MS First Capital Insurance Limited (MS FCIL) is an insurer registered in Singapore under the Insurance Act (Cap. 142) and is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Notice 124 issued by Monetary Authority of Singapore requires insurers to disclose certain information about the company. In accordance with this requirement the following information about MS FCIL is disclosed. Some of the disclosures refer to the Annual Report of the Company, which can be accessed here (Link under “Insights and News”).
To know more about our Company’s history, our profile and business objectives, please click on the link given below.
https://www.msfirstcapital.com.sg/about-us
We offer both Commercial Lines and Personal Lines non-life insurance products. Details of our products and related services can be accessed at
https://www.msfirstcapital.com.sg/product/personal-insurance-2
and
https://www.msfirstcapital.com.sg/product/commercial-insurance
Premium written by the Company during the past 3 years under the various classes of business, is stated in the Annual Report (Link under “Insights and News”).
The Company shares the MS&AD Group’s mission to contribute to the development of a vibrant society and help secure a sound future for the planet by enabling security and peace of mind through insurance business.
The Company’s business strategy is set in line with the guiding principles established by the MS&AD Insurance Group, the ultimate shareholder of the Company. This includes:
The Company has established an Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERM) in line with the relevant MAS regulations, MSI Group’s guidelines and risk management best practices. The ERM Framework is designed to:
The ERM Framework is a core management policy that incorporates a well-structured systematic process to identify business risks and minimise their potential impact on the Company.
The Company adopts the three lines of defence model in risk management. In the Three Lines of Defence model, management control is the first line of defence in risk management, the various risk control and compliance oversight functions established by management are the second line of defence, and independent assurance is the third. Each of these three “lines” plays a distinct role within the organization’s wider governance framework.
An adequate system of risk management reduces, but does not eliminate completely, the possibility of poor judgement in decision-making, human error; control processes being deliberately or inadvertently circumvented by employees; management overriding controls; and the occurrence of unforeseeable or catastrophic events, which may have unanticipated consequences on the overall performance of the Company in any given year.
Significant risks that could impact the Company’s business are:
The Company does consider Reputational Risk as a significant risk but as it arises as a consequence of any or all of the above risks, it is not considered to be a separate risk category. The Company also considers Concentration Risk a key risk but as it may arise within the risk areas listed above, it is not considered to be a separate risk category.
Further qualitative and quantitative information on the above risks can be found in the “Note 18 – Management of insurance and financial risks” in the Notes to the Financial Statements of the Annual Report (Link under “Insights and News”).
The Company adheres to the policies and guidelines of MS&AD Group in management of Climate-related risks and sustainability. Our approach spans four dimensions:
Governance
The Board and the senior management maintain effective oversight of the Company’s environmental risk management framework and ensure that it adheres to the MAS Guidelines. The responsibility to consider environmental risk in its deliberations, is embedded in the Board Charter and the Terms of Reference of the Board Committees.
Strategy
The Company incorporates MS&AD Group’s guidelines on environmental risk in formulating its business strategy. In line with the MS&AD Group’s guidelines, the Company has adopted a selective approach in offering insurance cover for coal-based power plants.
Risk Management
Environmental Risk is embedded in the Company’s enterprise risk management framework and forms part of the Company’s Risk Register for monitoring and quarterly reporting.
Metrics and Targets
The Company would continue to closely follow MS&AD Group’s guidance on its response to environmental risk. The Company would also progressively adopt emerging best practices as relevant to its business.
In accordance with the MS&AD Group’s framework on “Business Activities with Consideration for Sustainability”, the Company’s underwriting activities are guided by the Group’s sustainability policies. The Company monitors its underwriting portfolio against these guidelines and reports annually to the Group as part of a coordinated Group-wide sustainability reporting process.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Underwriting
As part of the MS&AD Group’s annual GHG emissions measurement programme, the Company monitors and reports GHG emissions attributable to its underwriting portfolio. The Company provides the relevant policy-level data across its Corporate insurance lines to support this Group-level measurement and disclosure.
Fossil Fuel Underwriting Survey
The Company monitors and reports to the MS&AD Group on its underwriting activities relating to fossil fuel sectors, as part of the Group’s broader effort to assess and disclose climate-related underwriting exposure. This includes underwriting policies written for companies in the coal, oil and gas sectors, managed in line with the Group’s selective underwriting stance on fossil fuels.
ESG-Related Underwriting Activities
The Company monitors and reports to the MS&AD Group on underwriting activities that contribute positively to sustainability outcomes, for example, policies supporting renewable energy, green infrastructure and other ESG-aligned sectors. This forms part of the Group’s annual ESG underwriting reporting framework, enabling Group-wide tracking and disclosure of sustainability-positive underwriting.
