Aon plc has appointed Winnie Loh (pictured) as real estate and data centre leader for Southeast Asia, adding a regional leadership role focused on data centre and real estate risk in the firm’s commercial risk business.

Loh, who is based in Singapore, will oversee the strategic direction and client servicing of Aon’s real estate and data centre portfolio across Southeast Asia, while continuing as a director in the commercial risk team. She joined Aon in 2021 and has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. The appointment comes amid continued expansion of data centre development in Southeast Asia, with risk considerations now spanning construction, financing, operations, and resilience.

New leadership role focuses on lifecycle exposures

In her expanded remit, Loh will work with investors, developers, operators, and lenders on risk issues across the full life cycle of data centre and related real estate projects. This includes early-stage design and capital structuring, construction risk, transition to operations, and ongoing risk management and contingency planning. According to Aon, the firm is bringing together its data centre work with its existing real estate, construction, and infrastructure capabilities to support clients as digital infrastructure projects become a larger part of regional investment and insurance programmes.

Jon Pipe, head of commercial risk in Asia for Aon, said: “Winnie’s appointment reflects both the pace of growth we’re seeing in the region and the increasing sophistication of the challenges our clients are navigating. Her deep sector expertise and leadership will be critical as we help clients bring greater clarity to complex risk environments and align capital decisions with long term performance.” Data centre projects in the region raise issues around power availability, supply chain, regulatory change, cyber exposures, and service continuity, particularly as hyperscale and colocation facilities expand. These trends intersect with property damage and business interruption, construction all risks, cyber, liability, environmental, and political risk coverage.

Data centre build-out influences risk demand in Asia

Aon’s organisational change takes place against a backdrop of rising global capital flows into data centres and related telecommunications infrastructure, which is affecting how risk is structured and transferred across markets. “As data centre investment continues to accelerate across the region, clients are looking for advisers who understand how data centres intersect with real estate, construction, and broader infrastructure risks. Winnie’s appointment strengthens our regional leadership and supports our focus on delivering more integrated, lifecycle-led solutions for clients across Southeast Asia,” said Andrew Minnitt, CEO, Singapore and head of Southeast Asia for Aon. The convergence of real estate, power, technology, and operational risk in data centre projects is leading to more joined-up approaches to programme design, wordings, capacity deployment, and retention structures. Large facilities often involve cross-border portfolios, complex contractual arrangements, and stringent uptime requirements that can shape both primary and reinsurance placements.

UNCTAD data highlights concentration of digital FDI

A recent report by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicates that data centres are now a significant component of global foreign direct investment (FDI), with potential implications for insurance markets that support multinational programmes. Preliminary 2025 figures show announced FDI in data centres exceeded an estimated US$270 billion, driven by demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure and digital networks. Data centres accounted for more than one fifth of global greenfield project values, placing them among the largest destinations for new, from-scratch foreign investment.

The increase in data centre and other strategic projects contributed to a 14% rise in global FDI in 2025, to an estimated US$1.6 trillion. UNCTAD noted, however, that a sizeable share of that increase flowed through major financial centres and that underlying FDI growth, excluding those flows, would have been closer to 5%. Investment is becoming more concentrated in a limited set of capital-intensive sectors, notably data centres, and semiconductors. The value of newly announced semiconductor projects rose 35% in 2025, reflecting supply-chain adjustments and demand for advanced chips used in AI infrastructure.

Developed markets attract more flows than emerging economies

UNCTAD’s analysis shows that the distribution of data centre investment is uneven. Projects have been concentrated in a small group of countries, led by France, the US, and the Republic of Korea, with only a few emerging markets featuring among the main recipients. FDI flows to developed economies rose 43% to an estimated US$728 billion in 2025, with the European Union posting a 56% increase, supported in part by technology-related projects and transactions. Flows to developing economies declined 2% to US$877 billion, and three quarters of least developed countries experienced flat or falling inflows.

At the same time, project numbers fell 25% in tariff-exposed, global value-chain-intensive sectors such as textiles, electronics, and machinery. Renewable energy investment weakened, with greenfield project values declining 28% as investors reassessed risks and regulatory frameworks. International infrastructure investment dropped 10%, largely due to reduced activity in renewables. Telecommunications investment, driven primarily by data centres, exceeded renewable energy in value for the first time.

Implications for insurance professionals in Asia

The combination of expanding digital infrastructure, concentrated FDI, and divergent flows between developed and developing markets is reshaping demand for risk solutions and advisory services. In Southeast Asia, new-build and expansion data centre projects are bringing increased focus on construction and erection risks, delay-in-start-up cover, supply chain vulnerabilities, cyber incident response, and business continuity planning. As more global sponsors and operators enter regional markets, demand is expected to rise for capacity, technical underwriting capabilities, and coordinated cross-border programmes suited to large, long-term digital infrastructure assets. UNCTAD has cautioned that without efforts to revive broader productive investment, global FDI may become increasingly concentrated in a few regions and sectors, limiting its overall contribution to development.