By Roxanne Libatique
FWD Hong Kong reported a 93% year-on-year increase in new business first-year premium (FYP) for the first three quarters of 2025, according to provisional data from the Insurance Authority of Hong Kong (IA). This compared with an industry-wide increase of 56% over the same period, covering both individual and group long-term business. From January to September 2025, the company’s new business annual premium equivalent (APE) rose 74% year-on-year, versus a 43% increase for the overall Hong Kong long-term insurance market, based on the same provisional statistics.
Citing IA data and its own market assessment, FWD said it ranked among the top five pan-Asian insurers in Hong Kong by both new business FYP and new business case count for the first three quarters of 2025. The comparison includes individual and group long-term business and focuses on multinational insurers with established, multi-channel operations across Asia. Ken Lau, managing director of Greater China and Hong Kong chief executive officer at FWD, said: “FWD Hong Kong delivered outstanding business performance in the first three quarters of 2025, with key business indicators significantly surpassing the industry average, validating the effectiveness of our customer-led approach and multi-channel distribution strategy.”
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Lau added: “Furthermore, Fitch Ratings has recently revised FWD Hong Kong’s Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Ratings outlook to ‘Positive,’ reflecting the market’s strong confidence in our business. These excellent results, combined with the official opening of ‘FWD Tower’ as our new headquarters in January this year, underscore our confidence in the Hong Kong market. FWD will continue to employ tech-enabled approach and provide innovative products, actively bridging the protection gaps in the market and changing the way people feel about insurance.”
FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited, which operates as FWD Hong Kong, holds ratings from international agencies that the company says reflect its financial profile. At the end of 2025, Fitch Ratings revised the outlook on FWD Hong Kong’s Insurer Financial Strength rating to “Positive” from “Stable” while affirming the “A” IFS rating. Moody’s maintains an “A2” insurance financial strength rating on the entity. Taken together, the ratings and outlooks place FWD Hong Kong in the single-A range and provide a reference point for institutional partners, distributors, and corporate clients evaluating the insurer’s credit standing.
Over the first three quarters of 2025, FWD reported APE growth across all major distribution channels for individual business, with each channel’s increase above the corresponding market average. In the tied agency channel, new business APE increased 52% year-on-year, compared with a 27% rise for the wider Hong Kong market. Bancassurance new business APE grew 67%, against a 32% industry increase. The brokerage channel recorded an 88% rise in new business APE, compared with a 69% gain across the sector. New business APE from FWD’s online and direct platform rose 249% year-on-year, while the industry’s online and direct segment grew 111%. The distribution mix indicates that the insurer is writing new business through both intermediary-led and digital channels in Hong Kong’s long-term life segment.
FWD has consolidated its Hong Kong operations in a new headquarters at Taikoo Place in Quarry Bay. Devon House was officially renamed “FWD Tower” on Jan. 1, with an opening ceremony held later in the month. The Grade A office building serves as the central location for FWD Hong Kong’s departments and its tied agency force. Professor Frederick Ma, GBS, JP, FWD Group chairman of the board of directors, said: “FWD Group is a homegrown, Hong Kong headquartered company that has innovated and expanded across Asia since its founding in 2013. Our successful listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last year was a testament to our strategic vision and capabilities. Today, the opening of our new FWD Tower headquarters demonstrates our continued commitment to, and investment in, Hong Kong – our home. We are well positioned to continue to serve over 34 million customers and their families across Asia in 2026 and beyond.”
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Group chief executive officer and executive director Huynh Thanh Phong said: “At the heart of FWD, is our commitment to changing the way people feel about insurance with a human touch, powered by technology. Our new FWD Tower is a symbol of how far we have come on this journey, which first began here in Hong Kong. It’s also a strong signal of the confidence we continue to have in Hong Kong as a well-regulated international financial centre and global risk management centre, attracting top talent, customers, and capital.” Lau said that establishing the new headquarters “is a significant commitment by FWD Hong Kong to our business growth” and that the company intends to “leverage our new headquarters to further enhance our product and service experience, actively addressing protection gaps in the market.”
The headquarters houses an Insurance Solutions Centre (ISC) on the 11th floor, which handles policy servicing, data changes, premium payments, and claims. According to FWD, the centre processed more than 110,000 customers in 2025, a 12% increase in volume from 2024, and is equipped to provide express on-site claims handling with settlement in as fast as 30 minutes for certain cases. FWD Tower also serves as the base for the FWD Business Academy. In 2025, the academy conducted more than 300 training courses and sharing sessions on sales, team management, and technical insurance topics. The academy is used to support skills development across the tied agency force and other staff involved in distribution and customer servicing.
To mark the headquarters opening, FWD organised a three-day event at Tong Chong Street in Taikoo Place in January 2026, in collaboration with local food and beverage partners. As part of a campaign through its online platform, the company made 2,000 “FWD Travel” five-day Asia travel insurance policies (Economy Plan) available at no charge to FWD MAX members, underwritten by Bolttech Insurance (Hong Kong) Company Limited and subject to the product’s terms, conditions, and exclusions. FWD said FWD Tower incorporates energy-efficient lighting, smart air-conditioning, water-saving fixtures, and the use of environmentally certified interior materials, aligning the building’s design with Swire Properties’ sustainability objectives for the Taikoo Place development.