At his opening keynote address, SCOR Group CEO Thierry Léger called the theme of the SIRC, ‘Capacity to Capability’, topics that “define reinsurance in two words”.
“They go hand-in-hand, because in our industry, where there is no capability, there is no trust and no capability to set a price,” said Mr Léger.
“Capacity only follows where there is capability.”
Data centres exemplifies theme
Using data centres as an example, Mr Léger highlighted the hyperscalers, where the capacities, or values, being constructed, can hit $50bn.
“And when we look at the industry as a whole, and the capacity we are able to apply, we can put around $15bn together per year,” he said.
“At the same time, risk-wise, the excess capital is around $70bn. That is a clear example of where capability has not yet been built. And with it, not enough trust and not enough capacity to fulfil the requirements of the emerging industry.”
Moreover, the evolution of data centres is fast, Mr Léger said, calling for the industry to adapt to it, and build trust models capabilities to affect the capacity required.
Challenges are also opportunities
Listing climate change, ageing societies, geopolitical fragmentation and AI as challenges the (re)insurance industry is facing, Mr Léger also noted that they also serve as opportunities.
Climate risk
In his official keynote speech, Minister for National Development and Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Chee Hong Tat had said, “It is no longer about underwriting a single power plant, port, or data centre,” he said.
“These assets now sit within complex systems, digital networks, supply chains and climate-exposed environments, where a disruption in one part can quickly spill over into another.”
Mr Riddell also briefly touched on climate risk, calling Mother Nature “hard to predict”.
He said, “There is a lot of uncertainty in terms of the risk element, but what does that do to supply chain issues, and how does that affect pricing of risk in the reinsurance market?”
As such, according to Mr Chee, climate risk is “one area where these capabilities are increasingly important”, as APAC continues to face substantial exposure to Nat CAT, with a high proportion of economic losses remaining uninsured.
In fact, according to Mr Léger, only 8% of Asia losses incurred by catastrophes were insured. Yet, the (re)insurance industry holds such immense capital, the segment is leading towards a softer market.
“One of my takeaways after almost 30 years in the industry, is actually that there is not enough capacity in the industry to cover all the risks that are out there,” he said.
“The problem is that there are just very significant protection gaps that we have not been able to close.”
Ageing societies
In Asia, approximately 50% of the population is above 60, according to Mr Léger. He said, “We think that by 2050, more than 25% of the population in Asia will be above 60.
“Although getting older is a great achievement of modern society, the challenge is that the time from which we stop working to when we die is getting longer,” he said.
“Fifty years ago, that period was just a few years. Today, retires generally live for more than 20 years, posing financial challenges to everyone, and particularly those who live longer than the average.”
At the same time, on the health side, living longer also means that care needed will be longer and more costly, Mr Léger added.
It was not all doom and gloom, however, with Mr Léger noting an upside, saying, “The pension industry in Asia is still very nascent, but has already accumulated trillions in capital.
“Yet the industry has only been able to act on around $120bn of assets.”
Geopolitical tensions and fragmentation
Another risk Mr Léger emphasised was geopolitical fragmentation.
“Over the last 10 years, we have witnessed a more polarised world, resulting in an environment in which there are more wars than before,” he said.
“We see a lot of more civil commotions and riots.”
This geopolitical fragmentation has resulted in a very concrete challenge for the reinsurance industry: supply chains.
“World trade is very globalised, so we are all dependent on supply chains. As such, anything we can do as an industry to support the stability of supply chains will be important,” he said.
The SIRC is being held in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands from 1 to 5 November 2026. It is organised by the SRA, with Asia Insurance Review as media partner.