Respondents from the city-state also say they aim to increase their allocations to private markets
[SINGAPORE] Insurance asset managers in Singapore are increasingly planning to outsource fund management to external experts, with nearly two-thirds expecting to shift the management of more assets to outside their firms, a study by Clearwater Analytics showed.
The move comes amid growing demand for greater portfolio control and transparency, as insurers navigate more complex investment environments.
Among the 50 Singapore insurance asset managers surveyed, 63 per cent said that they expect to shift more assets to external managers, while 26 per cent foresee a greater share being managed in-house. Only 11 per cent believe that the balance between internally and externally managed assets will remain unchanged.
The study by the American fintech firm covered insurance asset managers in Singapore overseeing a combined US$1.04 trillion in assets.
Overall, the firm surveyed 150 senior executives from the asset management arms of life, health and general insurers based in Asia-Pacific, as well as third-party investment firms serving life insurance carriers in the region.
Conducted in October 2025, the study gathered responses from Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, with participants evenly split across the three markets.
Navigate Asia in
a new global order
Get the insights delivered to your inbox.
All respondents surveyed delegate some portion of their funds to external managers, with the percentage of externally managed funds ranging from 24 to 45 per cent, noted Clearwater Analytics. On average, Singapore insurance asset managers have 34 per cent of their funds managed externally.
Notably, the need for greater control over investment portfolios was the top reason cited by insurance asset managers in the Republic for the shift towards outsourcing fund management, said the study.
This was followed by the need for transparency and reporting. Other factors, such as increased visibility of investment portfolios, and the improved reputation and increased acceptance of using external managers, followed closely as reasons for this shift.
SEE ALSO
Shane Akeroyd, chief strategy officer and president of Asia-Pacific at Clearwater Analytics, said: “The use of third-party asset managers by insurers in Singapore will accelerate as they become increasingly comfortable with the practice and seek specialised expertise for complex private-market investments.”
Increased portfolio diversification
With data-management challenges set to intensify, 84 per cent of the Singapore respondents plan to increase the diversification of their investments across a wider range of asset classes over the next three years, noted the study.
In line with this, average private-market allocations are expected to grow from 20 per cent to 36 per cent of holdings in five years.
As firms seek managers with the required expertise to manage the asset classes they invest in, this should lead to an increase in the outsourcing of portfolio management, added Clearwater Analytics.
It will also result in more data in varied formats and an increasing difficulty in accessing information.
As these trends heighten operational pressures and reshape talent strategies, Clearwater Analytics found there were “significant skills and capability gaps” within investment management functions.
The study noted that the top strategies to combat these issues included recruiting people from a broader range of sectors or with a greater diversity of perspectives, hiring more specialists in risk-management roles and adding new tools or platforms to compensate for system deficiencies.
Transferring more risk-management analysis away from spreadsheets and other manual processes, as well as outsourcing more to third parties, were also among the top strategies for addressing these problems.
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.