1. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am very happy to be here.

a. Each year, SIRC brings together leaders from across the global insurance and reinsurance ecosystem.
b. I would like to thank the Singapore Reinsurers’ Association (SRA) for convening this conference and extend a warm welcome to Singapore to our overseas guests. This year's conference has attracted a strong turnout of around 4,300 delegates from over 85 countries.

2. The insurance industry has traditionally been recognised for its role in providing protection – strengthening financial resilience and stability when adverse events occur. Given global uncertainty and an increasingly complex global economic environment, this core function remains indispensable.

3. As Asia undergoes rapid economic transformation, the insurance industry has an increasingly important role to play beyond providing protection and offering peace of mind.

a. Across the region, significant investments are being made in energy infrastructure, cross-border power grids, subsea cables, and data centres to support Asia’s growing energy and digital needs.
b. Developing and sustaining these large, complex and capital-intensive projects provides insurers with opportunities to play a bigger role beyond underwriting losses.
c. These projects need insurers to help identify, manage and mitigate risks, giving investors and businesses the confidence to undertake them.

4. The insurance industry in Asia thus serves a broader mandate: as Architects of Resilience and as Partners in Growth.

a. Through your underwriting and risk management expertise, helping economies and businesses mitigate and prepare for risks before a crisis happens; and when a crisis does happen, to recover quickly, rebuild and adapt.
b. And as long-term institutional investors, mobilising balance sheets and patient capital to support Asia’s financing and developmental needs.

5. Today, I would like to outline how MAS has been working together with the industry to advance these objectives.

Singapore’s Insurance Sector: From Capacity to Capability

6. Singapore’s insurance and reinsurance sector has grown significantly over the years. The sector has developed considerable underwriting capacity and expertise across a wide range of risks.

7. Today, Singapore is home to a broad base of global insurers, reinsurers, brokers and specialty players serving clients across Asia. We have the region’s largest concentration of global reinsurers and corporate captives, with an insurance workforce size of about 44,000.

8. This scale has been matched by strong growth.

a. In 2025, total premiums across life, general insurance and reinsurance reached close to S$90 billion.
b. Insurance broking revenues have also grown more than 10% annually over the past five years, reaching S$1.1 billion in 2025.

9. As risks become larger, more interconnected and more complex, the next phase of the insurance industry’s development must be about translating its scale into deeper capacity and stronger capabilities.

a. It is no longer about underwriting a single power plant, port, or data centre.
b. These assets now sit within complex systems – digital networks, supply chains, and climate‑exposed environments – where a disruption in one part can quickly spill over into another.

Insurers as Architects of Resilience

10. Climate risk is one area where these capabilities are increasingly important.

a. The Asia-Pacific region continues to face substantial exposure to natural disasters, with a high proportion of economic losses remaining uninsured.
b. These can disrupt communities and livelihoods, damage critical infrastructure and essential services, resulting in significant reconstruction and financing needs.
c. For countries with limited fiscal reserves, these unexpected costs can place significant pressure on public finances and divert resources from other social and developmental priorities.

11. Building resilience means being better prepared before disasters strike. It includes understanding where the risks lie, reducing vulnerabilities, and putting in place financing that can support timely recovery.

12. Risks that affect governments, public finances, critical infrastructure, and vulnerable communities require the public and private sectors to work together.

a. Governments understand their fiscal constraints, infrastructure priorities, and the needs of the affected communities.
b. Insurers and reinsurers bring expertise in assessing and pricing risks, structuring insurance solutions, and providing risk-bearing capacity.
c. Other partners such as multi-lateral development banks can also contribute technical assistance and financing support, to make protection more accessible and sustainable.
d. Together, these capabilities can help governments and communities develop disaster risk financing arrangements that are better aligned with their needs.

13. There is therefore significant scope to deepen blended, or public-private, approaches in Asia so that we can develop more innovative solutions.

14. SEADRIF has shown how this can work in practice.

a. It works with governments, development partners and the reinsurance industry to develop pre-arranged disaster financing solutions, using parametric triggers to provide rapid and predictable funding when disasters strike.
b. In September, for example, more than US$2 million was paid out, following widespread flooding in Lao PDR which affected more than 370,000 people.

15. Importantly, SEADRIF is taking a programmatic approach, building on tested structures and extending them across countries and risks.

a. It is now extending this approach to the Philippines, with two multi-year policies being finalised for placement, providing more than US$55 million of coverage annually.

16. Such platforms can also provide governments with a pathway to access international reinsurance capacity.

a. With US$13 million in paid-in capital, SEADRIF has mobilised more than US$230 million in private reinsurance capacity across its programmes, including the two forthcoming Philippines policies.
b. This illustrates how public resources, deployed through the right structures, can bring substantially greater private risk-bearing capacity alongside them.

17. Together, these approaches can help make disaster risk financing more scalable, while drawing on the depth and expertise of private reinsurance markets.

18. The same imperative applies to another major challenge facing the region: how we support the significant infrastructure investment that is needed for Asia’s continued growth.

a. Across ASEAN, more than US$200 billion in infrastructure investments are required annually.Greening Southeast Asia’s Infrastructure Pipeline | Asian Development Bank
b. At the same time, the infrastructure need has expanded well beyond traditional assets such as roads, ports and utilities. Today, it spans renewable energy, digital infrastructure, data centres, telecommunications networks and other assets that support the region's economic transformation and to provide a better quality of life for our people.

19. These projects are often large, technically complex and they are exposed to risks across their full life cycle, from construction and financing, to operations, supply chains and even cybersecurity.

20. Managing these increasingly complex and interconnected risks requires a more proactive approach to risk assessment and mitigation.

a. Insurers have been making this point for some time: they want to contribute earlier, not simply come in at the end to insure the risks that remain. Their risk-engineering and underwriting expertise can add the greatest value when projects are still being designed and risks can be materially reduced.
b. There is therefore opportunity to bring insurers, project developers and financiers together much earlier in the project lifecycle, so that insurance expertise can help to shape the risk itself, rather than just price it.

21. Singapore is well placed to bring these capabilities together.

a. Our position as an insurance and reinsurance hub gives us access to underwriting capacity, specialist expertise and global risk pools.
b. Our broader financial ecosystem also allows insurers to work alongside banks, asset managers, investors and professional service providers to develop more comprehensive solutions.

22. In some areas, the scale and complexity of emerging risks mean that no single insurer can provide all the necessary capacity and expertise.

23. A clear example is data centres, which are rapidly expanding to support the digital economy and AI adoption.

a. APAC data centre capacity is projected to increase from around 32 GW to 57 GW by 2030.2026 Global Data Center Market Outlook | JLL Research
b. These high-density computing clusters depend on massive grid capacity, specialised liquid cooling ecosystems, and complex supply chains. Operators face exposures across construction, property damage, cyber incidents, operational downtime and contractual obligations, with risk profiles evolving as facilities move from build‑out to live operations.

24. As investments in data centres in the region grow, there is a significant opportunity for Singapore’s insurance industry to anchor more risk capacity and develop specialised expertise to support their risk financing needs at scale.

a. Today, the insurance solutions and capacity for these risks remain relatively fragmented. Individual insurers may also be limited in the scale and breadth of risks that they can take on individually.

25. I am glad that a group of industry players are collaborating to develop a dedicated data centre insurance facility, anchored here in Singapore. They will bring together underwriting capacity and specialised capabilities to serve the region’s data centre risk needs. In essence, building the capacity and capabilities in Singapore, but not just for Singapore - for the region.

a. The members of this initiative include MSIG, Gallagher Re, SCOR, Samsung Re and the Cybersecurity Association Singapore. An MOU will be signed this week to formalise the collaboration among key participants.
b. The facility is expected to cover risks across construction, operational, supply-chain, design and cyber risks, with US$200m in initial capacity seeded, before scaling up over time.
c. We welcome more insurers, reinsurers, and other partners to contribute capacity and expertise as this facility develops. And regional project sponsors to access their protection needs through a one-stop insurance hub in Singapore.

26. Initiatives of this nature can help Singapore play a larger role in supporting the safe and resilient development of new infrastructure across the region. This is one way in which insurers can serve as Architects of Resilience.

27. But insurers can also contribute to the region’s infrastructure needs in another important way: as providers of long-term capital. Please allow me to elaborate on this point.

