SIRC: Upcoming 1.1 in APAC will see ‘more of the same’: Beazley
November 4 2025 by Aidan Gregory
Asia Pacific remains a key component of Beazley’s growth as the UK specialty insurer continues to focus on building out its specialty offering in the region, according to its head of APAC Jessica Schappell.
In an interview with InsuranceAsia News, Schappell said that the specialty insurer expects “more of the same” in the upcoming 1.1 renewals compared to January 1, 2025.
“From a catastrophe perspective, worldwide it has been a relatively benign year,” said Schappell. “Asia has had its fair share of cats including earthquakes, typhoons, and there has been some civil unrest in there too.
“We probably won’t see the market dynamics change much from what we’re currently seeing now in terms of an influx of capacity,” added Schappell. “There is a lot of choice for clients when they’re looking at who to place their insurance with.”
Over the last three years, Beazley has invested heavily in growing its specialty offering, particularly cyber insurance, which has been a critical source of premium growth for the Lloyd’s insurer.
In the first half of 2025, Beazley wrote US$544.3 million of cyber premiums globally, equivalent to around 17.1% of its US$3.18 billion of premium, and the third largest source after property and MAP risks.
The division is also one of the insurer’s most profitable, with a combined ratio of 68.9% the first half, compared to 78.7% for property risks, 88% for specialty, 62.5% for MAP risks, and 70.9% for digital risks, according to Beazley’s annual results.
Cyber underwriting was a key component of Beazley’s record underwriting result in 2024, with cyber making up US$1.27 billion of Beazley’s US$6.16 billion premium last year.
“It is no surprise that cyber risks have been one of the top concerns since 2022, and that is showing no signs of abating heading into 2026.”
Jessica Schappel, Beazley
Beazley sees a large structural growth opportunity for its cyber business in APAC, which is an underpenetrated region for the product, with recent large scale cyber attacks on corporates such as Jaguar Land Rover in the UK and Asahi in Japan driving awareness of the escalating risks corporates face from cyber threat actors.
“Asia Pacific plays an important role in our growth strategy,” said Schappell.
“Next year is our twentieth anniversary in Asia and we have certainly seen an evolution of the business over the last nineteen years where we were predominantly construction, property, marine and a little bit of PI. Over the past six to eight years, we have made a lot of effort to bring our specialist products into the region.
“Cyber of course is one of our largest pillars, and that is no different here in Asia, representing a quarter of our business in the region,” added Schappell. “There is a lot of penetration to go which is creating opportunities for specialists in this asset class.”
The volume and sophistication of cyber attacks in APAC are growing, fuelled by the rollout of AI technologies. According to Beazley’s recent Risk and Resilience report, 26% of surveyed executives in Singapore cited cyber risk as their greatest threat in 2025, up from 24% in 2024.
“It is no surprise that cyber risks have been one of the top concerns since 2022, and that is showing no signs of abating heading into 2026,” said Schappell.
Many jurisdictions in APAC have recently strengthened or enacted new cyber security laws, including Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, which is increasing the need for corporates to insure themselves against cyber breaches.
“Our main message ahead of SIRC is that while there are challenges in the region, we see huge opportunity for growth in APAC across our cross class, specialist solutions,” said Schappell.
“As regulations become more mature and as incidents become more public, potential clients will see the value of cyber insurance.”
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