Getting to Know Boon Tay: Head of Aspen’s Singapore Branch

Singapore’s Independence Day is celebrated annually on August 9, and to commemorate the establishment of the independent and sovereign Republic of Singapore, we sat down with Boon Tay, Head of our Singapore Branch, to learn more about his role at Aspen and that of the Singapore team.

Tell us a little about your background and role at Aspen.
I joined Aspen a little over two years ago as Head of the Singapore Branch. Previously, I was a Property Underwriter for much of my career, mostly with Swiss Re and (Tokio Marine) Kiln, along with a shorter stint with one-time start-up Asia Capital Re. I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from the diverse exposure that each company offered. After close to three decades in the business, I still see myself, first and foremost, as an Underwriter.

What is the role of the Singapore team at Aspen?
Our Singapore team is geared mostly towards sourcing, packaging and admitting target business onto our balance sheet. In that sense, I see most of us as “frontliners” (i.e., underwriters, pricing actuaries, catastrophe modelers). We are fortunate that many of our corporate functions are supported by talented teams in various offices around the world, leaving our branch to focus on identifying and winning the best business we can in the marketplace.

The Singapore branch writes treaty business across all key lines of Property, Casualty, Marine and Agriculture. Our target is non-proportional treaty – a segment we believe that aligns well with our portfolio strategy. Differentiating ourselves in a competitive space can be challenging. But we strive to be an active quoting market in our target segment, with the goal of providing tailored, future-proof solutions that serve the needs of our clients and intermediaries, in a world of increasingly complex risks.

 How is the current market in Asia?
After a general hardening over the past few years, the reinsurance market in Asia – much like the rest of world – is at an inflection point. While we think we have rightsized our branch portfolio in recent years based on a clear set of espoused objectives and risk appetites, we can never be complacent: what has worked in hardening cycles may no longer work in renewals ahead. With this in mind, we have been working with Product Heads and our CUO to re-examine and – where feasible – further finetune our risk appetite. The amount of collaboration and coordination we have from various teams and offices globally is a testament to the degree of support the branch is enjoying.

What does it take to carve out a successful career in (re) insurance?
Beyond technical knowledge in a chosen area of specialty, I find an intellectual curiosity – at times verging on healthy skepticism – a helpful habit to cultivate as an Underwriter. Our job often requires us to draw insight from a range of specialized fields without necessarily being an expert in any of them. In today’s fast-changing, risk landscape, for example, an Underwriter is well advised to keep their finger on the pulse of developments on social-political, economic and technological fronts.

Relying on past templates and stylized approaches don’t always work; we need to question old assumptions and models every now and then. In this regard, our multi-line, cross-functional team in Singapore is perfectly set up to ensure continual learning, self-critique and improvement. I think we all appreciate here that we have an environment that allows for personal growth and development while we all work together to advance the ‘One Aspen’ view of risk.