Insurers as Partners in Growth

28. Insurers are large institutional investors with substantial pools of long-term capital.

a. Investments in infrastructure can be a natural fit for these balance sheets. High-quality infrastructure assets can generate stable, long-term cash flows that align well with insurers’ long-dated liabilities, particularly those of life insurers.
b. Insurers can participate both as asset owners and, through their asset management businesses, by originating, structuring and managing investments for other investors.

29. Yet insurer allocations to infrastructure remain modest. Past studies have placed infrastructure allocations at only around 1-2% of insurers’ assets, although there are signs that these have been growing gradually over time.

30. Given that the insurers in Asia Pacific hold more than US$10 trillion in investable assetsIAIS Global Insurance Market Report 2025. , even a modest increase in allocations could mobilise significant additional capital for infrastructure development.

31. But unlocking this potential requires more than encouraging insurers to invest. We need to do more than that. The different parts of the infrastructure financing ecosystem need to work together.

a. We need a sufficient pipeline of viable and investible projects with the relevant risks allocated to those best placed to bear them.
b. Information must also be available in a form that allows insurers to assess risks consistently.
c. Regulation should be sufficiently risk-sensitive to recognise meaningful differences in the underlying risks of different assets.
d. And insurers themselves need the capabilities to originate, assess and manage these investments.

32. That is why we have approached this from an ecosystem perspective. We are not just looking at individual pillars, but how the different pillars come together as an overall ecosystem.

33. MAS has been taking a comprehensive look at Singapore’s capital and financing ecosystem, including how capital is formed, deployed and recycled.

a. Together with the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore, MAS convened the Growth Capital Workgroup earlier this year to examine the broader growth capital ecosystem. I am chairing this Workgroup.
b. This includes how companies and projects access capital as they grow, how investors realise investments, and how capital can be recycled into new opportunities.

34. Over the past few months, the Workgroup has engaged fund managers, banks, insurers, and other market participants to gather your views and ideas.

a. MAS has also engaged life insurers closely to understand the practical constraints that they face in investing in infrastructure and other long-term assets, and the measures that would make a meaningful difference to them.

35. These consultations have been very useful and they have reinforced several points.

a. First, capital requirements should appropriately reflect the underlying risks of infrastructure and securitisation assets.
b. Second, investors need more consistent information and assessment frameworks to evaluate these assets efficiently.
c. Lastly, some insurers remain early in the journey, and they will need some time to build up their expertise and experience.

36. We have already taken some steps in this direction. In October last year, we announced differentiated capital treatment for qualifying infrastructure investments under the Risk-Based Capital 2 Framework (RBC 2), which took effect on 31 March 2026.

37. At SIRC last year, we also announced Project Verdi, a pilot to provide differentiated capital treatment for sustainable infrastructure investments that may not meet all the qualifying criteria under the main RBC framework.

a. The pilot commenced earlier this year.
b. I am pleased to share that we have received applications from eight fund managers for 10 funds. Of these, three funds are expected to be approved by end of this year, while five funds have been assessed to already qualify under the base framework.
c. We are seeing continued strong interest from the market, with a healthy pipeline of applications.

38. Today, I would like to announce further measures to support insurers.

a. Our guiding principle is that regulatory capital requirements should reflect underlying risk.
b. Where infrastructure and other long-term assets demonstrate different risk characteristics, our insurance capital framework should recognise this, while maintaining sound prudential standards and protecting policyholders.

39. MAS intends to propose three enhancements to RBC 2, having engaged the industry over the past few months. We are putting our proposals for public consultation before we finalise them.

a. First, we intend to broaden the scope of infrastructure debt that can benefit from lower capital charges.

i. Today, unrated qualifying infrastructure debt has a lower capital charge compared to an unrated corporate debt. We propose to apply the same treatment for rated qualifying infrastructure debt, subject to appropriate conditions, to make it more attractive for insurers to invest in such instruments.
ii. We will also be recognising more external credit assessment institutions with relevant expertise in infrastructure and securitisation.
iii. This can give insurers access to a wider pool of qualifying debt instruments.

