Lloyd’s of London is applying for a Malaysia onshore licence as part of a broader push into Asia.

Group chairman John Nelson said a licence would enable Lloyd’s to write more cover than the $137 million of business it does via Singapore, London and Labuan, Malaysia’s offshore jurisdiction.

“If you have people on the ground you get better access and a much better understanding of the risks,” he told The Financial Times.

“If we look at our performance around the world where we go onshore, our performance improves.”

Asia accounts for about 12% of the group’s business, with Nelson saying he expected that to grow at a faster rate than the region’s economic growth as governments and companies looked to close an insurance penetration gap.

Insurance penetration in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is equivalent to about 3% of GDP, compared with a global average of 6%.

However, the region is more vulnerable to natural catastrophes than any other part of the world, The Financial Times reported. Over the past 20 years Asia has borne almost half of the global economic cost of natural catastrophes – about $53 billion each year, according to the Asian Development Bank.