The Company participates in the MS&AD Group’s annual ESG data collection exercise.
Environmental Data
The following environmental metrics are collected and monitored annually for the Company’s operations:
This data is provided to the MS&AD Group in the annual ESG data input exercise. The data is published on the MS&AD Group’s ESG disclosure website.
Human Asset Data
The Company also collects and reports the following people-related metrics as part of the Group’s annual Human Asset data submission:
The Company’s Social Club organises a range of activities throughout the year to foster employee engagement, teambuilding and community contributions. Key highlights for 2025 include:
The Company’s investment activities incorporate ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors as part of its overall investment decision-making process. This is conducted in alignment with the MS&AD Group’s investment philosophy, which seeks to pursue long-term returns while contributing to solutions for sustainability issues. By integrating ESG considerations alongside financial metrics, the Company aims to manage investment risks more holistically and support the transition towards a more sustainable economy.
Our policy is to ensure that sufficient liquid assets are available to meet the Company’s normal financial commitments, including liabilities to policyholders and investment commitments. We maintain an investment strategy intended to provide adequate funds to pay claims without resorting to forced sales of investments. The Company holds highly liquid, high quality short-term investment securities and other liquid fixed maturity securities to fund anticipated claim payments and operating expenses.
With efficient liquid assets management, we ensure that assets are readily available to meet liabilities when they become due.
In the business of Insurance, we are exposed to insurance risk, which is the aggregate of the following risks:
Risk of accepting (underwriting) a policy whose risks deviate from what was envisaged during the product development and pricing.
Pricing of an insurance product involves the estimation of future potential claims, operational and financing costs.
Risk of deterioration in the carrying value of claims reserves arising from fluctuations in the timing, frequency and severity of insured events relative to expectations in the reserving assumptions
Risk associated with natural disasters and man-made disasters. Catastrophes are by nature unpredictable, making the use of historical data difficult for pricing and loss modelling.
Under the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERM) Insurance risks, are addressed mainly by means of:
MS FCIL’s outward reinsurance program consists of both facultative and treaty arrangements entered into with reinsurers who carry good credit rating by reputable rating agencies like AM Best, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. The Company’s reinsurance program involves a panel of more than twenty reinsurers. An effective reinsurance program sufficiently transfers risks to reinsurers to enable the company retains risks in line with the retention policy as approved by the Board of Directors.
Management of Insurance risk primarily includes but not limited to the following:
Claim Reserving Risk arises because actual claims experience can differ adversely from the assumptions made to include in valuing reserves, largely due to length of time between the occurrences of a loss, the reporting of the loss and the ultimate resolution of the claim.
Claims provisions, including case reserves assigned to known claims and provision for claims that have occurred but have not yet been reported to the insurer (IBNR), reflect expectation of the ultimate claims based on assessment of facts and review of the historical settlement patterns, estimates of trends in claims severity and frequency, legal theories of liability and other factors.
Reserving risk is managed through:
As an insurance company, one of the major liabilities/provisions on our balance sheet is the “technical provisions”. This includes “liability for remaining coverage” and “liability for incurred claims”.
For further information and explanation on liability for remaining coverage and liability for incurred claims, please refer to the following disclosure notes in the Notes to Financial Statements in the Annual Report (Link under “Insights and News”):
Insurers in Singapore are required to comply with capital adequacy requirements prescribed in the Singapore Insurance Act and by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. This capital adequacy requirement is termed the Risk-Based Capital (RBC) wherein an insurer needs to “risk charge” its assets held and insurance liabilities (or technical provisions) to arrive at the insurer’s solvency position.
Further information on the required capital adequacy ratio and our company’s ratio are available in
“Note 18(e) – Capital Risk” in the Notes to the Financial Statements in the Annual Report (Link under “Insights and News”) Investments of the Company
Our investments form a large portion of our total assets in the balance sheet. We hold investments mainly in cash equivalents (term deposits), equities securities and debt securities and a small mortgage loan portfolio.
Quantitative information on all investment risks are disclosed in our Annual Report as under: –
a) Currency risk – Note 18 (c)(i)
b) Market Risk (excluding currency risk) – Note 18 (c)(ii) Price risk & (iii) Interest rate risk
c) Credit risk – Note 18 (b)
d) Liquidity risk – Noted 18 (d)
The Company considers Concentration Risk a key risk but as it may arise within the risk areas listed above, it is not considered to be a separate risk category.
The Company purchased put options (derivative) to mitigate foreign currency risk arising from long position on US Dollar net assets.
Further detailed information on our investments and investment income can be found in the following disclosure notes in the Notes to the Financial Statements in the Annual Report (Link under “Insights and News”)
