Geopolitics, natural disasters, and AI are some of the key issues facing Asian insurers in 2026, experts said.
Geopolitics was among the key risks identified at the start of 2025, and this has proven prescient as the Trump administration changed the global geopolitical landscape, said Steve Tunstall, general secretary of the Pan-Asia Risk and Insurance Management Association, in an interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The Trump administration's tariff policy in 2025 introduced significant uncertainty into global trade, according to Tunstall.
"[There are] a lot of risks that can't be easily protected across [the] supply chain and logistics," Tunstall said. "So I think globally, we're seeing a lot of organizations take a little bit of a step back on investment, take a little bit of a step back on potentially, you know, what would have been rapid growth."
Geopolitical tensions have also bolstered China's position in international trade, which insurers must also consider.
Supply chains will keep diversifying in 2026, as will the search for new end markets, S&P Global Ratings analyst Simon Wong wrote in a report. More Chinese firms are looking abroad, said Wong, who has observed a surge in trade between China and the Global South. China's exports to these regions have doubled since 2015, and it now sells over 50% more to the Global South than to the US and Western Europe combined.
There is an opportunity for international insurers to help Chinese entities looking to go abroad, Tunstall said, adding that they may have to compete with their Chinese counterparts. The biggest issue insurers face is how to engage with China as a country, and, within that, the individual organizations they want to do business with.
"So, broadly speaking, I think it's a complex picture, and I don't think at this stage, international insurers are necessarily doing enough to address the potential opportunities or the potential threats of this significant change," Tunstall said.
Natural catastrophes
Asia experienced several natural catastrophes again in 2025. Prolonged storms triggered floods and landslides in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia in late November; severe tropical storm Wipha crossed the northern Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau in July; a massive earthquake in Myanmar damaged property in neighboring Thailand and Laos; and wildfires also broke out earlier in the year in South Korea and Japan. Australia also experienced multiple natural catastrophes in 2025.
Despite ample capacity, catastrophe losses in the region continue to reveal significant levels of underinsurance. Total economic losses from natural disasters in Asia-Pacific reached at least $76 billion in 2025, yet just over $7 billion of these losses were covered by insurance, according to Aon PLC's latest Climate and Catastrophe Insight report.
The insurance gap is much wider in Southeast Asia.
The insurance protection gap presents both a challenge and an opportunity to broaden insurance coverage through targeted strategies, especially in emerging areas such as climate and sustainability-related risks, said H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, at the ASEAN Insurance Summit in November 2025.
In 2023, ASEAN's total insurance penetration was just 3.2% of GDP, compared with a global average of 7.0%, Hourn noted.
AI risks
Another key issue for Asian insurers in 2026 is AI, including its associated risks and opportunities.
AI was a top topic of discussion at the 2025 Singapore International Reinsurance Conference, where panelists allayed concerns that AI would eliminate jobs and discussed the risks associated with AI adoption.
Aside from the possible removal of certain roles, the growth of AI has made it more difficult for both organizations and individuals to "tell a fact from fiction," Tunstall said, adding that "we've only just begun to see the implications from that in terms of cybersecurity threats."
AI can also introduce unlawful bias or discrimination, according to Romain Paserot, deputy secretary general and head of capital and financial stability at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). The growing reliance on personal data in its processes raises significant privacy and security concerns, he added. In addition, certain AI systems in dynamic environments have unpredictable outcomes that pose risks to financial soundness and stability.
In its latest global market insurance report, IAIS said the adoption of AI into insurance company processes could boost policyholder retention through personalized engagement, lower costs through more efficient policy administration and claims management, and improve risk selection and pricing. Other use cases include external chatbots, fraud detection and complaints handling.
Lucy Wong, adviser at the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, noted that regulators need to gain a deep understanding of AI to make informed policy decisions. Talent development and upskilling in the public and private sectors are crucial in the effective regulation of AI, she added.
Initial public offerings
IPO activity in Asia could pick up in 2026 after multiple companies indicated plans to go public in the past year.
In India, an IPO for SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd. is under consideration, while digital insurer ACKO General Insurance Ltd. has announced plans to go public. HDFC ERGO General Insurance Co. Ltd. and several other insurers reportedly submitted IPO plans in early 2025.
The listing of FWD Group Holdings Ltd. in 2025, and its stock performance in 2026, could serve as a bellwether for additional listings in Hong Kong, IPOX Schuster research associate Lukas Muehlbauer wrote in an email to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Hong Kong's capital market saw a strong recovery and "performed exceptionally well" in 2025, according to a report from PwC Hong Kong. There were 119 public listings in the previous year, representing a 68% increase from 2024. The trend is expected to continue in 2026, with IPO funds anticipated to reach HK$350 billion.
The "south-bound" IPO market has accelerated in recent months, and substantial volume is likely to come from mainland insurers seeking dual H-share listings.
The first sizable Asian insurance listing for 2026 is likely to be Chubb Insurance Malaysia Bhd., following its IPO prospectus filing in November, Muehlbauer added.
Segment outlooks
Growth in the life and non-life insurance segments across Asia-Pacific will likely moderate in most markets in 2026, according to a Fitch Ratings report. The rating agency maintained a neutral outlook on the region's insurance sector, citing robust performance and strong solvency buffers across most markets.
Life insurers in the region will continue to prioritize quality growth and product profitability. Non-life insurers will focus on underwriting discipline. Fitch said non-life insurance carriers are expected to benefit from softer reinsurance pricing in 2026.
Deloitte's 2026 Insurance Outlook report expects premium growth to slow across property and casualty, life and annuity and group insurance segments globally. The report forecast a 2.5% growth in non-life insurance premiums in Asia-Pacific, compared with 2.9% in 2024 and an estimated 2.1% in 2025. Meanwhile, life insurance premium growth in the region is anticipated to improve to 1.1% in 2026, up from an estimated 0.4% in 2025 and a minus 1.0% in 2024.
In the long-term, Deloitte expects premiums in the life insurance segment to increase by 5.3% annually through 2053, driven by strong demand in China, India and Southeast Asia.
The cyber insurance market in Asia, where market penetration is still developing, is among the markets with the greatest potential for growth in the short to medium term, according to a 2026 market outlook report from S&P Global Ratings. Primary cyber insurers in Asia-Pacific recorded some of the highest compound annual growth rates in gross written premiums over the past five years, at 36%, second only to Latin American insurers at 62%.
Similarly, S&P Global Ratings said the demand for longevity risk transfer and capital management offers potential for growth in the life reinsurance market in parts of Asia where insurance coverage is lower.
In its latest Asia-Pacific Reinsurance Sector Update from October 2025, the rating agency said reinsurers in the region will see modest and uneven growth in gross written premium in 2026 amid external uncertainties, driven by competitive pricing from ample capacity, softening rates and an economic slowdown.
