Asia Pacific insight
03 May 2023 - By Richard Payne, Clement Bonnet, Catherine Lu
While Hong Kong’s life and general insurers will be required by 2024 to have a risk-based capital solvency framework, we find different levels of implementation.
27 April 2023 - By Shamit Gupta, Subhash Khanna, Chong Wen Ang
We discuss some areas where IFRS 17 will likely require additional expertise to report financial statements for 2023.
06 April 2023 - By Farzana Ismail, Junaidi Amin, Joshua Winata, Richard W. Holloway
In Indonesia, profit before tax for life insurers rose 19% in 3Q 2022 over the same period a year earlier, driven by a 25% drop in total claims and benefits.
30 March 2023 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Renuka Subramaniam, Tharan Ganesan, Muhammad Hanif Saiful
We recap developments in non-life insurance market for the second half of 2022 in Indonesia, where overall premium growth topped 20%.
30 March 2023 - By Alex Bryant, Erica Chan
Across various markets in Asia, target capital buffers are likely to vary for insurers with significant par blocks of business under the different regimes.
27 March 2023 - By Erica Chan, Pingni Eng, Cheng Xin Yap, Shelley Yao, Jin Zhao
Stress testing and scenario analysis are only a part of the climate risk management process, but mark a good starting point.
06 March 2023 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Ken Lim , Tananya Santipinyolert, Bussaba Chauyruk
Our review of Thailand’s non-life insurance market shows overall premiums rose 3.6% year over year, among other notable trends.
23 February 2023 - By Farzana Ismail, Junaidi Amin, Joshua Winata, Richard W. Holloway
Our review of life insurance industry developments in Indonesia from the third quarter of 2022.
08 February 2023 - By Zorast Wadia
Milliman 100 PFI funded ratio falls to 109.3% as pension liability increases outpaced investment gains
03 February 2023 - By Natasha Singhal, Vincent Soulas, Lalit Baveja
As more evidence emerges about long-term clinical impacts of Covid-19 and long Covid, insurers will need to consider the implications for medical underwriting.
12 January 2023 - By Qiuwen Peng, Shelley Yao
With regulatory guidance and promotion of LTC conversion business in China, insurers can capitalize on opportunities, but need to understand the risks.
11 January 2023 - By Heerak Basu, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wing F. Wong, Chihong An, Wen Yee Lee, Stephen H. Conwill, Philip Jackson, Clement Bonnet, Shamit Gupta
Insurance companies operating in Asia had mixed EV results in the first half of 2022.
11 November 2022 - By Wen Yee Lee, Alex Bryant, Shir Lynn Ong
In this e-Alert we review the position of par funds in Singapore at the end of 2021 and compare this to the position at the end of 2020.
19 October 2022 - By Shamit Gupta, Milanthi Sarukkali
Outsourcing actuarial functions for legacy blocks frees up an insurer’s valuable internal resources, allowing it to focus more on core strategies.
18 October 2022 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Cheng Xin Yap, John Chin, Rong Xing Tan
In the first edition of our South East Asia health insurance market newsletter, we cover developments from the first half of 2022.
05 October 2022 - By Farzana Ismail, Muhammad Ismail, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway
Our review of life insurance industry developments in Indonesia from the second quarter of 2022.
29 September 2022 - By Cheng Xin Yap, Tharan Ganesan, Tananya Santipinyolert
Recent floods in major cities around Southeast Asia and other parts of the world have reopened the conversation on flood coverage in insurance products and the means by which they will be financed.
09 September 2022 - By Paul Sinnott, Heerak Basu, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wing F. Wong, Chihong An, Wen Yee Lee, Stephen H. Conwill, Shamit Gupta
Largely positive results as lockdowns ease and interest rates rise, with EV growing by 7.6% year over year.
