HONG KONG: China Life Insurance Co, the country's biggest insurer by market value, plans to boost its overseas investments to 15% of total assets in coming years from about 2% now, its vice-president said on Friday.
The company, which on Thursday posted a 67% drop in its first-half net profit due to lower investment income amid weak stock markets, currently invests US$7.6 billion in overseas assets.
The insurer's first-half total investment income dropped 49% to 50.8 billion yuan, according to Thursday's filing.
The main areas of its overseas investments will be property, logistics, hotels and retail, Zhao Lijun told a briefing.
The insurer also plans to team up with large international private equity firms for making investments, the China Life executive said, without disclosing the names of potential private equity partners or the areas of investments.
China Life has been working with about seven US private equity firms, said a company executive, who declined to be named as she was not authorised to speak to the media, adding that the United States and Europe will be the key markets for its overseas investments.
Chinese life insurers are looking to bolster their overseas investments, as softer interest rates and a fall in the equity markets in the world's second-largest economy have hurt their earnings.
Ping An Insurance Group Co of China, the second-largest insurer, is also aiming for a possible five-fold increase in overseas investments, its group chief financial officer told Reuters last week.
China Life and Ping An's overseas ambitions mirror those of others, including Anbang Insurance Group and Fosun International, which are spending billions on overseas acquisitions in a bid to reduce their dependence on the slowing domestic economy. - Reuters
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