Good morning, ! It’s Wednesday and we’re covering why InsurTech funding drops to $4.25B. Cyber insurance grows amid rising AI-driven threats, ASEAN InsurTech makes a $2.35B comeback, and Howden doubles down on global benefits with a major UK acquisition.

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InsurTech: The Boom, The Bust, and The Pivot

InsurTech funding has been on a rollercoaster ride—going from a modest $348M in 2012 to a record-smashing $15.8B in 2021, only to tumble back down to $4.25B in 2024​. Investors went from FOMO to YOLO to “Let’s see some profits first.”

The culprits? A mix of market saturation, rising interest rates, and a reality check on unsustainable growth. While 2021 was a feeding frenzy, the past two years have been all about “sober investing”—fewer mega-rounds, more focus on B2B SaaS, and a love affair with AI-driven efficiency​.

Speaking of AI, insurers are now betting big on automation, fraud detection, and LLM-powered chatbots—because nothing says customer engagement like an AI assistant that actually understands your claim​.

The takeaway? The InsurTech gold rush is over, but the smart money is still flowing—just with a lot more scrutiny and a lot less hype.

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Cyber Insurance Market Faces Rising Challenges

The cyber insurance market is expanding rapidly, projected to reach $29 billion by 2027, yet 87% of global managers admit their companies are still underprotected against cyber threats.

Key Insights:

• Escalating Cyber Threats: The rise of AI-driven attacks, cloud vulnerabilities, and ransomware is pushing cyber risks to new heights.
  

• Evolving Risk Landscape: The growing reliance on IT, IoT, and digital infrastructure has widened attack surfaces, making cyber insurance a necessity, not an option.
  

• Market Growth vs. Protection Gap: Despite the industry's explosive 22% annual growth, a significant coverage gap remains, exposing businesses to severe financial and operational risks.

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Insurtech Corner: ASEAN’s Boom-and-Bust Cycle is Back

After a two-year slump, ASEAN insurtech dealmaking roared back in 2023 with $2.35B in transactions, nearly matching 2020’s record $2.36B. The sharp rebound suggests renewed investor confidence, but also highlights how volatile the market remains—2021 and 2022 saw deal values plunge below $600M.

Why it matters: Big capital is returning, but the question is where it’s going—are we seeing consolidation plays, late-stage funding, or fresh bets on embedded insurance and AI-driven underwriting?

For investors, 2024 will test whether last year’s surge was a reset or just another spike in the rollercoaster ride of insurtech funding.

Howden Bolsters Global Benefits Game with Barnett Waddingham Buy

Howden is acquiring UK-based Barnett Waddingham, adding 4,000 professionals and turbocharging its global Employee Benefits and pensions advisory platform—though the deal value remains undisclosed.

Why it matters: This is more than a tuck-in, it doubles the size of Howden’s Employee Benefits business, driving global revenue to an estimated £500M ($645M) and cementing its position as one of the largest pension consultancies in the UK.

It’s also a textbook alignment play: Barnett Waddingham’s partners are reinvesting into Howden, signaling long-term buy-in and cultural fit. With inflation, longevity, and workforce well-being reshaping the benefits landscape, this deal plants Howden firmly at the intersection of pensions, health, and insurance advisory.

Bottom line: In the race to be a global broker, Howden’s betting big on benefits—and now has the scale to match the ambition.

Frontier Market Rally Faces Trump Shockwaves

High-yield frontier markets have enjoyed a two-year rally, but the tide is turning. Trump-related risks are driving a global risk-off shift, exposing overvalued debt and fiscal instability.

1. Overvalued & Risky – Argentina and Senegal face debt crises, with unsustainable fiscal paths and likely restructuring.

2. Political Uncertainty – Ecuador’s elections and Ukraine’s fragile ceasefire hopes create market volatility.

3. Selective Bright Spots – Gabon, Pakistan, and Angola stand out, backed by IMF support and political shifts.

With global capital shifting toward safer assets, frontier debt markets are at a crossroads—some will thrive, others will unravel.

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