26 August 2022 - By Keyur Parekh, Heerak Basu, Philip Jackson, Richard W. Holloway
India: Recent product reforms could increase life insurance penetration in the country
23 August 2022 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Renuka Subramaniam, Tharan Ganesan, Muhammad Hanif Saiful
Non-life insurance in Indonesia: Our review of industry developments from the first half of 2022.
17 August 2022 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Ken Lim , Tananya Santipinyolert
The latest on Thailand non-life insurance: Premiums rise 2.3% 1H versus the same period in 2021, while net loss ratio increases to 156.4%, up from 57.3%.
08 August 2022 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Michael Daly, Pingni Eng, Sharon Huang, Farzana Ismail, Philip Jackson, Sung Hoon Kim, Wen Yee Lee, Atsushi Okawa, Wing F. Wong
This report compares and contrasts life insurance RBC regimes across selected Asian markets and highlights potential implications from future regulatory changes in the industry.
19 July 2022 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Wen Yee Lee
In this e-Alert, we share the set-up and benefits of sidecars and highlight key reasons why they could become an option for some lines of Asian life insurance.
15 July 2022 - By Subhash Khanna, Shamit Gupta
With changes to reporting standards and regulatory regimes – plus a challenging economy – insurers reconsider the outsourcing of core actuarial functions
05 July 2022 - By Michael Daly, Hana Ghazali
Our latest survey of life insurers in Asia shows how riders have gained prominence in the past decade, providing insights on the opportunities and risks
15 June 2022 - By Farzana Ismail, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway
Life insurance in Indonesia: Our review of industry developments from the first quarter 2022.
06 June 2022 - By Farzana Ismail, Joshua Winata
OJK’s new regulation aims to protect policyholders and improve transparency in the unit-linked Indonesian life insurance market, but carriers have concerns
24 May 2022 - By Brian Colgan, Farzana Ismail
Insurers recognise opportunities in the Syariah market in Indonesia, but a majority still need to decide whether to spin-off or transfer portfolios
23 March 2022 - By Brian Colgan, Muhammad Ismail, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway
Life insurance in Indonesia: Our review of industry developments from the third quarter of 2021
14 March 2022 - By Farzana Ismail, Alex Bryant
We cover key changes in the Exposure Draft, with a focus on new requirements related to estate management and management of small or shrinking par funds.
10 March 2022 - By Brian Colgan, Farzana Ismail
To have a well-considered strategy for a Syariah window, it is necessary to develop credible assumptions around new business volumes and expenses.
08 February 2022 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Ken Lim , Tananya Santipinyolert, Tarinee Sriboonchaichusakul
Overall premiums for non-life insurance rise 5.2% year over year, while net loss ratio increases in the third quarter to 69.65%, up from 54.28% third quarter 2020.
06 January 2022 - By Paul Sinnott, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wing F. Wong, Chihong An, Wen Yee Lee, Stephen H. Conwill, Philip Jackson, Heerak Basu, Shamit Gupta
Most insurers in Asia have experienced steady growth in embedded value in the first half 2021.
01 December 2021 - By Pingni Eng, Erica Chan
As COP26 reminds us that climate change will impact the global financial system, insurers should now be thinking about stress testing and risk assessments.
12 November 2021 - By Chong Wen Ang, Pingni Eng, David Kong
Roughly two-thirds of respondents have already started their implementation projects.
10 November 2021 - By Pingni Eng, Chong Wen Ang
Insurers have the benefit of a later IFRS 17 adoption date than other countries, but face technical implementation challenges specific to the market.
26 October 2021 - By Wen Yee Lee, Alex Bryant, Shir Lynn Ong
This e-Alert reviews the position of participating funds in Singapore at the end of 2020, based on public information published in 2021.
19 October 2021 - By Hana Ghazali, Derek Ling, Michael Daly
New developments give potential for Hong Kong insurers, although various challenges will need to be overcome.
14 October 2021 - By Brian Colgan, Chong Wen Ang, Philip Jackson
What challenges are insurers facing when implementing PSAK 74 for companies in Indonesia?
