As “cautious growth” returns to markets, Gallagher Re plans to consolidate its position across Southeast Asia and expand its footprint in markets where it is slightly underweight—including South Korea, Thailand, and India.
“Markets are vibrant again. Reinsurers’ balance sheets have recovered, and they’re looking to grow. Clients have got choice back for the first time in a while, and there is greater certainty around price for the cover they buy,” says Mark O’Brien, the broker’s head of Asia-Pacific.
“We’re not back at pre-2022 levels yet, but there’s definitely a willingness to consider things that have been off the table for the last few years.”
Disciplined growth
APAC’s (re)insurance markets are now firmly back on a growth footing, albeit in a disciplined way. Gallagher Re is now working out where to allocate resources to the region to meet its clients’ needs.
“We want to consolidate our strong position in Southeast Asian markets and grow our footprint in areas where we are a bit lighter than we would like to be: South Korea, Thailand, India,” says O’Brien.
Gallagher Re has also been strengthening its footprint in both China and Australia, with separate acquisitions in each of the two markets.
In May, Gallagher Re bought Nongxin Insurance Brokerage Company in China. O’Brien says that the broker should become “operationally ready” before the end of the year.
“China is a huge opportunity for us. There’s growth potential across all lines of business,” says O’Brien. “We’ve already got a well-established position there and we’re excited about developing this over the next four to five years.”
The broker also made an important acquisition in Australia, announcing the purchase of Steadfast Re in September.
Gallagher Re already has a strong presence in Australia’s casualty market and is a reasonably large broker in New Zealand’s property market. Steadfast Re brings a new set of clients to the fold.
“In the coming year, we want to consolidate and grow our casualty book, grow our property book, while at the same time looking for new opportunities around things like MGAs and mutuals,” says O’Brien.
The needs and growth aspirations of Gallagher Re’s clients are inevitably tied to the fortunes of APAC’s economies. O’Brien says the picture has been “mixed” over the past 18 months.
“The growth of some of the larger economies – China, India, Japan – has slowed, while Southeast Asia remains a bright spot,” he says.
Nat cat worries
Despite increased competition within the region, discipline appears to be holding – for now.
“There’s a general eagerness to expand portfolio, but it’s not reckless,” says O’Brien.
In particular, despite the falling cost of reinsurance, many of Gallagher Re’s clients remain anxious about nat cat risk.
“Asia is one of the largest nat cat markets in the world. While values aren’t as high as in Europe and the US, it doesn’t take much to erode profits: a significant typhoon or a big and unexpected earthquake,” says O’Brien.
APAC experienced significant nat cat events in 2025, such as the Myanmar earthquake, cyclone Alfred in Australia, and wildfires in Korea. However, the vast protection gap that exists for nat cat in the region suggests that economic losses are likely to be far greater than insured losses.
Volatility management solutions
One area where Gallagher Re is seeing strong appetite at the moment is solutions for managing earnings volatility. US trade policies and political rhetoric this year have been an important contributing factor to unsettling markets, forcing insurers to adopt defensive positions.
“Volatility management via structured solutions are particularly popular in Asia. Whereas a small event might be little more than an earnings issue in more mature markets, it can be capital-eroding in certain parts of Asia,” says O’Brien.
Such solutions can be used as a way of smoothing earnings over several years. Reinsurers are now taking advantage of this growing demand to grow into new business areas, says O’Brien.
“Reinsurers want to deploy capacity on these partnership deals, using them as leverage to gain access to other parts of the program they might otherwise not be involved with,” he explains.
