Full Capacity: Shifting tides of Asian reinsurance

August 30 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.  

Bold move. In a striking display of ambition, Sompo International has agreed to acquire Aspen Insurance, the NYSE-listed Bermudian specialty (re)insurer, for US$3.5 billion.  

The Japanese group is paying US$37.50 per share in cash, a 35.6% premium over Aspen’s unaffected share price of US$27.66 from August 19. The deal gives Apollo Global Management a full exit from the (re)insurer that it acquired in 2019. 

Aspen is leading specialty insurance and reinsurance franchise with more than US$4.6 billion in GWP and it is expected to be immediately ROE accretive. 

QBE Asia leadership. QBE has made two significant senior appointments to its Asia executive team. Stephen Geisler has been named chief executive for South Asia, while Ross Bethell will take on the role of head of partnerships for Asia. Both positions will be based in Singapore and report to Rob Kosova, CEO of QBE Asia. 

Geisler, who has over 35 years of experience with QBE, will step into his new role on September 23, succeeding Ronak Shah, who had already been appointed as CEO of wholesale markets Asia.  

Keeping Scor. Scor has said it will transfer its entire Singapore branch business, including all life and health reinsurance contracts, to Scor Reinsurance Asia Pacific as part of its strategic initiative. 

The French reinsurer aims to restructure its legal entity framework in Asia Pacific to foster a more agile and efficient organisation, it said. This proposed transfer is anticipated to take effect on January 1. 

Making a mark. In a dynamic shift within the Japanese insurance market, Willis is seizing the moment as regulatory changes open doors for international players by ramping up its corporate risk and broking team. 

Since launching its retail broking business a year ago, WTW has been aggressively building its offerings in Japan. In the first nine months of 2025 alone, Willis has hired 22 professionals across various functions – risk and analytics, facultative reinsurance, marine lines, business development, and claims – doubling its client-facing teams to over 50. 

Hiring talent from industry giants like Marsh, Aon, and Tokio Marine, Willis is positioning itself in a market projected to grow from JPY11.7 trillion (US$81.1 billion) in 2024 to JPY12.7 trillion by 2028, fuelled by a 2.2% annual growth rate. 

“We see growth driven by commercial lines, digital transformation, and risk advisory services amidst global uncertainty,” country head Ryohei (Roy) Nakazawa told InsuranceAsia News.  

Willis has plans to grow in specialty lines like upstream energy, marine P&I, and M&A solutions, said Nakazawa, who took the reins in Japan last year after joining from Starr Insurance.  

Nat cat update.  Insured losses from Typhoon Kajiki, which hit Vietnam on Monday, are expected to be lower than those from Typhoon Yagi last year.  

Stephen Hope, managing director of Charles Taylor in Vietnam, explained that Kajiki avoided major industrial areas, reducing potential damage, and while power outages occurred, they did not affect key industries. 

Most claims are likely flood-related, particularly in Hanoi. In contrast, Yagi caused about US$12.9 billion in economic losses and US$700 million in insured losses across several countries. 

Shifting tides of Asian reinsurance

The renewals conference season is almost upon as, and the latest report from AM Best on the Asia Pacific reinsurance market reveals a fascinating narrative.  

It sheds light on Asian carriers’ pivot to more mature overseas markets to diversify. The average overseas premiums of Asian non-life reinsurers have nearly doubled to 42% since 2010. 

They have returned strong results too – the region’s composite COR tightened to 91.4% and return on equity jumped to 11.3%. 

Yet, they are still playing catch-up as their COR remains a full five points higher than the European big four.  

The differential is largely due to greater exposure to the domestic proportional treaty portfolio, which benefitted less from the recent hard market, but for most, the real hero of profitability was their overseas book, the report noted. 

Yet, the ground continues to move beneath their feet.  

In Japan, the behemoth of the region, the market is softening. Cedents, fortified by strong capital positions, are retaining more risk. Catastrophe program rates are down by 10–15% – not a tweak, but a trend.  

And with the looming merger of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Aioi Nissay Dowa, the competition is set to intensify. Reinsurers will be fighting for a seat at a smaller, more consolidated table. 

Meanwhile, South Korea‘s sweeping regulatory reforms like IFRS 17 and K-ICS have sparked demand for innovative capital solutions. Think mass lapse reinsurance and coinsurance structures.  

China remains a study in stability – steady demand, expanding capacity, but unmistakable pressure on rates. While motor line growth slows, electric vehicles are revving up new demand. And beyond autos, non-motor lines like agriculture and health are emerging as powerful growth engines, especially where government policy lends support. 

Further south, the story remains bright – for now. Reinsurers across South and Southeast Asia reported strong earnings, lifted by favourable underwriting and still-high interest rates. But competition is mounting, and the soft market tide is rising – threatening to trim the very margins that made 2024 so successful. 

Taiwan’s reinsurance market is the outlier, diverging sharply from regional trends, largely due to the April 2024 earthquake that triggered substantial losses. That event has fortified demand, leading to meaningful rate increases and underscoring the importance of a robust reinsurance framework. 

Asia’s reinsurers are stronger, sharper, and more profitable than they’ve been in years. But the easy gains may be behind them. But as Fitch Ratings cautioned in a report this week, global reinsurers underwriting results will worsen into 2026, although pricing should remain adequate to support favourable return. 

The discipline of the last few years is about to be tested.  

They’ve had a great year. Now the real work begins.

People moves

Howden’s Mike Baker has rejoined Aon as regional managing director for Asia. The global broker has also promoted Richard Tan as chief commercial officer for Singapore. 

Specialist Risk Group has hired Marnix fac specialist John Jackson as its new head of reinsurance for Asia Pacific. 

QBE Insurance Group’s long-serving chief financial officer Inder Singh has tendered his resignation as he leaves for a role with National Australian Bank. 

To keep up with the latest appointments across the region, don’t miss our weekly people move roundup.     

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