VIG Re has received regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to open a representative office in the city-state. The office forms part of the Prague-based reinsurer's VIGRe28 strategy, which targets expansion into the Asia-Pacific market.
The Singapore office will act as a liaison and coordination point between VIG Re's headquarters and stakeholders in the region.
Wilfrid Goh has been appointed chief representative for Asia-Pacific to lead the office. He brings more than 20 years of reinsurance experience across Asia. His background spans treaty underwriting, client management and public sector solutions.
Goh will report to Marc Haushofer, managing director responsible for VIG Re's Asia-Pacific portfolio. Haushofer is leading the company's wider expansion across the region.
Haushofer was named managing director for APAC in January, when VIG Re first outlined plans for a Singapore office. Singapore's reinsurance premiums rose 31% to S$27.6 billion in 2023, about 21% of Asia's total reinsurance market. Sixteen of the world's top 25 reinsurers already run regional hubs from the city-state.
VIG Re was admitted as an associate member of the Singapore Reinsurers' Association in March, alongside QBE Insurance Group and MSIG Singapore. The move preceded the representative office's regulatory approval.
Other reinsurance intermediaries are making similar moves. Willis Re said in May it would base incoming hire Richard Jones in Singapore from October. Jones will lead the broker's Asia operations, which Willis Re linked to rising insurance penetration and catastrophe exposure across the region.
VIG Re chairman and chief executive Tobias Sonndorfer said the move supports the group's ambition to build a presence in Asia-Pacific under the VIGRe28 strategy. He said a representative presence in Singapore would "elevate our engagement with the region."
The Singapore push comes during VIGRe28's first year. VIG Re reported gross written premiums of €995.6 million for 2025, up 1.3% year on year. Profit before tax rose 17.8% to €49 million, and the combined ratio improved to 85.7%.
The Singapore office marks VIG Re's first representative presence in Asia-Pacific. It adds to the company's offices in Prague, Munich, and Paris.
