MALAYSIAN Reinsurance Bhd (Malaysian Re) said that it may not be affected significantly by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan as it has reinsured the risks for catastrophic events- "We expect the impact to be minimal," its chief executive officer Hashim Harun told Business Times- The reinsurer made inroads into the Japanese market in 2007, in line with its ambition to be the top five reinsurer in Asia- Hashim said he is currently awaiting data to estimate the company's risk exposure in the disaster-hit nation- However, he said, Malaysian Re's business in Japan is small but profitable- Hashim said the reinsurer has made a RM20 million provision for unexpected claims, if any, for its Japanese business- "I don't think our claims will be that much," he said- Malaysian Re writes mainly property types of risk in Japan- Global reinsurers expect reinsurance rates to harden in the wake of the tsunami that followed the earthquake in Japan- Malaysian Re, a unit of MNRB Holdings Bhd, is the largest reinsurance player in the local market- Domestic demand made up 72 per cent of Malaysian Re's total business volume for the financial year ended March 31 2010, while the remaining 28 per cent came from overseas business- The company has been making forays into the foreign market via overseas treaty business following the gradual removal of voluntary cession- Under the existing voluntary cessions market agreement, all local general insurance companies are required to cede a portion of their business to Malaysian Re- Voluntary cession - where local insurance companies cede a part of their business to Malaysian Re - currently constitutes about 42 per cent of its total business volume- Analysts estimate that Malaysian Re's underwriting performance will remain profitable, given that its major business is generated from Malaysia, where the company will continue to enjoy the voluntary cession-...

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