Gallagher Re APAC bets on advisory, structured deals and specialty amid soft market squeeze

Gallagher Re is steering its Asia-Pacific business towards structured deals, capital advisory and speciality lines as a flood of reinsurer capital undercuts the economics of its core business: placing treaty capacity. 

The broker is not alone in repositioning, as softening markets have prompted Aon, Marsh Re and Howden Re to pursue similar strategies. Gallagher Re’s challenge, however, is distinct. The third-largest broker is still building out the APAC franchise acquired through the Willis Re deal in 2021, amid intensifying competition from rapidly expanding rivals such as Howden Re.

Roshan Perera, who became Gallagher Re’s CEO for APAC in February, frames the shift as client-led. “In this environment, clients are looking for more than capacity,” he tells (Re)in Asia. “They are looking for strategic advice, market insight and innovative solutions that support long-term growth.” 

The rationale is straightforward. Softer reinsurance pricing can weigh on brokerage income from traditional placements, as conventional placement revenues remain linked to premium volumes. Advisory and structured businesses, meanwhile, can provide a more diversified source of income.

Perera’s background reflects the direction Gallagher Re is seeking to take. His 27 years in insurance have been spent in technical and consulting roles. He joined Gallagher Re in 2022 from NMG Consulting, where he advised insurers, reinsurers and regulators across Asia’s emerging markets, before leading the broker’s APAC strategic solutions team.

“In this environment, clients are looking for more than capacity.”

Roshan Perera

Gallagher Re’s CEO for APAC

Record capacity, falling rates 

Gallagher Re’s own Reinsurance Market Report put dedicated reinsurance capital at a record US$688bn in the first half of 2026, up 5% from year-end 2025. Its Reinsurance Composite posted a 19.9% return on equity (ROE), but revenues fell 6.1% as property and speciality pricing softened.

The impact on rates has been particularly pronounced in APAC, where Gallagher Re reported catastrophe rate reductions of 12.5% to 17.5% at the July renewals on loss-free Australian and New Zealand programmes, with returning Asian and London capacity adding to supply.

Benign losses in the first half of 2026, with insured catastrophe losses in Asia below US$2bn, the region’s lowest first-half total since 2017, have added to downward pressure on rates.

Perera acknowledges the dynamic. “The improved profitability of the reinsurance sector and increased availability of capital create opportunities for clients, but they do not eliminate uncertainty,” he says. “Our strategy is focused on helping clients make the most of market conditions while remaining prepared for future volatility.” 

The broker is working with cedents to restructure programmes, improve capital efficiency and look beyond conventional treaty to structured transactions and alternative sources of protection. That leads, he says, to a focus on “larger and more complex opportunities” where the broker’s analytics and global market access matter most.  

Looking ahead over the next 12 to 24 months, Perera identified specialty lines, climate and catastrophe solutions, alternative capital, structured reinsurance, and MGA and delegated-authority business as key growth areas.

Beyond traditional growth areas, Perera sees rising demand for solutions tied to Asia’s energy transition and digital expansion, including renewable energy projects, electric vehicle supply chains and data centres. “These trends are creating new and evolving risk challenges for insurers and, in turn, new opportunities for innovative risk transfer solutions and capital deployment,” he said.

These are exposures where loss history is thin and modelling immature, which plays to a broker with analytical depth, though it also means the business is slow to scale, he added.  

Building out capability

On building capabilities, Perera said Gallagher Re has strengthened leadership and specialist expertise in several APAC markets over the past year and is building selectively in speciality, capital solutions, delegated authority and emerging-risk sectors.  

The thread running through it is a pairing of advisory depth with transactional execution. “Clients increasingly need a partner that can help them understand and navigate complex risk challenges while also delivering effective placement outcomes and access to capital,” Perera said. 

Whether cedents will pay for that advice when capacity is abundant remains to be seen. In a soft market, the buyer holds the leverage, and some may focus primarily on pricing. Perera believes that competition on pricing alone will not solve capital, regulatory and emerging-risk challenges facing APAC insurers.