MAS’s Lim told engineering insurers Asia does not simply need more insurance capacity. It needs more “risk capacity”. The address was delivered by Mr Lim Cheng Khai, Executive Director, Financial Markets Development Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the IMIA Annual Conference on 21 September 2026.
The Infrastructure Backdrop Lim Sketched for Asia
In his opening address to the IMIA conference, Lim said: “It is my pleasure to join you today at the 59th IMIA Annual Conference.” The address was delivered to the International Association of Engineering Insurers (“IMIA”).
On investment needs in Southeast Asia, Lim said that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that Southeast Asia needs around US$210 billion of infrastructure investment every year, to maintain its economic growth, tackle poverty, and address climate impacts.
On transmission infrastructure, Lim said that ASEAN is estimated to need more than US$100 billion of investment in transmission infrastructure over the next two decades. On data centres, he said that Asia‑Pacific is expected to require more than US$280 billion in additional data‑centre capacity by 2030.
On risk, Lim’s words were: “Someone has to understand that risk. Someone has to reduce it. And someone ultimately has to bear it.”
For readers who follow insuring data centres, InsuraBeat has separate coverage of Aon’s lifecycle insurance programme for data centres.
Understanding, Reducing and Connecting: Lim’s Three-Part Role for Insurance
On the role of insurance, Lim said: “This is where the insurance industry has an important role to play. I would describe that role in three parts: understanding risk, reducing risk, and connecting risk with capital.”
On the pricing of risk, Lim said: “In many cases, technology is developing faster than the loss experience needed or available to price risk with confidence.” On the timing of risk reduction, he said: “Therefore, we need to reduce risk when decisions or choices we make can still influence them – at project planning and construction.”
On the insurer’s own role, Lim said that the role of the insurer is no longer simply a payer of claims, but also a trusted risk adviser. On catastrophe losses in Asia, he said that in 2025, Asia accounted for around 30% of global economic losses from natural catastrophes, yet only about 8% of those losses were insured.
For readers who follow natural catastrophe data, InsuraBeat has separate coverage of ICEYE’s satellite data funding round.
Alternative Capital, ILS Activity and a Protected Cell Company Framework
On the place of alternative capital, he said: “Traditional insurance and reinsurance will remain central. Alternative sources of capital can complement this capacity, by broadening the pool available to absorb risk.”
On ILS in Asia, he said: “We have been supporting the growth of the ILS market in Asia since 2018. More than 30 ILS have been issued and listed in Singapore to date, covering perils such as storms, earthquakes and floods globally and in the region.”
On bond issuance, Lim said: “Earlier this year, the ADB issued two disaster-relief bonds covering earthquake and extreme-precipitation risks in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.” He said that the World Bank also issued a catastrophe bond covering hurricane risk in Jamaica in May this year, and added: “The bonds are listed on the Singapore Exchange and supported by the MAS ILS Grant Scheme. The scheme helps to defray ILS issuance costs in Singapore.”
On the Protected Cell Company framework, Lim said that “MAS announced that we are developing a Protected Cell Company framework, which will support more efficient structures for ILS, captive insurance and sovereign risk pools.” As he described its design, the framework will provide legal segregation of assets and liabilities within a single corporate structure, allowing different risk arrangements to be managed independently while sharing common infrastructure and administration.
Lim added: “At scale, large infrastructure projects exposed to low‑frequency, high‑severity risks make these alternative risk transfer arrangements particularly relevant.”
For readers who follow Singapore’s ILS ambitions, InsuraBeat has separate coverage of MAS’s protected cell company plans for Singapore’s ILS market. For readers who follow sovereign catastrophe bonds, InsuraBeat has separate coverage of the World Bank’s Jamaica hurricane catastrophe bond.
“Risk Capacity” as Lim’s Conclusion
In the closing section of the address, Lim said:
“Asia does not simply need more insurance capacity. It needs more “risk capacity”. The capacity to understand risk, to reduce it, to price it. And the financial capacity to absorb what remains.”
