Peter Ma Mingzhe has stepped down as chief executive of Ping An Insurance (Group), as China’s largest insurer by market value embarks on a new management structure with three co-CEOs responsible for its operation.
Ma, 65, who co-founded the insurance giant in Shenzhen three decades ago, will remain as chairman, while Jason Yao Bo, 49, chief financial officer of the group since 2008, will be promoted as the third co-CEO, Ping An said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday.
Yao, along with co-CEOs Xie Yonglin and Jessica Tan Sin-yin, will jointly run Ping An. The group has evolved into a financial conglomerate with interests in banking, securities, online medical services, fintech and virtual banks.
Ping An said that after two years of transition since the establishment of the co-CEO system, the senior executives are gelling with each other well, laying a solid foundation for the group’s sustainable development.
“Given the fact that a complete, healthy decision-making and operating system has been set up and the team of professionals has grown mature, the management model proved to be successful following years of experience,” the company said.
Ma’s resignation as the CEO is effective from Wednesday.
The company said its new management structure, known as the “Matrix Management”, fits well with its strategy of becoming a conglomerate with twin engines – finance and technology. Matrix management is an organisational structure facilitating the management of cross-functional and cross-business groups.
Xie, 52, who is also the president of Ping An, mainly oversees the group’s financial businesses. Tan, 43, will be in charge of the group’s technology and innovation segment.
Yao will be responsible for the company’s strategic planning and goal setting.
Ping An has been pioneering the move among Chinese financial institutions to digitalise operations by creating several online businesses such as Lufax, an online wealth management platform, and Ping An Good Doctor, China's biggest online health care platform.
The company has been budgeting 1 per cent of its annual revenue for investment in technology in the past few years. But after revenue grew by about 18 per cent to 1.27 trillion yuan (US$179.8 billion) in 2019, the company boosted the outlay to 12 billion yuan.
The company said the Covid-19 pandemic has had a mixed impact on its businesses – sales of life insurance products have fallen, while online health care and fintech services have witnessed stronger demand.
