Swiss Re has handed one of its most seasoned executives a sprawling P&C reinsurance mandate across Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, a region where economic losses dwarf insured coverage and every major reinsurer is angling for share.
Anna Ziswiler (pictured above), a 16-year Swiss Re veteran whose portfolio has spanned strategy, operations and reinsurance across Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, takes the role on May 1.
She moves from a position overseeing 20 markets including the Middle East, Pakistan, Israel, the Mediterranean and Switzerland, and will also serve as country president for Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea and India.
The dual title follows established Swiss Re governance. The firm routinely combines a country president function, covering regulatory relationships and stakeholder engagement, with business-line leadership. Recent precedents include Jason Richards in the UK and Ivan Gonzalez in China.
The territory Ziswiler inherits is the world's fastest-growing reinsurance region. GlobalData projects the Asia-Pacific reinsurance market will expand from an estimated $54 billion in 2024 to $68.4 billion by 2029. India alone is on pace to become the world's third-largest insurance market by decade-end.
The structural opportunity is clearest in the protection gap. Aon's figures for 2025 showed economic losses from natural disasters across Asia-Pacific reached at least $76 billion, yet barely $7 billion was insured. Swiss Re has been moving to address that imbalance.
In January, the reinsurer launched parametric natural catastrophe products in the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand targeting sovereign and municipal clients.
The P&C Re division reported net premiums earned of $22.4 billion and a combined ratio of 85.0% for 2025. At the April 2026 renewals, P&C Re renewed $15.3 billion in treaty premium, representing 6% year-on-year growth. CEO Urs Baertschi said rate changes and terms remained broadly favorable across all regions, including Asia.
Ziswiler will not have the field to herself. Munich Re's Ambition 2030 strategy, unveiled in December, calls for expansion into new Asian markets and a broader specialty range.
Hannover Re said in its most recent renewal commentary that it had "further extended its strong positioning in the Asia-Pacific markets," citing profitable growth in Southeast Asia, Korea and India.
S&P Global Ratings noted in its October 2025 regional outlook that reinsurers faced competitive pricing from ample capacity and softening rates, pointing to modest and uneven growth across the region in 2026.
