The two major insurance giants have changed managers one after another, where will the more than six trillion yuan of insurance funds go?

China Times (www.chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Hu Jinhua reported in Shanghai

At the beginning of the year, the dust settled on the change in the management of asset management companies under the two major insurance giants of Ping An of China and CPIC.

On February 7, Ping An Asset Management, headquartered in Shanghai, announced that with the approval of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the resolution of the company's board of directors, Huang Yong has been appointed chairman of Ping An Asset Management since January 30 this year, replacing Wan Fang, the former chairman of asset management who was previously transferred back to Ping An Group. Previously, on January 20, as Chen Dexian, who had been the chief investment officer of Ping An Group for nearly a decade, retired to the second line due to his age, the board of directors of Ping An of China issued a resolution announcement that Deng Bin would take over the position, while Deng Bin had previously served as the chief investment officer of China Pacific Insurance Group since December 2018.

It is worth mentioning that Deng Bin, who has worked in large overseas financial institutions such as AIG and AIA Group, resigned from CPIC Group on September 28 last year, when CPIC issued an announcement that Deng Bin submitted a written resignation and resigned as the company's chief investment officer for personal family reasons. On November 24, 2021, CPIC issued an announcement on the appointment of Su Gang as the chief investment officer (assistant to the general manager) of the group company, and Su Gang's appointment took effect after the approval of the qualifications of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

"In almost three months, the two major insurance groups have successively completed the replacement of senior management in charge of asset management business, and there is still 'intersection' between them, which is rarely seen in the past." However, this may also cause some new changes in the domestic insurance asset management market, ping an of China managed assets including insurance capital nearly 4 trillion yuan, and the assets under management of China Pacific Insurance Company also exceeded 2.4 trillion yuan, the changes in the important asset management figures of these two giants will also have an impact on the entire investment market. On February 9, a senior person in Shanghai's asset management circle told the China Times reporter.

Behind the changes in Ping An asset management personnel

The every move of insurance asset management has always been a sensitive nerve in the industry, so the changes in the asset management personnel of the two major insurance giants are more interesting.

"China Times" reporter combed and found that in general, the decision-making level of large insurance asset management has remained stable all year round, such as Chen Dexian joined Ping An of China in 2005, and successively served as the chairman of Ping An Asset Management and the deputy CEO and CEO of the group, etc. Chen Dexian is undoubtedly the best witness when the entire asset management scale of Ping An of China has crossed from 100 billion to trillion or even trillion.

"The dust has settled on the qualifications of the chairman of Ping An Asset Management and the chief investment officer of the group, which is a microcosm of the recent deployment of troops in the asset management field. The dispatch of troops in the field of insurance asset management has also formed a chain effect, which will have an important impact on the insurance asset management market. In this regard, a person close to Ping An of China admitted in an interview.

However, for Huang Yong to serve as the chairman of Ping An Asset Management, the industry is not surprised, as the "internal" management of his own training, the reporter also learned from Huang Yong's resume that he joined Ping An Group in 1996 and has successively worked in Ping An Trust, Ping An Group Development and Reform Center, Investment Management Center; in May 2005, Log Ping An Asset Management, successively served as general manager of the fixed income department and general manager of the international business department, assistant general manager, deputy general manager, general manager, general manager; since November 2016, He has successively transferred to important management positions in Ping An, such as Ping An Trust and Ping An Group Asset Control Center, and served as the general manager of Ping An Pension Insurance. In fact, as one of the first insurance asset management companies in China to be approved to open, Ping An Asset Management was also formally established in Shanghai in 2005, and as of the end of June 2021, Ping An Asset Management had a asset management scale of 3.87 trillion yuan, and is currently one of the largest asset management companies in China.

On the other hand, the market is quite concerned about how to interact with Chen Dexian, who "took a back seat" as the director of the group's investment management committee, after Deng Bin became the chief investment officer of Ping An Group. In this regard, the China Times reporter also learned from Ping An of China that Deng Bin was fully responsible for the company's investment strategy and operation, the strategic and tactical allocation of assets and the management of the investment team after taking office, and was responsible for the company's overall investment performance; Chen Dexian, director of the Investment Management Committee, was responsible for the review of major investment projects, assisted in major project risk control and early warning, and provided professional advice on investment strategy and operation; Chief Risk Officer Zhang Xiaolu was responsible for investment background risk management. System construction supervises, controls and warns investment decisions and project operations, and carries out investment-related compliance and audit work. Ping An of China will continue to build a three-in-one investment management system.

In addition, Ping An stressed that there will be no major changes in investment strategies and asset allocation. The investment strategy still focuses on shortening the duration gap between assets and liabilities, actively grasping the time point and industry, increasing investment returns, continuously improving risk management and control, and will vigorously focus on the major national strategic layout, conform to national strategies such as "common prosperity, green environmental protection, and scientific and technological innovation", and increase allocation in regional development, carbon neutrality and new energy, industrial upgrading, and scientific and technological investment.

The responsibility of the "head" of CPIC New Investment

On the other hand, China Pacific Insurance Company, headquartered in Shanghai, has also quietly completed the layout of the asset management executives.

The "China Times" reporter learned that Su Gang, who is proposed to be the CEO of China Pacific Insurance Company, is also the "old man" of China Pacific Insurance Company, but he is younger. Su Gang, born in 1973, is only 48 years old, and he has successively served as the head of the investor relations department of CPIC Group, the investment director of CPIC Asset Project, the deputy general manager and general manager of alternative investment management center, the deputy general manager of CPIC Life Insurance, the general manager and chairman of Changjiang Pension.

"Due to the perennial contact with the investment and application of pension funds, in the years of running the Yangtze River pension, Su Gang's investment style has always been based on the principle of stability and absolute returns, in fact, in recent years, whether it is for the annuity of many state-owned enterprises in Shanghai or entrusted to invest in external funds, the income achieved is still leading in the industry, which may also be a major factor in his promotion to the chief investment officer of the group." On February 20, a person in charge of Shanghai's financial state-owned assets system told the China Times reporter.

Previously, Su Gang also expressed his views on pension investment strategies several times, Su Gang once pointed out that in the long run, the high-quality development of pension management has three focus points, namely financial technology, green development and ecosystem construction. As a long-term runner in the insurance industry, CPIC anchors the basic belief of "long-term ism", and Yangtze River Pension adheres to the long-term ism of pension management: to build the long-term core competitiveness of "talent + technology"; to practice the long-term development concept of "green + business"; and to develop the long-term development direction of the construction of the "pension + health" ecosystem. On November 30 last year, Su Gang also analyzed in an interview that the trend of population aging in the mainland and the reform of pension marketization have promoted the rapid growth and evolution of market size, and put forward higher requirements for the core capabilities of pension management institutions. At the same time, pension management involves a wide range of aspects, and in the face of complex processes, security and balanced return relationship management attributes and characteristics, it is more necessary to play the cost reduction and efficiency increase function of financial technology.

"As the people's 'life support money', pension is the bottom guarantee for people to 'enjoy their old age'. This is also the difference between Yangtze River Pension and other fund institutions. Pension management should not only pay attention to the absolute safety of funds, avoid non-market risks of funds, such as operational risks, operational risks, moral hazards, etc.; also pay attention to the relative safety of funds, and obtain more stable and safe returns by reasonably assuming credit, liquidity and other risks. Su Gang said at that time.

Ding Ling, a veteran of the Shanghai investment market, told this reporter that for the future performance of the two new CEOs of Ping An and Taibao, the outside world can also be seen after they have been in office for a year, and the current investment market is undoubtedly a relatively big challenge for them.