China’s insurance regulator has warned against insurers becoming “automatic teller machines” for activist shareholders, in a veiled reference to the battle for control of China Vanke, China’s largest residential developer, by insurance conglomerate Baoneng Group.
The comments by Xiang Junbo, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, signal that the industry is likely to face tighter regulation following two years of breakneck premium growth. Most of the growth has come from sales of “universal insurance” policies that are essentially wealth management products bearing little resemblance to traditional insurance.
Insurance groups that were bit players a few years ago have scaled the ranks of China’s premium rankings by partnering with banks to sell wealth management products that combine high yield and perceived low risk.