b. Second, we intend to recognise more risk-mitigating features that will allow further reduction in capital charges for qualifying infrastructure debt and equity investments. The relevant features would include stable contractual or regulated revenues, strong counterparties and safeguards that reduce exposure to market volatility.

c. Third, we intend to make the capital requirement for rated securitisations more risk‑sensitive.

i. Securitisation can help connect a broader range of assets with institutional capital and allow capital to be recycled into new investments.
ii. Recognising that securitised assets have varying risk profiles, we propose to lower capital charges for securitised assets that are senior, liquid and which meet criteria for simplicity, transparency and standardisation.
iii. This will facilitate insurers to invest in high-quality, lower risk securitisations, thereby supporting originators in recycling capital.

d. These proposed changes reflect our joint efforts with the industry to proactively review our rules and regulations to support new business opportunities, and make sure that capital requirements appropriately reflect the underlying risks of these investments while maintaining sound prudential standards.

40. In my earlier conversation with some of the participants, we discussed how Singapore’s strength has always been its position as a trusted hub that offers stability for people to plan for the long term. We want to preserve this strength, while ensuring that Singapore remains a place that supports new innovations, breakthroughs and ways of working. This is what we aim to achieve in partnership with the industry.

a. By making these changes, we believe we would enable insurers to allocate capital more efficiently towards high-quality infrastructure and securitisation assets that suit their long-term liabilities.
b. The public consultation will start today, and we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

41. Regulatory changes alone, however, will not unlock insurer capital. Insurers must be able to assess, originate and manage infrastructure and other private-market investments effectively.

42. We are therefore working with industry to reduce information frictions and make qualifying infrastructure investments easier to assess. This includes developing standardised disclosure templates, clearer assessment guidance and fund-manager declarations.

a. These measures can help insurers obtain more consistent information and make their assessments more efficiently, while continuing to undertake the necessary due diligence.
b. This reflects the balance between maintaining stability and trust, while making changes to encourage innovation and new ways of working.

43. We also want to support insurers in building the capabilities that you need to invest effectively in infrastructure, from sourcing and evaluating opportunities, to managing these investments.

44. MAS will therefore set aside S$30 million under the Financial Sector Development Fund to support insurers in developing infrastructure investment capabilities in Singapore.

a. The support can help defray the costs of building dedicated investment teams, strengthening the skills of existing staff, and engaging the professional services needed to establish and expand infrastructure investment activities.
b. The intention is to anchor the people, expertise and decision-making capabilities needed to originate, assess and manage these investments from Singapore.
c. This can help to reinforce Singapore’s broader infrastructure-financing ecosystem by connecting insurers with asset managers, banks, project sponsors, advisers and other sources of investment expertise.

45. Taken together, we hope these measures can help you to be able to do more in this area and reflect MAS’ broader objective to make insurers strong partners in Singapore’s growth-capital ecosystem. Not only protecting the infrastructure that supports Asia’s growth, but also helping to finance the infrastructure development.

46. Before I end, I thought to share something that came up during a conversation on the way here – the mindset that we should adopt as regulators. We must see ourselves as gatekeepers, rather than goalkeepers.

a. A goalkeeper’s objective is to block the shots and prevent the ball from going into the net. A gatekeeper, on the other hand, has to exercise discretion in deciding who to let through and who to keep out.
b. As regulators, we should see our role as gatekeepers. We must manage risks and keep out the bad ones. We must also be prepared to take some risks together with the industry, open up opportunities and allow good ideas to come through. We are a not a goalkeeper, we are not trying to block them. That is the mindset we need, whether for this set of announcements that I have shared with you today, or the many other things that MAS would like to do together with our industry.
c. This is the approach that we have to take, with the end in mind of growing Singapore’s financial services industry, so that we are able to create more good jobs for our people, attract more companies to come to Singapore, and grow the size of our pie.

Closing

47. Asia’s continued growth will bring new opportunities, alongside increasingly complex risks. As Architects of Resilience and Partners in Growth, the insurance industry has a critical role to play in both areas.

48. MAS looks forward to continuing this partnership with you, to support the global insurance and reinsurance community, to strengthen resilience and support Asia’s long-term growth.

49. I wish everyone a fruitful conference ahead. Thank you.

***