Welcome to Full Capacity, a weekly briefing on all the most important developments of the past week with a personal take on the news from our editor-in-chief, Mithun Varkey, delivered to your inbox every Saturday.
Battle for talent. One of the most talked-about appointments was Lloyd’s CEO John Neal’s decision to join Aon earlier this year. However, it led to some mid-week drama as AIG announced that Neal would be joining the insurer as president effective from December 1 and ditching a career at the reinsurance broker as its global reinsurance CEO.
In the wake of Neal’s departure, Aon, it seems, found itself in a scramble, launching into damage control mode. The broker announced two new CEOs for international reinsurance – Steve Hofman for the Americas and Alfonso Valera for the rest of the world, including APAC.
The reinsurance broker’s APAC CEO, George Attard has also now been elevated to the role of global head of strategy for reinsurance.
Strategic spotlight. In a wide-ranging interview with InsuranceAsia News, Duong Thanh Danh, chairman of Vietnam’s largest insurer, PVI Insurance, discussed plans for a strategic stake sale in Hanoi Re, the nation’s top reinsurer, where PVI holds an 81% stake.
Meanwhile, PVI’s founding shareholder, PetroVietnam, is contemplating a divestment of its 35% stake in the insurer, with a decision expected by year’s end, confirmed Duong, outlining the non-life carrier’s strategic priorities.
Nat cat brief. Aon has made a bold prediction: global insured losses from natural catastrophes in the first half of 2025 could soar to a staggering US$100 billion– much above the 21st-century average of US$41 billion for the same period.
In contrast, Gallagher Re has offered a more tempered estimate, projecting an US$84 billion loss for the first half of the year. Yet, intriguingly, the reinsurance broker points out that despite these lofty catastrophe losses, there seems to be little impact on the (re)insurance market.
Exclusive insights. We had three of our exclusive stories come true this week, a reflection of our continued coverage bringing you the most important market developments ahead of anyone else.
Markel APAC’s managing director, Christian Stobbs, officially transitioned to a global role, a plan that we first reported.
We also broke the news of Chelsea Jiang’s hiring in a greater China leadership role at Markel, which was confirmed this week.
Additionally, Crawford appointed Tony Chapman as its new head of global technical services for Asia, a move we first revealed back in April.
Broker market’s shifting dynamics
AM Best published their annual list of top 20 global brokers earlier this week, which always makes for compelling reading.
While the upper echelons of the list remain largely unchanged, the shifts further down tell a story of consolidation and private equity dominance.
No one expected dramatic upheaval at the very top, and indeed, the rankings’ leading names maintained their positions. The most notable mover was Howden, breaking into the top 10 – a testament to its aggressive growth strategy.
Australian brokers Steadfast and AUB Group, which debuted on the top 20 list last year, have dropped out of the list that, unsurprisingly, is dominated (75%) by US brokers.
A deeper dive into the data reveals just how concentrated the broker M&A landscape has become.
Just eight firms were responsible for 42% of all broker deals over the past decade – a staggering figure that highlights the industry’s winner-takes-all dynamic.
Yet, there are signs of a slowdown. Broker M&A activity dipped by 10% in 2023, with those eight major players completing 273 deals, out of which 90 were by Broadstreet Partners, which debuted in the list this year at 16.
But what I found the most interesting was that private equity or private equity-backed buyers completed 72% of broker deals in 2024, and this is consistent with data from the past seven years.
The report noted that the trends are indicative of a consolidating and fundamental reshaping of the industry, with fewer players controlling ever-larger market shares.
But, considering how consolidated the developed markets are, the next wave may well be centred in emerging markets, particularly Asia Pacific.
APAC broker M&A data for 2024 compiled by InsuranceAsia News showed that there were 32 deals in the region last year involving either a regional target or a buyer, with announced deal values aggregating to US$2 billion, which of course, is skewed by the US$1.5 billion PSC Insurance deal in Australia.
There were 17 different buyers in the region, but none of them were private equity investors. Asian investment giant Temasek did, however, join the US$1.3 billion fundraising for London-based Specialist Risk Group along with Warburg Pincus.
The AM Best report highlighted that India, in particular, is emerging as a hotspot. Lockton entered India last year and Aon made deeper inroads with the completion of the Global Insurance Brokers deal, while WTW, Howden and Gallagher have all shown serious intent to grow their local presence with notable hires.
My takeaway from the report is that industry is shifting, private equity’s grip on the broker market remains ironclad, but the next battleground will likely be in high-growth regions like APAC.
People moves
This week’s highlights in leadership changes include Starr Insurance naming Munich Re’s PeiQi Lee as head of casualty for Asia Pacific.
Meanwhile, Miller launched a marine practice in South Korea with a Marsh raid – four senior appointments, including KyungSeop Shim, who has been named head of specialty.
To keep up with the latest appointments across the region, don’t miss our weekly people move roundup.
