Change in Gen Re’s hierarchy means period of transformation and opportunity for Asia unit

In May this year, Gen Re revealed that Kara Raiguel would replace Tad Montross at its helm, a move that triggered a phase of reassessment and change at the company. For Rainer Schuermann, Gen Re’s regional manager, P/C Treaty Asia, this can bring exciting opportunities to the region he is responsible for.

“What the new top management is asking of us is that we turn over every rock internally and externally to make sure that we are not missing out on profitable business,” he said. “That encompasses everything about how Gen Re is participating in the market, while being paid the right price for the exposure we take on our books is still absolutely key to everything we do.

“It is, however, fair to say that Gen Re is in change mode. We therefore invite our clients and reinsurance buyers across the globe to ‘un-think’ some of the conceptions they may associate with Gen Re. It is too early to comment on very specific issues, but I would expect to see changes in our risk appetite in some Asian markets.”

Looking at the Asian market as a whole, Schuermann sees growth potential in several geographical areas.

“What is needed for growth, both in insurance and reinsurance, is a stable regulatory, economic and political environment. We see this happening in a number of countries in South East Asia, so I would not want to single out a particular market. Obviously, in the more mature markets like Japan, Korea or Singapore, we cannot expect much growth of the primary markets.”

Gen Re has been present in many markets in the region for a long time, and Schuermann says that key achievements have been the company’s continuous investment in the market infrastructure and its commitment to building great relationships and know-how over time.

“We have been very successful on the life/health side of the house. Market research that is being carried out regularly by professional third parties suggests that Gen Re is rated as the number one life reinsurer in the Asia-Pacific region for a number of consecutive years now,” he said.

“Our business model there, very generally speaking, is based on the development of primary life/health products and, in return, the reinsurance coverage of such products.”

While the company certainly benefits from these achievements on the life side, building a larger P/C portfolio in the region has been more of a challenge, he said.

“We’ve always offered great value on the individual risk side through our excellent facultative teams. On the treaty side the market is somewhat more commoditized, so the experience when offering our high value based direct treaty product in a softening market environment was a bit of a mixed bag.”