SIRC 2026: ‘There is a risk the investment in models and data can take a secondary priority’: Perils
November 4 2026 by Roshan Nambiar and Joana Nguyen
Investment in catastrophe models and data is at risk of slipping down the industry’s agenda as a benign loss environment and softer market conditions shift the focus to growth, Darryl Pidcock, head of Asia Pacific and cyber at Perils, said, warning that the region would experience severe and frequent cat events at any time.
“With a relatively benign nat cat loss environment in recent times and the softer market conditions, there is a risk the investment in models and data can take a secondary priority as the industry focuses on growth,” he said.
“We observe considerable investment in recent years into more complex models with greater input from climate experts into the hazard components.”
He pointed to a growing number of more integrated models across the region that capture different climate-related scenarios, their impact on key perils such as flood, wildfires and convective storms, and ultimately exposures.
“AI is also playing an important role, albeit human experience remains critical in our view,” Pidcock added.
“From our perspective, there remains a need in the industry to have access to reliable exposure and loss data to enable calibration of the respective modelled outcomes.
“In terms of data quality, there are definitely improvements in several markets such as India, China and the Philippines as examples.
“In our view, this is the time to continue investment in improving data and modelling quality before major loss events occur.”
Evolving climate
Historically, El Nino has caused warmer temperatures and less rainfall in many parts of the region such as South Asia, parts of Southeast Asia and Australia, increasing wildfire and below-average rainfall conditions.
This also means that other parts of the region can historically experience increased rainfall, leading to flooding.
“The risk landscape in APAC continues to change rapidly, especially in urban areas. To enable improvements in modelling climate-related risks and changing exposures, a key component remains timely and reliable data to support model development,” Pidcock said.
APAC continues to offer opportunities to the industry, especially in many territories where insurance penetration is relatively low.
“We have observed examples of this, such as parametric products in some markets,” Pidcock said.
“The region is very diverse from a nat cat exposure perspective, hence should not be treated with a ‘one broad brush’ approach.” Darryl Pidcock, Perils
Higher resolution data and integrated modelling is an opportunity to enable improvements in understanding exposures, according to Pidcock.
“There is rapid development in urban areas in many territories in Asia with growing exposures also to sectors including large industrial risks, energy and data centres,” he said.
“Access to timely and reliable exposure data is important for the industry to help identify opportunities and model the risk.”
Loss environment
The increase in frequency of losses, especially for perils such as flood, wildfires and severe convective storms, is a growing area of focus for the industry, according to Pidcock.
“In the APAC context, with many markets having relatively low insurance penetration, frequency events have a major impact on local communities and economies and on insurer retentions,” he said.
“This continues to present opportunities for the insurance industry to better understand the exposures in these regions to more frequency-driven perils.”
The severe impact that typhoons can have should not be ignored, especially in the likes of Japan and China, where the summer seasons have brought major typhoons and considerable flooding, with the majority of losses being economic instead of insured, according to Pidcock.
“This presents further opportunities for the market to increase penetration into these exposed regions,” he said.
“It is difficult to comment on any frequency trend as we are not aware of any conclusive evidence as yet.
“Notwithstanding, the frequency of events remains a challenge for many countries in the region whilst presenting opportunities for the industry.”
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