Regulatory compliance has become a defining factor in how APAC’s insurers allocate resources, invest in technology, and prepare for long-term growth.
New research from Clearwater Analytics based on insights from insurance asset management executives based in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia overseeing a combined $3.8 trillion in assets, reveals almost half (48%) find meeting internal and external reporting demands to be the biggest challenge they face in complying with financial watchdogs.
Yet not all insurers experience regulatory pressure in the same way with small firms struggling with current reporting demands while large firms are positioning for future regulatory changes.
APAC’s insurance market splits into two camps: those struggling to keep up with today’s requirements, and those preparing for tomorrow’s.
Small and mid-sized insurers, those managing between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets, rank meeting reporting demands as their top challenge, which reflects the pressure their often-overstretched teams using legacy systems face in producing accurate, timely, regulator-ready reports.
Meanwhile larger insurers, those with between $10 billion and more than $50 billion AUM, are looking ahead, ranking adapting to regulatory change as their top concern.
Larger insurers tend to be less constrained by basic reporting capacity and are more focused on how evolving rules will impact capital, investment strategy, and operating models over the next three to five years, especially as they seek consolidation and growth in new markets.
The research also suggests this focus in the future is well founded. When asked about meeting changing regulatory requirements across markets in the coming years, nearly one-third (32%) of all insurers surveyed expect the task to be difficult, with 14% saying it will be very challenging.
Despite these concerns, confidence remains high in insurers’ current compliance capabilities. More than 90% of respondents rate the industry as “very good” or “excellent” at compliance today.
Yet that confidence may soon be tested.
As regulatory change accelerates and cross-border requirements diverge further, compliance excellence will no longer be defined by meeting minimum standards. It will depend on how quickly firms can adapt and integrate data across systems at scale.
Automation, data transparency, and centralized investment reporting reduce regulatory risk and free teams to focus on strategy, improve decision-making, and respond faster to market and regulatory shifts.
Insurers that invest early in integrated, scalable compliance capabilities stand to gain a real competitive edge.
As APAC’s regulatory landscape grows more complex, the gap between reactive and proactive insurers will widen. Organizations that establish solid, forward-thinking compliance frameworks now will be better prepared to meet regulatory requirements and excel beyond their competitors as challenges continue to grow.
In a region defined by diversity and change, compliance agility may prove to be one of the most valuable assets an insurer can hold.
Download our full findings to learn more about APAC’s top investment management challenges: