking to fill the market with products that may be missing from the region.

“We’ve seen some softening in financial lines last year, but we’re developing new products and looking for profitable growth,” she said.

The new products will combine tech and financial lines, such as Full Spectrum Cyber as there is more demand expected among SMEs. The most recent example is Cyber Flex, launched globally, that combines liability, crime, and cyber for financial institution clients.

“Initially, we’re looking at deeper relationships and penetration, especially as a specialist insurer. That’s where we can really shine and add our value because we are experts in those various lines of business.” Jessica Schappell, Beazley

In terms of regional expansion, Schappell is looking at further market penetration in the core regional markets for each of the specialty carrier’s lines of business.

Now Beazley operates on a hub model with office in Singapore that services the Asia Pacific market with no plans to grow office-wise.

Singapore and Hong Kong are Beazley’s core markets where it writes direct insurance.

“Initially, we’re looking at deeper relationships and penetration, especially as a specialist insurer. That’s where we can really shine and add our value because we are experts in those various lines of business,” Schappell said.

She emphasised the importance of understanding the regional markets and building strong relationships with clients.

“Clients are asking more and more to meet their claims manager before something happens, which we always welcome. It’s an opportunity to build a rapport and enhance our knowledge before clients face any hardships down the line,” she said.

The importance of understanding risks and underwriting expertise is also becoming more and more important, Schappell noted.

“Globally, we have grown and put a lot of resources into growing our property book, and that’s similar here. It goes back to really understanding the risks and being able to use the underwriting expertise to make a judgment call,” she said.

Talent remains a notable challenge for the carrier as “the market is small and finding the right person can sometimes be difficult.”

“We’ve been very fortunate in building a strong team across all our lines of business here in the region,” Schappell said.

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