Africa Specialty Risks (ASR) is maintaining its risk appetite and underwriting discipline ahead of the 1 January 2027 renewals, while seeing opportunities to meet demand for specialist capacity and products across developing markets, according to Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) Eric Malterre.
In an interview with Reinsurance News around the annual meeting of the reinsurance industry in Monte Carlo, Malterre said ASR expects the current competitive market conditions to persist through the upcoming renewal cycle, with abundant capacity continuing to put downward pressure on pricing, particularly across property and energy.
“We experience challenges in lines like property and energy. By contrast, we get more favourable environments in lines of business like construction, political risk, and structured credit and PVT, which are trending more positively.
“For us, it’s about navigating through those challenges, and the best way to do so is to maintain strong underwriting discipline. It’s about being consistent with our risk appetite and our underwriting standards. So, we are cautious when it’s appropriate, and where we need to reduce on line size, such as maintaining pricing adequacy, we do so. That’s where we stand right now. We see those market dynamics being maintained through the upcoming cycle of 1/1.”
Malterre noted that he does not expect current market conditions to change in the short-term for property and property catastrophe unless there are significant industry loss events by the end of 2026.
He highlighted that ASR is seeing growing demand for specialist capacity and products in the developing markets where it operates.
“Demand is evolving, and it depends on the market you operate in,” said Malterre. “There are some interesting dynamics in the developing markets we operate in, particularly in Africa, and that creates an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves both in terms of product development and distribution such as our 247 online quoting and binding Portal. The demand is there, and growing.”
He also outlined key trends shaping the African insurance market and where ASR sees the biggest opportunities and challenges.
Malterre explained, “We see softening in pricing, more in mature markets such as South Africa than elsewhere. While Africa offers great diversification relative to more mature regions, it is not immune to global trends that we see. That said, Africa in itself is quite dynamic and comes with its own opportunities and challenges.
“There’s still a lack of capacity and specialist coverage in many countries. This is where we step in and provide capacity and expertise with boots on the ground. We see great opportunities to support the market demand, we are, for instance, refreshing our cyber product, which is a good example of where we see the demand for expertise and capacity. That’s an area of focus for us. And when you think about Africa, under insurance is also an issue. So, there is an opportunity for us in that space to fill the insurance gap and support sustainable economic development.”
Looking further ahead, Malterre said shifting global risk patterns, including climate change, geopolitical tensions and cyber, are bringing greater volatility to the global market place.
“These shocks bring more volatility into the mix. The African market offers great diversification, but it is not immune to those global shocks and developing risks.
However, Malterre explained that ASR views volatility as an opportunity when it can be managed effectively.
“Volatility is not a bad word. In fact, there is an upside in managing volatility provided you get it right, provided that you stick to your risk appetite and you know what you want to do and what you are not prepared to do. We factor that in our pricing and in the way we manage exposure and risks.
“The ASR model is also built upon localising our underwriting experience and expertise with boots on the ground alongside our distribution play, so it gives us a very intimate knowledge of the market dynamics we operate in. It gives us a very intimate knowledge of the trends and needs, and in a way, it helps us be agile and more customer led.
“This is one of the unique aspects of our model, and it also helps us navigate the arbitrage met locally between Treaty and Fac, while supporting growth”
Malterre also discussed how important its Lloyd’s Syndicate has been to Africa Specialty Risks’ growth ambitions.
“It’s very significant,” he said. “Significant in the sense that it gives us access to the Lloyd’s licensing system, which is a key asset. It also allows us to pull some capital, such as with our Baobab Consortium that we launched in 2025. That’s something that helps provide additional capacity to the market.
“We work closely with the Lloyd’s market to further support local insurance markets, such as we do in South Africa, leveraging our direct licence, and we’re progressing in the Kenyan market as well. So, clearly, the Lloyd’s segment of our business has been very significant.”
To conclude, Malterre commented on ASR’s recent upgrade by Fitch Ratings, describing it as a vote of confidence that reflects the validity of its growth strategy underpinned by disciplined underwriting and responsible stewardship of capital.
“It’s an opportunity for us to keep growing sustainably. We are incredibly delighted to hear the news, and that’s something that we want to build on. It’s a good thing to get now, and it will give us more room to manoeuvre.” he said.
