Ping An Opens China's First Pension Insurance Company

Ping An Insurance received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) on December 1, 2004 to open a pension insurance unit in Shanghai, after 6 months of planning. It is the first pension company to operate in China.
Dr. Xu Jian Jun, Chairman of Ping An Pension Company and Vice-President of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company, commented: The establishment of our company has marked a significant milestone in the history of the insurance industry in China as well as the insurance industry taking lead in setting up a professional operation for enterprise annuity. This will have a tremendously positive impact on the valuation of the Group as a whole.
We are well positioned to become a leader in this niche market as the Company, together with years of operating experience, has expended an enormous amount of effort on upgrading its account management, product development, investment management, human resources, and information technologies, Dr. Xu added.
Ping An Pension Company enjoys the following competitive advantages:
Brand recognition: As a large insurance and financial services group, the Ping An brand is widely recognized and enjoys a high reputation.
Strong actuary capabilities: Ping An employs more than 60 senior actuaries and among them there are 11 who have gained international accreditation. Their support is paramount in Ping An s developing various pension insurance products (from market research, new product development to product pricing) as well as product evaluation (data analysis, asset/debt ratio management and actuarial chart development).
Breadth and depth of experience: In recognition of this important trend, Ping An has been carrying out extensive research on various institutional retirement schemes in Hong Kong and the U.S since 1999. In 2001 Ping An designed the first pension insurance management system that is account-management focused. In the past three years, Ping An has been the top provider of pension schemes for many well-known domestic enterprises as well as multinational companies, with insurance premiums exceeding RMB20 billion. At present, there are tens of thousand of institutional customers as well as millions of individual customers.
Strong workforce: A strong, professional, nation-wide sales force of more than 1,200 staff which is tied to a highly-developed sales management process.
Ping An Pension Company, a professional subsidiary of China Ping An Group, is registered in Shanghai, a first for the Group. With a registered capital of RMB300 million, the Company is preparing for an application for pension access qualification from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.