Asia’s reinsurers are continuing to benefit from their international business as the region’s markets see increasing pressure on pricing.

Rating company AM Best revealed Asia’s insurance markets become more competitive with softer market conditions, with its composite of Asia-Pacific reinsurance companies reversed a revenue decline from the previous year, posting a 4.0% increase in net insurance service revenue in 2025, primarily driven by overseas business.

The Best’s Market Segment Report, “Asia in Focus: Resilience Through Transformation,” has been published as  part of AM Best’s overall look at the global reinsurance industry ahead of the Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo which will be held next month.

According to the report, as some Asian insurance markets have experienced significant structural transformation, across the entire region, the markets generally have become more competitive with softer market conditions.

Overseas business has been attractive to Asia-Pacific reinsurers as it contains a greater concentration of non-proportional treaties, and therefore, reinsurers have benefitted more from the favourable pricing environment that has persisted since the onset of the hard market. From an underwriting perspective, the composite’s combined ratio showed a slight increase of less than one percentage point to 92.0% in 2025 supported by improved rate adequacy and relatively benign catastrophe activity across Asia.

“The broader improvement in underwriting profitability since the hard-market inflection point is generally consistent with global reinsurance trends, although the magnitude of improvement has been more moderate given the Asian composite’s higher share of proportional treaty business,” said Christie Lee, senior director, AM Best. “Nevertheless, earnings continue to be driven largely by strong performance from overseas portfolios.”

The planned 2027 merger of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance  (MSI) and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (ADI) in Japan is a “potential gamechanger as the combined entity may require less reinsurance capacity than the two programs separately”.

“The MSI-ADI consolidation will likely intensify competition among reinsurers, brokers and service providers looking to defend their positions,” Lee added.

Best added Asia’s renewal period in 2026 is buyer-friendly, with abundant capacity and falling rates enabling cedents to enhance protection and support growth, while retention levels largely remain stable. The expectation for 2027 is continued rate easing on non-loss-impacted treaties.

“Reinsurance capacity across Southeast Asia and India remains abundant, reflecting robust appetite and confidence in the region’s growth prospects. Earnings remain supportive despite elevated catastrophe claims,” the report added. “As reinsurance market conditions become more competitive, cedents are adopting a more-strategic approach to reinsurance purchasing, making selective refinements to their programmes and retention strategies to target greater capital efficiency and earnings stability.”