Asia Pacific Life and Health insurance

Life & Health.

Features and key stories

A cyclist rides down a urban street lined with colorful storefronts and hanging lanterns across the road at dusk/light traffic.

Empty train station platform with boxes and 'In Force' sign, early exit door, and clock.

Person standing on a rocky hillside overlooking a dense city by a blue harbor, with green hills in the foreground and mountains in the distance; Data Insight watermark bottom right.

Hong Kong skyline with skyscrapers and Victoria Harbour, reflecting Asia's HNW insurance race.

Bank Rakyat building in Malaysia with Malaysian flag, related to MNRB's Takaful sale.

Modern office building with blue glass windows and a large EtIqa sign on the roof, featuring a yellow smile beneath the letters.

Two men in dark suits with yellow ties stand in front of a Sun Life Private Wealth backdrop with slogan, posing for a photo at a formal event.

Crowded railway platform with hundreds of commuters walking beside a stationary train under a shelter on a busy station.

Blue glass skyscrapers in a financial district with bank logos DBS, HSBC and Standard Chartered visible on the towers, against a blue sky with palm trees in the foreground

Panoramic city skyline with tall glass skyscraper and apartment blocks, a rooftop pool in the foreground, and an overcast sky.

Illustration of a mountain with a flag for 2026 and a path leading to a summit with a flag for 2028.

Sunset over the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train bridge in India.

Nighttime city skyline with densely packed buildings and bright neon lights, a tall blue-lit tower visible in the distance.

Sunset view of Sydney Harbour: the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge in the background over calm water, framed by green foliage on the sides.

City street at dusk with light trails from moving cars and a lit Tokyo Tower in the distance.

Singapore life new business premiums rise 28.1% in Q2

IP and rider new business jumped after April rule changes, while H1 maturity payouts increased sharply

Asia's life insurers rethink products as surrender trends test customer retention

Policy surrenders have surpassed maturity payouts in India, while Korea has seen cancellations rise 62.7% in early 2026.

Japan life insurers' annualised new business premiums rise 8.1% in fiscal Q4

Annualised premiums grew across both new and in-force business, while investment income rebounded to a new high.

Hong Kong life insurers’ direct new business jumps 51% in Q1

New business premiums reached a record HK$141.13bn (US$18bn) as single-premium business nearly doubled, despite a slight decline in policy issuance.

Asia's HNW insurance race intensifies as insurers compete on scale, service and global reach

As the region's wealthy population expands, insurers are investing in global HNW platforms and bigger underwriting limits while navigating emerging risks from premium financing and portfolio concentra...

MNRB to sell direct takaful arms to Bank Rakyat for US$400m

Malaysian Re's parent will divest Takaful IKHLAS Family and Takaful IKHLAS General to the cooperative bank, and keep its retakaful business.

Health drives China non-life gains, but life fall tips May premiums into decline

Total industry premium income fell 1.5% to CN¥457.83bn (US$67.6bn), the first annual decline of the year.

Maybank to take full control of Etiqa in US$1.2bn Ageas buyout

The billion-dollar deal will be financed through Maybank's internal and external funding and is expected to close in 2026.

"Client globality": Sun Life rewires HNW business into single global platform

Sun Life Private Wealth links Bermuda, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai into one platform as Asia's wealthy spread assets across jurisdictions.

Group schemes drive India's 16.6% life insurance premium growth in Q1 FY2027

Private insurers grew 27.5% even as policy issuance lagged premium growth.

Allianz strikes S$2.7bn deal for HSBC Life Singapore

The two groups will also enter a 15‑year exclusive bancassurance partnership, with the deal slated for completion in the first half of 2027.

India, Malaysia drive biggest insurance deals as APAC activity cools in Q2

Against a broader regional slowdown, Southeast Asia stood out as the most active deal market.

Indonesian insurers on track for end-2026 capital rules, but 2028 poses bigger test

More than 80% of insurers have already met OJK's 2026 requirements, but experts say capital alone will not fix weak fundamentals as tougher 2028 rules loom.

India's GI premiums accelerate 16% in June as health, motor and PA expand

Health, motor and personal accident insurance powered the industry's fastest YoY growth of 2026, while fire premiums continued to decline for a sixth straight month.

RGA signs block coinsurance deals with Sumitomo Life and Anshin Life in Japan

Sumitomo Life turns to reinsurance for the first time as insurers across Asia move in-force blocks off their books.

APRA finalises reinsurance reforms easing access to alternative risk-transfer solutions

The reforms, set to take effect from 1 January 2027, expand the role of Appointed Actuaries and streamline regulatory approvals.

Japan's FSA finalises tighter rules on asset-intensive reinsurance

Insurers face broader expectations on stress testing, collateral quality, recapture planning and reinsurer due diligence under the revised guidelines, which apply from July 1.

Australia proposes sweeping overhaul of private health insurance system

A new consultation outlines changes to how PHI products are structured and funded, with feedback invited before reforms are finalised.

Insurers compete on execution over strategy as AI-powered challengers catch up

Executives at ITC Asia in Singapore said product cycles of 12 to 18 months are becoming unviable as challengers close capability gaps in months.

APAC insurers see AI efficiency gains, but ROI remains hard to prove

AI’s payback period may be longer than expected, as costs, timelines and benefits remain difficult to separate and quantify, industry experts said at ITC Asia.