Reflections on the Future of Reinsurance

In a little over a year, Rare Earth Insurance Partners has scaled from one office in Hong Kong to having staff in six offices across three continents. And this is just the beginning.

 As many legacy brokers consolidate, we’re preparing to further expand our global network of teams, clients and partners and I’m excited to start talking about it here. 

 Why now? For starters, we’ve got some important updates to share in the coming months. Operating in the cloud has made us advocates for disruptive technology and the benefits it delivers to clients, often in unexpected ways. Facilitating both inward and outward business flows in China has enabled us to engage directly with the country’s internationalization, and by extension, we hope to help to shape the future of our industry.

 As Swiss Re recently indicated, China could well become the world’s largest insurance market by the mid-2030s. Its Belt and Road Initiative—a global infrastructure investment scheme—has already generated significant projects in previously less well-known markets. And China’s rising middle class is demanding new consumer insurance products.

 These are transformative opportunities, but not without challenges. Whether downloading WeChat, learning Mandarin or moving more senior management roles to the mainland, the future of the industry will be won by those firms who are most open to change. No one can afford to be ambivalent about this, as changes in China will variously impact every insurance market in the world.

 I don’t pretend to have all the answers in terms of where these changes lead. But with almost 30 years in the industry in Asia, I do have some perspective. As Rare Earth further expands over the coming months, I look forward to sharing some opinions and insights with you. I hope you’ll share your perspective, too, even if you disagree!

 In the meantime, expect another post in September, where I’ll talk more about what it takes to create opportunity from China’s internationalization.