Success in Asia depends on building trust

Building client trust is a key ingredient for success in Asia, Laurence Cheng, Peak Re’s head of underwriting, told EAIC Today.

“Whether it’s building trust between the reinsurer and the reinsurance buyer or between the insurer and the policyholder, this is a key to healthy growth and increasing the penetration rate,” he said.

In order to do this, Cheng believes is vital to pay claims promptly—an area in which Peak Re excels.

“We believe that it’s very important that we settle our claims very quickly. About 80 percent of our claims are paid in the first five working days. That proves we are doing that right—and I think that is really the key to building trust.”

As an Asian-focused international reinsurer domiciled in Hong Kong, Peak Re’s growth will be predominantly driven from Asia, and the company will grow as Asia grows, said Cheng.

“Different territories within Asia present different opportunities but generally we do see a lot of potential across the region. Within each region we have different types of clients and each one will need different types of solution, so it’s important to be client-focused, not offering the same solution to every client.”

In order to build client relationships effectively and to fully understand their needs, Peak Re prides itself on having a truly international team.

“We have 15 different nationalities working within Peak Re, and that helps us to know our market, and to tailor our solutions to fit what the client needs,” Cheng said.

While he sees growth potential across the board in Asia, there are certain areas where Peak Re has particularly excelled.

“These include trade credit, agriculture and microinsurance. Microinsurance life products are helping developing countries to grow, which is something we have worked on over the last couple of years.”