MAS flags risks in insurers’ private asset allocations and AIR

Allocations may include investments in private equity and credit.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is monitoring insurers’ growing allocation to private assets following recent market disruptions that highlighted vulnerabilities, including liquidity and valuation risks.

“This could be through direct investments in private equity or credit, or indirectly through asset-intensive reinsurance, or AIR,” said MAS assistant managing director Marcus Lim at the Life Insurance Association Annual Luncheon on 30 March.

He said AIR allows insurers to transfer risk and optimise balance sheets whilst tapping specialised investment capabilities in private markets to support policies with significant investment risk.

However, risks may still arise in collateral quality, market liquidity, and insurers’ ability to meet recapture obligations under stress.

“Insurers must therefore exercise strong risk management, apply robust stress testing, and ensure that the search for yield never compromises the fundamental promise of policyholder protection,” Lim added.

MAS aims to consult on further guidance in this area later this year.

Lim said the authority is also consulting on new guidelines covering third-party risk management and operational risk management, with the consultation closing on 20 April.

Incidents last year demonstrated that vendors can be a weak link in efforts to maintain trust with policyholders, he added.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia