Seadrif aims to close public asset insurance gap across Southeast Asia

Seadrif Insurance Company’s recently appointed executive director has vowed not to compete with the private market as the disaster risk pooling initiative seeks to expand its membership across the ASEAN+3 region.

Former World Bank disaster risk specialist Benedikt Signer was appointed to the role earlier this year with a remit to oversee the growth of the company.

The insurance company arm of the regional disaster resilience platform was incorporated in Singapore around four years ago with a mandate to write business on behalf of its member countries.

“The vision behind Seadrif came through political conversations which started around a decade ago, around how a sovereign risk pooling concept might be brought to Southeast Asia to strengthen resilience,” Signer told The Insurer.

The initiative currently has eight members: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Japan and Vietnam.

“Membership is open to all ASEAN+3 countries, and we are hoping to grow beyond our current eight members,” Signer said.

The insurance company’s current active policy provides flood cover for Lao PDR and recently paid out around $3mn after the parametric triggers on the policy were met.

The cover also has a “finite risk” component that pays claims if Lao PDR experiences severe floods that do not meet the parametric trigger. The finite risk component of the policy paid out $1.5mn after flooding in late 2023.

Signer said the hope was to develop cover for other countries but cautioned that a one-size-fits-all approach would not work in the region.

“ASEAN is a very diverse region and countries have very different needs. A product that makes sense to Laos will not necessarily make sense to the Philippines or Vietnam,” he said.

“It's key that we work with governments to meet their very specific needs rather than simply develop a product and go sell it. We have to establish how an insurance product fits into their disaster resilience planning.

“The bottom line for us is increasing protection for our member countries – it is not maximising profits.”

Signer said it was important to find the balance between the most technically sound product and one that meets client needs and is simple to understand, while also showing consistency with exposures on the ground.

One of the major requests from members has been for support in developing insurance for public asset infrastructure in the region.

In the near term, he said Seadrif was aiming to support the growth of public asset insurance programs in the Philippines and Indonesia.

“Most public asset infrastructure in the region is not insured,” he said. “The value-add of Seadrif is to help close that gap in the market and find a way of bringing more public risks to the market more efficiently. We will not compete with the private market.”

Signer previously worked on the World Bank’s Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Program. In that role he served as an advisor to the Seadrif board.

Alongside Signer, recent additions to the Seadrif Insurance Company team include Ellen Yong as chief financial and operating officer following a decade in Bermuda with Fidelis and XL Catlin.

Seadrif appointed Gallagher Re as its reinsurance broker in June this year.