What’s New: Allianz (China) Insurance Holdings Co. Ltd. has received approval from China’s insurance watchdog to set up the first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management firm in the country.
German insurance giant Allianz Group, Allianz (China)’s parent, said in a Thursday statement that the new company, Allianz Insurance Asset Management Co. Ltd. (Allianz IAMC), will be incorporated in Beijing.
“Allianz IAMC will locally build a professional investment management team, which adheres to the Group’s long-term investment methodology to better serve its clients’ global asset management needs,” the statement said.
The background: The approval came just as China and the European Union last month concluded long-running negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement that gives each region’s businesses greater access to the other’s markets amid tensions between China and the U.S.
One of Europe’s largest insurers, Allianz Group has shown its ambition to expand into the Chinese market in recent years. As a result of China’s financial-sector opening-up, the group in November 2019 set up Allianz (China), China’s first wholly foreign-owned insurance holding company.
Allianz (China) owns 51% of Allianz China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a joint venture it established with leading Chinese trust firm Citic Trust Co. Ltd.
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Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)
