When Consilium announced its Singapore office in July 2025, the license had yet to come. Twelve months later, it has – and with it, a new senior hire who extends the team’s reach into the property, political violence, and terrorism classes driving demand across Asia-Pacific.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) broking license was granted July 29, 2026, formalizing an operation that the London-based specialty (re)insurance broker had been building toward since naming Robert Drysdale as CEO of Consilium Insurance Brokers APAC Pte Ltd just over a year ago. At the time of the original announcement, Drysdale brought nearly 20 years of facultative reinsurance experience across the Asia-Pacific, having previously held senior roles at Descartes, Howden Specialty, and Willis Towers Watson.
The MAS license is joined by the appointment of Ben Compton (pictured) as associate partner. Compton joins from Marsh, where he served as vice president for property, political violence, and terrorism placement, and previously held carrier management and insurer relationship roles at JLT Group. Drysdale said in a statement: “With our broking licence in place, Singapore will play a significant role in our growth strategy across the Asia-Pacific region, and our team is hungry to start delivering value to clients. With that in mind, we’re delighted to welcome Ben to the team. He brings specialist knowledge and expertise that will help to grow our range of Facultative Reinsurance solutions for clients and further build our presence in the region.”
The year between announcement and license has been an active one in the Asia-Pacific facultative market. Asian insurers ramped up their use of facultative reinsurance in the first quarter of 2026, according to Aon, as carriers across the region sought to support growth, manage volatility, and push into new lines of business amid a rapidly softening reinsurance market. At the January 2026 renewals, Gallagher Re reported facultative rate reductions of 35% to 40% across the Middle East and Asia, driven by improved technical results and continued capacity inflows, with stronger risks securing the largest decreases. Aon’s separate April 2026 renewal report put global reinsurance capital at a record $785 billion, with demand rising roughly 10% and double-digit rate reductions recorded in Japan, Korea, and India.
On a structural level, facultative placements are forecast to grow at an 8.05% compound annual growth rate as underwriters respond to large-scale solar plants, offshore wind, and bespoke cyber exposures that standard treaties do not accommodate, according to Mordor Intelligence. The Asia-Pacific reinsurance market overall is projected to reach $68.4 billion in premiums by 2029, up from $54 billion, according to GlobalData.
The MAS license grants Consilium formal standing in a market that has been deepening steadily. Over the five years to 2024, total life, general insurance, and reinsurance premiums in Singapore grew at an average of over 8% annually, reaching approximately S$78 billion. MAS managing director Chia Der Jiun noted at the 2025 Singapore International Reinsurance Conference that specialty insurance lines and reinsurance capacity are growing to cover large and complex risks in the region, and that global brokers are anchoring capabilities in analytics, advisory, risk modelling, and sustainability in Singapore.
The MAS Financial Institutions Directory currently lists 53 registered general reinsurance brokers operating in Singapore – a figure that reflects the city-state’s role as the primary intermediary hub for regional reinsurance placement, and the competitive field into which Consilium is now formally entering. The regulatory framework also carries a direct financial incentive for brokers. Singapore’s Insurance Business Development – Insurance Broking Business Scheme, extended to December 31, 2028, grants approved insurance and reinsurance brokers a concessionary tax rate of 10% on commissions and fee income derived from insurance broking and advisory services.
The Singapore operation connects Asia-Pacific clients to reinsurance markets in Asia, the Middle East, and London across a range of specialty classes. It operates alongside ATOMX, Consilium’s proprietary technology platform. Parent company Aventum invested $12 million to develop ATOMX as an integrated suite of 10 API- and AI-driven products, including claims, bordereau, pricing, and broker and underwriter workbenches, built on fully cloud-native technology and maintained by a team of more than 130 technology professionals. The platform is designed to save more than 1,000 staff hours per month.
Consilium trades more than $1 billion in GWP annually as part of the Aventum Group. The Singapore license completes a regulatory process that began in July 2025, when Ross Beeden of Consilium Cedant Facultative described the office as central to the firm’s regional ambitions. “The opening of our Singapore office gives clients in the region a single, seamless access point to both the London and Singapore markets. We’re delivering independent, specialised advice meaning fast, agile access to FAC reinsurance solutions across a wide range of specialty classes,” he said.