07 October 2021 - By Brian Colgan, Halim Gunawan, Muhammad Ismail, Richard W. Holloway
Life in Indonesia: Our review of industry developments from the second quarter.
25 August 2021 - By Paul Sinnott, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wing F. Wong, Chihong An, Wen Yee Lee, Stephen H. Conwill
While gross written premium fell by 0.4%, embedded value grew by 13.2%.
03 August 2021 - By Mark Whatley, Juraidah Hussain
The number of accounts shows an even participation between the genders, but member balances for men are about 10% higher than those of women.
30 July 2021 - By Leena Chakma Laloo, Lalit Baveja
With an urgent need to bring cost inflation into a sustainable range, we examine best practices in reducing spending, while maintaining or improving patient outcomes.
23 July 2021 - By Clement Bonnet, Brian Colgan, Michael Daly, Sharon Huang, Farzana Ismail, Philip Jackson, Sung Hoon Kim, Atsushi Okawa, Wing F. Wong
After a wave of new regulations for companies, this executive summary provides a high-level update to our last report from 2020.
19 July 2021 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Ken Lim , Tananya Santipinyolert, Tarinee Sriboonchaichusakul
The latest market info and more: Overall premiums up 4.3% in early 2021 year over year, while net loss ratio edges 1.6% lower.
19 July 2021 - By Brian Colgan, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway
Life in Indonesia: Our review of industry developments from the first quarter.
21 June 2021 - By Mark Whatley, Juraidah Hussain
The female-to-male ratio of long-term savings in Singapore improved to 90.7% in 2019, up from 85.4% in 2009, signaling a narrowing of the gender gap.
29 March 2021 - By Brian Colgan, David Kong, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway
Life in Indonesia: Our March 2021 review of industry developments from the fourth quarter.
10 February 2021 - By Pang-Hsiang Chye, Ken Lim
Overall, Non-Life industry direct premiums grew by nearly 4% in the 2020. Motor premiums declined in H1 but recovered strongly in H2, resulting in full year growth of 1.4%.
04 February 2021 - By Heerak Basu, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar, Richard W. Holloway
This e-Alert discusses key announcements affecting the Indian life insurance industry.
08 September 2020 - By Sanket Kawatkar, Philip Jackson, Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway
This report presents the results and insights from a fresh survey of Indian life insurers, covering their participating business management and asset share calculation approaches.
01 September 2020 - By Farzana Ismail, Chong Wen Ang, Chew Hou Ng
In Malaysia, most insurance and Takaful companies have already started their implementation phase of IFRS 17, but there continues to be ambiguity in interpreting several areas of the IFRS 17 standard.
19 August 2020 - By Heerak Basu, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar, Richard W. Holloway
What are the most recent developments in the life insurance market in Bangladesh?
03 August 2020 - By Clement Bonnet, Brian Colgan, Michael Daly, Sharon Huang, Farzana Ismail, Philip Jackson, Sung Hoon Kim, David Kong, Wen Yee Lee, Atsushi Okawa, Wing F. Wong
This report compares and contrasts life insurance risk-based capital regimes across selected Asian markets, highlights some of the potential implications for businesses arising from the future development of capital regulations and contributes to the wider discussion on the potential impact of changes in regulation on the life insurance industry in Asia.
30 June 2020 - By Brian Colgan, Farzana Ismail
This e-Alert discusses how the draft Otoritas Jasa Keuangan regulation to amend Regulation No. 67/POJK.05/2016 and Government Regulation PP No. 3/2020 provide some clarity on previous areas of uncertainty, together with their potential impact on insurers’ decision to spin off their Syariah windows or exit the Syariah market.
01 June 2020 - By Abhishek Agrawal, Rachin Aggarwal, Jorge Torres, Bridget MacDonnell
What are some innovative healthcare technologies that can be harnessed directly by health insurers in different parts of the world?
