The dragon approves Allianz to set up an asset manager. Image by Jan Dyrda from Pixabay
The Alliance’s most dangerous competitor is not Axa or Generali. He is in a digital attack position in China and goes by the name Ping An. With the opening of an “insurance asset management company”, Allianz is now taking a further step in order to grow in the Middle Kingdom and thus to put pressure on its competitors.
Allianz China Insurance Holdings has received approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for the preparatory establishment of Allianz Insurance Asset Management (IAMC). The new entity is the “first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management company in China,” which was approved for preparatory incorporation following the signing of the China-EU investment agreement on December 30, 2020. It will also be the first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management company in industry history once established in Beijing. That could take a while, however, because the approval that has now been granted is a kind of trial license that will finally come into force after a thorough examination. An Allianz spokeswoman explains that she expects the final permit “at the end of the year or beginning of 2022”.
After receiving the final permit, the new asset company will manage the funds of Allianz customers in China. This shows that the Chinese market is “looking to open up” and “trusts the alliance,” explains the spokeswoman. The founding of the IAMC is “important” for a “diverse” financial group like Allianz. It goes without saying that the market has a high value with over 1.4 billion people.
In the Allianz speech of the press release, it says that the establishment is “a decisive strategic step” to “enter” the Chinese wealth management market. It demonstrates the Allianz Group’s “strong trust and long-term commitment” in the Chinese market. The company will build a professional investment management team that will adhere to the group’s “long-term investment methodology” to better serve clients’ “global wealth management needs”.
AZCH is the first wholly foreign-owned insurance holding company in China in which the Allianz Group invests. It received approval from Chinese regulators last December for an additional capital injection of RMB 1.2 billion. Even after the capital injection, Allianz is the sole shareholder.
With the establishment of IAMC, the alliance with Global Investors and PIMCO has major asset managers in Asia, Europe and the USA. That should create synergy effects; the vision of the global thinking CEO Oliver Bäte continues to take shape.
The Blauen from Munich are not only active in China, the company has also recently taken central steps towards growth in South Korea and Japan. The growth in Europe is finite, in Germany the group is already market leader, consequently Asia is now being reached.
Author: VW editorial team
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