Indonesia's reinsurance market is a blend of domestic players and strong international participation.
The market is formed through the consolidation of several local reinsurers to build national capacity and reduce dependence on foreign markets.
Despite regulatory efforts by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to boost local retention, international reinsurers continue to dominate large and complex risks.
“Despite the relaxation of the previous priority treaty regulations, local reinsurance companies still have enjoyed a sizeable market share, and I believe this situation will persist for quite some time. However, rational considerations based on added values will always be the primary determinant of the ultimate composition of local reinsurers compared with regional or global reinsurance Mr Kocu Andre companies,” said MAIPARK Indonesia president director Kocu Andre Hutagalung.
Indonesia’s reinsurance deficit has widened in recent years, with the pace of increase accelerating sharply over the past three years.
Mr Hutagalung said limited capitalisation among local reinsurers remains a structural challenge, but their response to hard market conditions has emerged as a key differentiator.
Reshaping profitability management
The risk-based capital framework itself has not changed, but the implementation of IFRS17 in Indonesia from 2025 is altering how insurers view capital and cost structures, he said. “The new accounting standard is expected to reshape profitability management across the industry, with direct implications for reinsurance purchasing strategies,” he said. He also said insurers’ approaches will vary- some may treat reinsurance as a tool for growth and capital efficiency, while others may view it as a cost to be streamlined, depending on their readiness for the transition.
He said commoditisation is one of the major challenges to surface in the future. “While risks are increasingly complex and interconnected, risk descriptions are increasingly presented in a combined form. Ultimately, the entire ecosystem is being pushed to adopt more on a supply-and-demand approach where the potential for profit sometime speculative,” he said.
A more in-depth version of this article will appear in the October issue of Asia Insurance Review, out on 1 October.