EDITOR’S LETTER


The excitement that comes with SIRC

“Business gets done but more of it is new business—with fresh opportunities, and untapped potential.”

The Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC) always feels a little different from the other conferences at this time of year and that difference can be summed up in one word: opportunity.

The other major conferences, the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, Baden-Baden and APCIA, have a sense of tradition and history. They are important events, important deals are negotiated. These events are where executives make big decisions.

But they also feel routine. SIRC, in contrast, always has that sense of anticipation and excitement. Business gets done but more of it is new business—with fresh opportunities, and untapped potential.

There is good reason to feel that way. As Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s Minister for Finance and deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told delegates in opening remarks at SIRC yesterday (Monday, November 15), Asia’s insurance market is growing nearly twice as fast as the global market, estimated at more than 8 percent of growth per annum until 2030.

For multinational insurers and reinsurers grappling with the challenges of growth in often saturated markets, Asia offers the possibilities of growth and expansion on a scale impossible in their home markets, without the real risks associated with moving into new product lines.

But there are other reasons SIRC is exciting. As every interviewee we speak to is at pains to stress, the region is huge and extremely diverse. One strategy is never enough in Asia; companies must determine a different strategy for each market and manage the associated regulatory, cultural, and market nuances that go with each.

There is more still. The region has a very vibrant commitment to technology. Over the past five years, nearly $4 billion has been invested in insurtechs, and there are at least 335 insurtechs in Asia-Pacific, Wong noted.

All of those are reasons for excitement as SIRC gets underway. The only negative is that it is a virtual event again this year, the COVID-19 pandemic having once more put paid to face-to-face meetings.

Nonetheless, the event has a great line-up of speakers and panel discussions, and the industry will engage virtually—for now—as it has become used to over this past 18 months of change.

Wyn Jenkins is the managing editor of Intelligent Insurer

Image: shutterstock.com / Richie Chan