Looking ahead to 2024, two themes that are sure to help define the year for insurers in Hong Kong and Singapore are mergers & acquisitions and regulatory developments, according to Clearwater Analytics, a leading provider of SaaS-based investment management, accounting, reporting, and analytics solutions.
Despite potential rate decreases, growth of the insurance industry in Asia is expected to be sustained in 2024, driven by rising demand in underpenetrated insurance markets such as China, Southeast Asia, and India, says CreditSights, a research unit of Fitch Solutions.
Mongolian National Reinsurance (Mongolian Re) projects that it would reduce its expense ratio gradually while expanding its premium scale and improving its operating efficiency over the short to intermediate term, according to AM Best.
In Asia, embedded insurance has developed into an integral part of many product life cycles, according to InsureMO chief revenue officer Rajat Sharma.
In September 2023, the International Institute for Environment and Development published a guide for governments, conservationist practitioners and insurers to promote coexistence between humans and wildlife through commercial insurance schemes.
Over the past few years, the insurance industry has become more dynamic with digital-only insurers entering the market with new business models offering consumers and potential policyholders personalised insurance plans and dynamic pricing, according to Kissflow CPO Dinesh Varadharajan.
The surge in inflation influenced much of 2022, resulting in a tightening of monetary policy - and in turn - capital market volatility and a depreciation of currencies in some emerging markets, according to a recent report by Malaysian Re.
Cities in the Asia and Pacific region are vulnerable to climate change due to their geography and particular exposure to natural catastrophes and increasingly extreme weather events, says The Resilient Cities Index 2023 report, released by Tokio Marine Group and the research and business intelligence house, Economist Impact.
There were a number of things Singapore deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong spoke about at the Global Insurance Forum 2023. One of the topics he covered was the profound shifting in the global economy and risk landscape. "It is moving from a period of benign globalisation to a new era of great power competition," he said, referring to Russia president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in Palestine.
One of the issues the insurance industry tackled at the Global Insurance Forum 2023 was the importance and benefits of a diverse workforce and how the sector could work towards it.