15 April 2020 - By Farzana Ismail, Natasha Su Sivarajah, Queenie Chow
This is Milliman’s first Microinsurance Supply-side Study of Asia, gathering the perspectives of the insurance industry regarding the importance of microinsurance, current practices and the enabling environment.
07 April 2020 - By Heerak Basu, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar, Richard W. Holloway
The onset of COVID-19 and the impact on capital markets pose several challenges for Indian life insurers.
14 February 2020 - By Heerak Basu, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar, Richard W. Holloway
On 4 February, Milliman hosted an event on the forward perspective of the life insurance industry in Bangladesh. At the event, participants were polled on various aspects of the life insurance industry in Bangladesh.
06 January 2020 - By Lalit Baveja, Alison Counihan, Tanya Hayward, Monika Lis, Neha Taneja
What are the best practices for designing and implementing a wellness programme?
20 December 2019 - By Paul Sinnott, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wing F. Wong, Chihong An, Wen Yee Lee, Stephen H. Conwill, Sanket Kawatkar, Shamit Gupta
This report provides a summary of the mid-year 2019 embedded value results disclosed by Asian insurers.
25 November 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Michael Daly, Pingni Eng, Wen Yee Lee
Accelerated growth in Vietnam? Forty senior leaders from different functions of life insurance respond to questions about interest rates, regulatory change, insurtech, and more.
19 November 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Shamit Gupta, Richard W. Holloway
The (re)insurance industry in Asia has recently seen signs of increased actuarial outsourcing. Is it a new trend?
19 November 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar
In recent years, capital has become more of a constraint for Indian life insurers. This survey of a majority of Indian insurers asks how they're managing risk.
18 November 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Shamit Gupta, Richard W. Holloway
Milliman conducted a survey to assess trends in life insurance actuarial outsourcing.
15 November 2019 - By Lalit Baveja, Carol Bazell, Alison Counihan
The successful adoption of value-based care in the Middle East faces important challenges.
17 October 2019 - By Joanne Buckle, Alison Counihan, Tanya Hayward, Nicholas Kallis, Bridget MacDonnell, Kevin Manning, Neha Taneja
This guide can assist managers in thinking through the practical components of a population health management programme, from overall objectives and definitions, through to the people, processes and technology enablers that are so critical for success.
08 October 2019 - By Patrika Bansal, Heerak Basu
This briefing note analyses the evolution of the discount rate for measuring employee benefit obligations under AS15(R), AS19 and IAS19.
23 September 2019 - By Rachin Aggarwal, Abhishek Agrawal
This article examines how the concept of a standard health product would benefit various stakeholders in India.
18 September 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar
This e-Alert provides background on the emerging Bangladeshi life insurance market.
13 September 2019 - By Chihong An, Stephen H. Conwill, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wen Yee Lee, Paul Sinnott, Wing F. Wong
The Milliman 2018 Embedded Value Results: Asia report provides in-depth analysis of the embedded value methodologies and assumptions adopted as well as the impact of key regulations and other market developments in the region.
29 August 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Michael Daly, Janice Wang
The Milliman Fulfillment Ratio Index covers Hong Kong life insurance companies representing a significant market share as measured by in-force premiums.
22 August 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Michael Daly, Paul Sinnott
This e-Alert gives an overview of the latest Quantitative Impact Study (QIS) 3 specifications and highlights some of the key differences with QIS 2.
20 August 2019 - By Rachin Aggarwal, Joanne Buckle, Vidhi Gupta, Neha Taneja
This paper looks at the key provisions of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, mental illness prevalence, supply-side indicators and the current treatment gap.
22 July 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar
This e-Alert highlights the key changes in regulations regarding non-linked and linked insurance products from 2013 to 2019 and discusses the business implications for insurers.
09 July 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Brian Colgan, Michael Daly, Sharon Huang, Farzana Ismail, Philip Jackson, Wen Yee Lee, Atsushi Okawa, Wing F. Wong
This report covers the capital regimes in 10 markets in Asia plus the 2018 International Capital Standard field test.
