[November 14, 2014]

A.M.BestTV: Insurers Race for Footholds in Expanding ASEAN Market

In this ^A.M.BestTV episode from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, taking place in Southeast Asia, insurers see enormous potential in the 10 Southeast Asian countries poised to join as one market; however, they expect challenges from new competitors and regulatory arrangements, which are still under development.

When Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam form a single market in 2015, insurers expect it to generate a combined gross domestic product of more than $2.4 trillion, making it one of the world's largest markets.

"It is a vast region that is presently going through rapid economic growth," said Vincent Kwo, president at the East Asian Insurance Congress.

Sharon Ooi, head of property/casualty reinsurance for Southeast Asia, India and Dragon Markets at Swiss Reinsurance Company, also spoke about what will come with this growth. "The economies will continue to grow quite strongly and with that growth will come increasing demands for insurance," said Ooi.

Also appearing in this episode are:

• Augusto Hidalgo, president and chief executive officer at National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines; and
• Thomas Kessler, deputy chief executive officer at Vietnam National Reinsurance Corporation.

Click here to view the entire video program. http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=asean111.

Recent episodes of ^A.M.BestTV include:

• Re-Creating a Historic East Coast Hurricane Reveals Surprises: A recent study conducted by Swiss Reinsurance America Corporation shows that changes in development, density and sea levels would not only be costly, but potentially more lethal if a hurricane, such as the one that struck the U.S. East Coast in 1821, were to occur today: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=hurricane1114.
• Investor Interest Is Driving The Demand for Catastrophe Bonds: Henning Ludolphs, managing director of retrocessions and capital markets at Hannover Re, recently talked about how catastrophe bonds have historically performed and the current state of the market: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ludolphs1114.
• Swiss Re Group CEO Michel Liès: Great Opportunities in Catastrophe Casualty Coverage: Michel Liès, group chief executive officer at Swiss Reinsurance Company and keynote speaker at the recent A.M. Best "Insurance Marketing Briefing - Europe," explores industry trends: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=lies1014.

^A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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