HK firms get in on mainland insurance action
By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-25 06:17

Dah Sing Life Assurance Co, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Dah Sing Financial Group, has bought a 20 per cent stake in new firm Great Wall Life Insurance Co, which opened for business yesterday.

It highlights how Hong Kong's financial enterprises are stepping up efforts to exploit the mainland's insurance sector, which has seen a 30 per cent annual growth rate over the past two decades.

"Hong Kong players' unprecedented enthusiasm in the mainland's insurance sector is mainly due to the saturation of Hong Kong's life insurance market," said Wang Guojun, an insurance professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Foreign insurance giants such as AIG and AEGON currently dominate the Hong Kong market, leaving limited room for domestic insurers. This means they cannot resist the temptation of the mainland's booming insurance sector.

With an investment of US$7.4 million, Dah Sing Life Insurance is one of the three biggest shareholders of Great Wall Life. Most of the shareholders are real estate developers and State-owned enterprises.

The other two big shareholders are the Beijing Huarong Investment Company and the Beijing Financial Street Construction Group, which also each have a 20 per cent stake.

Wang Boling, financial director of the Dah Sing Financial Group, said the firm will pump more cash into Great Wall Life in the next year to fuel its expansion.

Other examples of Hong Kong firms getting involved in insurance on the mainland include the Pacific Century Insurance Holding Ltd's planned co-operation with Hainan Airlines Group to set up a life insurance firm; Pacific Century Insurance will take a minimum stake of 10 per cent. Asia Financial Holdings, also a big player in Hong Kong's financial sector, has a 10 per cent stake in PICC Life Insurance Co, a new firm which opened for business last week.

Meanwhile, the HSBC bank, having acquired a 19.9 per cent stake in Ping An Insurance, is thinking about establishing a joint venture insurance firm on the mainland next year.

A Standard & Poor's (S&P) overseas report indicated China's life insurance sector has long-term growth potential because of low penetration and increasing demand.

"As most Hong Kong insurers are medium and small-sized ones, they usually take a slice of the mainland market by buying into a domestic insurer," said Dong Chen, an analyst with China Securities.

Wang Gongwei, president of Great Wall Life, said "corporate governance and management, rather than the speed of business expansion, is the most important thing."

With registered capital of 300 million yuan (US$37 million), Great Wall Life will focus on three types of products: group, individual life and banking insurance. It will lean more on the latter to expand in the early stages. Currently the firm is talking to several banks about possible co-operation.

According to the three-year strategic plan of Great Wall Life, it expects to take 170 million yuan (US$20.98 million) in the first year, mainly from banking insurance.

In the second year, it will increase its registered capital to 500 million yuan (US$61.7 million) in order to expand sales outlets, with a premium income expected to top 1.4 billion yuan (US$173 million). In the third year, the company will raise its registered capital to 700 million yuan (US$64.2 million) and expects premiums of 3.4 billion yuan (US$419.8 million).

(China Daily 11/25/2005 page9)