21 May 2019 - By Ankush Aggarwal, Joanne Buckle, Lalima Chakravarty, Tanya Hayward
This paper provides a snapshot of the general practitioner prescription cost and activity as well as driving trends for financial year (FY) 2016/17 and FY 2017/18 in England.
13 May 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Sanket Kawatkar
With a strong macro-economic outlook for the Indian economy, the young population, the large emerging middle class with high savings potential and the low penetration of life insurance business, the longer term outlook for the Indian life insurance industry continues to be positive.
07 March 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Michael Daly, Clifford Wu, Sing Yee Yeoh
This e-Alert sets out highlights from the Second Quantitative Impact Study long-term business results, provides commentary on key components affecting solvency ratios and discusses next steps insurance companies could take before the next quantitative impact study.
21 February 2019 - By Brian Colgan
Several senior leaders and managers from the Indonesia life insurance industry met in Jakarta on 14 February to discuss key issues at a Milliman event, “A forward perspective of the insurance industry in Indonesia.”
23 January 2019 - By Joanne Buckle, Neha Taneja
While IFRS 17 aims to bring increased transparency in the financial reporting by insurers, the complexities related to some aspects of it need to be carefully considered for short-term health insurers when esimating the financial, operational and business impact within the organisation’s governance frameworks.
10 January 2019 - By Michael Daly, Shamit Gupta, Richard W. Holloway, Sanket Kawatkar, Paul Sinnott, Wing F. Wong
This report provides a summary of the mid-year 2018 embedded value results disclosed by Asian insurers.
08 January 2019 - By Brian Colgan, Farzana Ismail
Given developments in 2018, it is time for companies in Indonesia to consider the impact of spinning off their Syariah business in 2019.
19 December 2018 - By Clement Bonnet, Farzana Ismail, Philip Jackson
As insurance companies prepare themselves for the new accounting standard IFRS 17, Takaful companies are facing significant uncertainty in how to interpret and apply the standard to their business.
12 November 2018 - By Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar
This e-Alert highlights the key changes proposed in the draft non-linked and linked insurance products regulations released in October by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.
31 October 2018 - By Chihong An, Pang-Hsiang Chye, Brian Colgan, Stephen H. Conwill, Michael Daly, Guanjun Jiang, Richard W. Holloway, Sharon Huang, Farzana Ismail, Sanket Kawatkar, Wade Matterson, Paul Sinnott, Wing F. Wong
Wade Matterson will present on using artificial intelligence to solve the retirement riddle at the Singapore FinTech Festival on 13 November.
29 October 2018 - By Chihong An, Brian Colgan, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Sharon Huang, Farzana Ismail, Sanket Kawatkar, Wing F. Wong
Michael McCord says that microinsurance is commercially viable and has the potential to provide a sustainable profitable stream of revenue for insurers in Asia.
18 October 2018 - By Clement Bonnet, Michael Daly, Suthida Supantamart
In Thailand, 2019 will be a year of considerable regulatory changes pertaining to risk management.
26 September 2018 - By Clement Bonnet, Michael Daly, Pingni Eng, Wen Yee Lee
In July, the Ministry of Finance in Vietnam released proposed amendments to a number of articles associated with its existing Circular 50 regulation that guides the implementation of Insurance Business Law.
22 August 2018 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Clifford Wu, Sing Yee Yeoh
On 6 August 2018, the Insurance Authority (IA) of Hong Kong released the technical specifications for the Second Quantitative Impact Study (QIS 2) associated with its developing Risk-based Capital regime (HKRBC).
16 August 2018 - By Joanne Buckle, Neha Taneja
In India, the Delhi High Court’s decision in February 2018 to restrict insurance companies from rejecting genetic disorder claims has sparked worry among insurers.
