Mapfre Re sees APAC growth with key focus on Korea market

Mapfre Re is growing its business in Asia-Pacific, with the reinsurer moving into new lines and developing its portfolio in new and existing countries.

This was the view of Andrés Lorenzana, the Mapfre Re director who heads the Singapore office with responsibility for the whole of the Asia-Pacific region.

The firm’s Singapore office launched in December 2015 to look after treaty business across all Asian countries.

Lorenzana said: “Until now our main markets in Asia were Japan and China. The Chinese market is very big and developing very quickly.

“We have opened another office in Tokyo and we have a branch office in Labuan in Malaysia.”

He told SIRC Today that when his office started the business mainly concentrated on property and engineering, with some casualty and marine. More recently, the reinsurer has started offering life products.

Lorenzana said the life market was tough: many of Mapfre Re’s competitors have been operating in the region for longer, so it is trying to define its place in the market where health and life is growing rapidly.

Growth priorities in terms of geography are centred on Korea.

“This market is our main goal because it is the biggest market we are in charge of,” Lorenzana said.

“Then we are interested in Bhutan, which is a fast-developing economy in South East Asia. Thailand is important and we have a contact office in Manila in the Philippines, which has been there for about 35 years.”

When it comes to new product lines, he said, the reinsurer is diversifying and developing more liability that can be done in the region. The reinsurer also plans to do more marine business but is treading carefully as the line “has bad results”, he added.

“We plan to intensify our presence in P&C," Lorenzana said.

“Mapfre is a reinsurer that tries to develop the relationship with clients globally. We can help our clients more by protecting them globally and we enter all kinds of business to obtain a balanced portfolio.”

Lorenzana said he was keeping a close eye on developing technology trends in reinsurance such as artificial intelligence and automation, and on how they can improve efficiencies and reduce costs.

The reinsurer is also involved in the B3i project to build a blockchain solution for the industry.