Originally published: Insurance Business, 4 December 2025
Insurers in Asia and Australia are preparing to hand a larger share of their portfolios to external managers as they expand into private markets and seek improved technology and reporting capabilities, according to new research from Clearwater Analytics.
External mandates poised to rise in APAC
Clearwater’s latest study of insurance asset managers in Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore found that survey participants currently outsource, on average, 35% of their portfolios to third-party managers. All respondents allocate some portion of their general account assets externally, with individual firms delegating between 24% and 45% of assets.
The asset managers – representing life, health, and general insurance businesses with a combined $2.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM) – expect those allocations to shift further toward external firms over the next five years. Around two-thirds (67%) of respondents anticipate a larger proportion of assets will be run by external managers. About 22% expect to bring more assets back in-house, while 11% foresee no material change in the current split between internal and external management.
These APAC findings were based on 150 interviews conducted in October 2025 by independent research firm Pureprofile, covering senior executives in insurance asset management units across Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