16 July 2018 - By Clement Bonnet, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Farzana Ismail, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar, Sung Hoon Kim, Takahiro Kinoshita, David Kong, Wen Yee Lee, Shir Lynn Ong, Paul Sinnott, Wing F. Wong, Sing Yee Yeoh
This research report provides a summary of Asian life insurance regulatory regimes.
27 June 2018 - By Juraidah Hussain, Mark Whatley
This Pulse highlights the results of Milliman’s retirement attitudes pulse survey conducted amongst human resources and other professionals who visited Milliman’s Employee Benefits booth at the HRM Asia HR Summit & Expo Asia in Singapore in May.
05 June 2018 - By Neha Taneja
A robust product governance process can reduce mis-selling and complaints, and increase policyholder confidence in the market.
14 May 2018 - By Abhishek Agrawal
The short-term and long-term challenges of India’s National Health Protection Scheme should be reviewed and tackled differently by each stakeholder- the central government, state governments, the provider community, and the insurer community.
09 May 2018 - By Deepak Jain
Milliman helps a sponsor of a 2000-participant defined benefit plan with plan administration.
07 March 2018 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Michael Daly, Paul Sinnott, Sing Yee Yeoh
In this e-Alert, we analyse the First Quantitative Impact Study submissions results and provide commentary on them.
23 February 2018 - By Lalit Baveja, Tanya Hayward
This article discusses a clinic-based community intervention designed to improve access and quality of care for high-utilising, high-risk patients over the course of three years.
10 January 2018 - By Clement Bonnet, Michael Daly, Suthida Supantamart
In this e-Alert, we compare the key changes between the proposed risk-based capital framework set out in the recent Office of Insurance Commission release and the initial framework.
10 January 2018 - By Lalit Baveja, Mason Roberts
The literature shows that a disease management programme is not a guarantee of cost savings, but in addition to community health improvements and improved clinical outcomes, desired cost savings can be realised if the programme is designed correctly.
13 July 2017 - By Joanne Buckle, Neha Taneja
A look at the current global market spread and size of the international private medical insurance (IPMI) market and discussion of some of the key considerations for pricing and experience rating a group IPMI policy.
06 June 2017 - By Shamit Gupta, William C. Hines, Zi Xiang Low, Craig Reynolds, Karthik Yadatore
This report discusses the impact of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s proposed changes to GAAP accounting standards on long duration insurance contracts, specifically on earnings and equity for several illustrative product types and the industry’s preparedness to adopt the new guidance.
08 May 2017 - By Joanne Buckle, Neha Taneja
With greater emphasis on delivering quality health outcomes while reducing costs, organisations are making care management an indispensable part of the system.
25 April 2017 - By Lalit Baveja
Milliman can help clients improve their administrative performance by conducting company function-by-function comparisons of administrative performance and staffing levels versus competitors and peers, and recommending appropriate process improvement initiatives.
19 April 2017 - By Pingni Eng, Richard W. Holloway, Wen Yee Lee
This e-Alert highlights the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s expectations on the safeguards that direct life insurers would need to put in place for the online distribution of life policies.
12 April 2017 - By Lalit Baveja
Sophisticated population health analytics enable insurers to make smarter and more informed decisions on financial trend drivers, and can help medical management departments by more effectively allocating disease and care management resources.
14 September 2016 - By Richard W. Holloway, Wen Yee Lee
The Monetary Authority of Singapore released its third consultation paper 15 July 2016 on proposed changes to the Risk-Based Capital framework for insurers in Singapore.
17 December 2014 - By Richard W. Holloway, Wen Yee Lee
Concept paper provides details on participating business, roles of stakeholders, transparency and disclosure requirements, and more.
12 June 2014 - By Dr. Sudhanshu Bansal, Lalit Baveja
Achieving fair provider payments is a key element for governments looking to expand universal healthcare programs.
08 March 2013 - By Lalit Baveja
Revamped pricing standards lead to improved delivery of healthcare.