HSBC cleared to take remaining 50% stake in Chinese life unit

HSBC Insurance (Asia) has secured a green light from China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to buy up the remaining 50% in its Chinese life unit  HSBC Life China.

HSBC Life China is present in ten key mainland cities covering Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Zhongshan and offers annuity, whole life, critical illness and unit-linked insurance products.

Outside the life arena, HSBC continues to invest in its insurance business in mainland China, including in Pinnacle, a digital platform for hunting down wealth management and insurance clients. HSBC aims to recruit up to 3000 Pinnacle-armed wealth planners in total by 2025.

“Growing our insurance business is key to delivering on our strategic priority of being a leading wealth manager in Asia," said David Liao (pictured), Co-CEO, Asia-Pacific at HSBC. "Full ownership of HSBC Life China brings us closer to this goal, and shows our commitment to expanding our broader wealth offering in mainland China.”

Greg Hingston, CEO designate, HSBC Global Insurance and Partnerships, added: “With full ownership, we will have greater flexibility in accelerating our growth plans. In tandem with HSBC Pinnacle ... we will be able to significantly expand our capabilities to serve growing wealth and insurance needs.”

HSBC’s insurance business globally contributed to around a third of overall Wealth and Personal Banking (WPB) profits and 12% of Group profits in H1 2021.

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