(Re)in Summary
- Over the next year, Beazley is looking to bypass capacity wars in APAC to chase high-growth niche lines, its regional head Jessica Schappell shared with (Re)in Asia.
- The specialist insurer is leveraging its recent acquisition by Zurich Insurance Group to broaden market access across the region and explore new products.
- Schappell sees emerging demand in non-traditional risks, identifying deadly weapons protection and energy security as key growth lines.
- Cyber remains a priority for Beazley as penetration remains low, and Schappell warns that businesses often underestimate the operational fallout of a breach.
Beazley is looking to grow its Asia Pacific business without chasing the capacity race, turning instead to niche specialist risks and a holistic approach to risk protection as geopolitical uncertainty and economic pressures reshape client demand.
While cyber and marine remain priorities, a growing interest in deadly weapons protection (DWP) and energy security is opening up opportunities for the specialist insurer to address risks that are increasingly interconnected, says Jessica Schappell, Beazley’s Head of Asia Pacific.
“The conversation is becoming much less about individual products and much more about helping clients understand how those risks interact,” she said.
Beazley’s latest Risk & Resilience research found that 90% of surveyed business leaders said geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty were affecting their growth plans, while 77% expected to change suppliers or supply chains over the following 12 months.
As businesses reassess their exposure to disruption, Beazley sees an opportunity to support clients more holistically rather than focus solely on individual lines of cover.
The strategy for the next year comes as parts of the APAC market face pricing pressure, particularly in property and political violence and terrorism, where capacity remains abundant.
“There are definitely pockets of softening,” Schappell said, pointing to additional capacity entering the region through managing general agents (MGAs) and international markets like London.
She does not expect those conditions to change dramatically in the near term. However, Beazley is not looking to compete on capacity alone.
“We don’t want to be a commodity capacity provider or chase business simply because it’s available,” she said. “We want to understand the risk properly, price it appropriately and focus on areas where our specialist expertise can make a genuine difference. If the pricing doesn’t reflect the exposure, we’re prepared to step back.”
Zurich deal offers wider platform
Beazley’s growth strategy will now be pursued under Zurich Insurance Group, which acquired the specialist insurer in a US$10.9bn deal last month.
The combined entity targets roughly US$15bn in specialty gross written premiums, up from around US$9bn.
For Beazley’s Asia Pacific operations, Schappell sees the ownership change as an opportunity to extend its business reach while retaining the distinctiveness that shaped its existing franchise.
“There isn’t much overlap between the two businesses locally,” she said. “Zurich gives us access to countries where Beazley hasn’t historically had the same footprint, as well as products we may previously have chosen not to write. It also gives us more people to exchange ideas with and hopefully create new solutions for clients.”
Beazley has built its regional presence around specialist expertise, relationships and complex risks. Schappell said those strengths would remain central under the new ownership, with the business benefiting from a larger platform behind it.
Beyond geographic expansion, greater access to markets, products and capabilities could help Beazley develop solutions around clients’ broader risk exposures.
DWP and energy security emerge as growth opportunities
Among the areas attracting the insurer’s interest is DWP, which is designed to help organisations prepare for and respond to active-assailant incidents.
Alongside liability and physical damage cover, the product provides crisis management support to help organisations manage the immediate response and longer-term impact on those affected.
“We are seeing growing interest in products like DWP, which at the heart is about helping organisations strengthen their preparedness and protect people should an active assailant incident occur,” Schappell said.
She also sees opportunities in energy as businesses look to diversify supply chains amid growing geopolitical risks.
“We have seen how closely energy security is linked to national security, and I think we’ll see businesses investing to give themselves more choice over their energy sources, whether that’s renewables, nuclear or traditional energy,” she said.
Demand is also holding up across other specialist classes. Schappell highlighted continued interest in financial lines, as well as jewellers, fine art and specie, where she says specialist knowledge is important to understanding and pricing risks.
She said the common thread across these areas was not one particular event or development, but the broader range of overlapping risks businesses are now having to consider.
“Distribution-wise, the opportunity is to bring those capabilities together. Rather than going to a broker with one product in mind, we can have a broader conversation about the client, the risks it is facing and where there may still be gaps in its protection,” said Schappell.
Cyber remains a priority as AI complicates risk
Cyber remains a major focus for Beazley, particularly because penetration is still relatively low across parts of APAC.
While larger multinationals have increasingly embraced cyber insurance, Schappell said many businesses headquartered in the region were still assessing their exposure and determining how much cover they need.
Beazley’s research found that 82% of respondents believed their organisations were prepared for cyber risks, while 78% said they felt they could recover from an attack. Schappell said that confidence could mask the extent of the disruption a cyber incident can cause.
“That’s positive, but does it point to an underestimation of the risk, when the reality is that when an incident happens, it often affects far more parts of the business than people initially expect,” she said.
The need to strengthen cybersecurity and data protection measures has become a more prevalent discussion with a rising streak of cyberattacks and data breach incidents across Asian regions.
The growing complexity of business risks is also affecting demand for directors’ and officers’ (D&O) and professional indemnity (PI) insurance, as leadership teams face greater scrutiny over their decisions and risk management.
Schappell, who previously ran financial lines claims in Asia, said boards and senior executives were increasingly expected to understand issues extending beyond financial performance and traditional compliance. These include cyber resilience, operational disruption, supply chains and the governance of artificial intelligence.
Beazley’s research found that 80% of executives expected AI to have a positive impact on their businesses. But Schappell said that optimism also raised questions about oversight and accountability.
“If something goes wrong, stakeholders will quite rightly want to know what safeguards were in place and whether the risks were properly understood,” she said.
Those questions are allowing businesses to sustain interest in D&O and PI cover as they navigate a more complex operating environment.
Marine and financial lines retain momentum
Marine remains another important area for Beazley, with geopolitical developments continuing to shape the risks faced by vessels and cargo.
Disruptions in key corridors such as the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz have forced rerouting, increased transit times and driven higher costs for shipping operators.
Earlier this year, Beazley led a marine war consortium offering up to US$1bn in Lloyd’s capacity to support vessels and cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
In addition to marine, Schappell also pointed to continued momentum in financial lines and specialist classes such as jewellers, fine art and specie.
Local expertise remains critical
Even as Zurich’s broader platform presents new opportunities for Beazley, Schappell said local underwriting expertise remained central to the insurer’s approach in APAC.
Obtaining sufficient exposure and loss data has long been difficult in some Asian markets, with no ‘shortcut’ to the challenge. Experienced underwriters on the ground can help bridge that gap by understanding local markets and brokers and looking at comparable risks.
“Sometimes the most valuable thing an underwriter can do is ask the right questions and take the time to understand how the business actually works,” Schappell said.
In a relationship-led region, those connections take time to establish but are essential to supporting clients through both quieter periods and years when claims occur.
