Asia Capital Re Opens South Korea Office With an Eye on Asia Expansion

Asia Capital Reinsurance Group has opened a representative office in South Korea to provide marketing knowledge and service, with an eye on business potential in the Asia/Pacific region.

"Our presence in Korea will enable us to have a better understanding of the local market risk landscape," said Sang Kyu Park , chief representative of the Seoul office. Park joined ACR Group from Korean Re, and has more than 30 years of reinsurance experience.

South Korea is the third-largest nonlife insurance market in Asia with promising opportunities, supported by a robust economy which has proved its resilience in the global financial crisis, said ACR Group in a statement. The opening of the Seoul office is "one of the key contributing markets" for ACR Group's Asian-focused reinsurance portfolio.

The Singapore-based reinsurer has a branch office in Hong Kong and representative offices in Taiwan, Japan, India and South Korea. Reinsurance in the region is growing fast and the group has made progress in expanding over the past year with the launch of representative offices in Japan and South Korea, said an ACR spokesperson.

The reinsurer currently manages Korean business from the Singapore headquarters.

ACR provides reinsurance cover in aviation, casualty, credit and surety, energy, engineering, group medical, marine, motor and property lines.

With a focus on pan-Asian reinsurance, ACR Group is looking into facultative business potential. Facultative reinsurance contributed about 30% to 36% of the group's gross written premiums last year, compared with global players' average shares of 10% to 20%, said the ACR spokesperson. The company also has a substantial business share of about 60% in treaty reinsurance, but ACR noted that many global reinsurers already have their focus on treaty reinsurance, which can represent up to 90% of their businesses.

ACR reported an after-tax profit of US$63 million for the fiscal year 2009-2010, compared with a loss in the previous year, when the financial crisis occurred. The reinsurer showed continuing improvement in its combined ratio, which stood at 92.5 in fiscal year 2009-2010. This positive trend is expected to continue in fiscal year 2010-2011, according to A.M. Best (BestWire, Dec. 14, 2010).

The group owns two joint ventures, Asia Capital Reinsurance Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and ACR ReTakaful Holdings Ltd. With two wholly owned subsidiaries in Bahrain and Malaysia, ACR ReTakaful provides retakaful capacity and underwrites both takaful insurance, and conventional business.

Asia Capital Reinsurance Group Pte. Ltd. currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent).

(By Iris Lai , Hong Kong bureau manager: [email protected])