SIRC: London market eyeing Singapore property insurance opportunities

November 4 2025 by

Amid continuing challenging soft market conditions, (re)insurers in the London company market are increasingly looking to source business from Singapore, according to Chris Jones, CEO of the International Underwriting Association.

Speaking to InsuranceAsia News on the eve of the 21st Singapore International Reinsurance Conference, Jones pointed to growth as the underlying motive.

“London is getting more involved in the Singapore market in what they might regard as traditional Singapore market business than previously, particularly around property risk,” he said.  

“My working assumption is that is simply a result of market conditions and needing to look for growth where you can find it.”

Property insurance remains a major segment in a mature market such as Singapore, where it accounts for more than 30% of total premium.

However, its recent performance has struggled.

According to Gallagher Re’s APAC market report, for example, last year the property insurance segment in Singapore recorded a 53.2% increase in net incurred claims, resulting in a SG$3.83 million (US$3 million) dip in underwriting performance to post an overall profit of S$41.72 million.

“There is a talent gap. There are not enough people coming into the industry and people are staying in the industry a lot longer. If you look at the demographics now, under 39 seems to the trigger for anyone who’s young.

Chris Jones, International Underwriting Association

This was largely attributed to several significant property losses recorded in 2024.

While the number of residential fires remained stable, fires of electrical origin rose by 8.3%, and incidents involving active mobility devices (AMDs) surged by 25.7%.

Looking more widely, Jones said he had recently returned from Singapore, where he had a number of fruitful discussions with senior market practitioners.

He added that there was a general agreement that Asia still has a protection gap in terms of insurance uptake compared to other regional markets, but it is an area where the London market can help.

“There are areas where reinsurance can assist there, as well as the experience of other markets,” he said, adding that the London market is helping to develop new solutions which will help to bridge the protection gap, including the development of parametric type covers which provide real-time responses to insureds.

Recruitment issues

Jones also said it was his broad understanding was that recruitment is as much of an issue for the Singaporean (re)insurance market as it is for the London market.

“There is a talent gap. There are not enough people coming into the industry and people are staying in the industry a lot longer. If you look at the demographics now, under 39 seems to the trigger for anyone who’s young,” he added.

“A lot of companies and ourselves are putting measures in place to showcase the industry. I think once people are in the industry a lot of people stay, but in terms of recruitment there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Looking forward, Jones was bullish about the prospects for collaboration between London and Singapore.

“In London we need to be complementary to Singapore, and major on our ability to write those really large, sophisticated placements. It’s about working with our like-minded colleagues in other jurisdictions,” he said.

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