AM BestTV: Asia Emerging as Center for Insurance-Linked Securities, Says AM Best Managing Director

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In this episode of ^AMBestTV, Jose Ribeiro, managing director, Asia-Pacific, AM Best, said Asia is poised to become a significant growth opportunity for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market. Ribeiro also pointed to captive insurance in multiple regions and foreign ownership of insurance companies in China as emerging growth areas. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ribeiro1218 to view the entire program.

Ribeiro spoke about the growth in ILS in the Asian market.

“Singapore and Hong Kong are trying to establish themselves as centers for ILS vehicles,” said Ribeiro. “There is a bit of rivalry between Hong Kong and Singapore. Singapore is seen as the center for insurance and reinsurance, while Hong Kong is seen as the center for banking and financial services, as well as for insurance more connected with greater China. … To date, there’s nothing yet concrete, but it will happen, hopefully within the next 12 months.”

Ribeiro also discussed the development of the captive market in Asia.

“In Asia, there are three domiciles that have been quite active in terms of attracting new captive ventures. Probably the most important one is Singapore, which now boasts around 80 captives. The second one is Labuan in Malaysia. They currently have around 50 to 60 captives. The third one is in Micronesia, which is being mainly chosen by Japanese companies, and it has 25 captives. All of these captives are steadily growing,” he said.

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^AMBestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^AMBestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information.