FWD Group
TypePrivate
IndustryFinancial services (insurance)
Founded2013 in Hong Kong
FounderRichard Li
Headquarters
Hong Kong
Areas served
Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia[1]
Key people
  • Huynh Thanh Phong (CEO)
  • Frederick Ma (chairman)
  • Simeon Preston (COO)
  • Jon Nielsen (CFO)
  • Binayak Dutta (Managing Director, Emerging Markets, and Group Chief Distribution Officer)[2]
AUMUS$63 billion (2021)[1]
OwnerApollo Global Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Huatai Securities, Li Ka Shing Foundation, Metro Pacific Investments and Pacific Century Group[1]
Number of employees
6,100 (2021[1])
ParentPacific Century Group
Websitefwd.com

FWD Group is a multinational insurance company based in Hong Kong.[3][4][5][6] Founded in 2013[7] as the insurance arm of Pacific Century Group, FWD Group sells life and medical insurance, general insurance and employee benefits[8] in Asia.[9] The company had USD$50.9 billion in assets under management in 2020[10] and in 2021 was managing US$63 billion in assets. On March 13, 2023, FWD Group refiled its Main Board listing application with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.[11] The initial filing was made on February 28, 2022.[12] In 2023, FWD celebrated its 10th anniversary, and currently operates in Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia.[1]

History

2013-18

FWD Financial Centre in 2013 in Hong Kong.

Richard Li of Pacific Century Group formed FWD Group in 2013[7] after purchasing ING Group’s insurance and pension units in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand for US$2.1 billion.[4][9] Swiss Re bought a 12.3% stake in FWD Group in 2013[10] for $425 million.[13] Huynh Thanh Phong joined as CEO in 2013.[14] The company then expanded into the Philippines in 2014 and Indonesia in 2015. Expanding into three more countries in 2016,[3][7] that year FWD Group acquired Shenton Insurance in Singapore,[8] also purchasing a unit from Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. in Vietnam[7] for $35 million.[15] In late 2016, FWD agreed to buy AIG's Fuji Life Insurance Co. in Japan.[7] By April 2017, FWD had[16] $24.4 billion in assets under management[3] and sponsored the Clockenflap music festival.[17] In 2018 FWD agreed to purchase an Indonesian life insurance venture, PT Commonwealth Life, from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for $300 million.[18] When the acquisition completed in 2020, PT Commonwealth Life was rebranded PT FWD Life Indonesia.[19] FWD Group also purchased HSBC’s stake in a Malaysian insurance joint venture in 2018,[18] acquiring 49% of HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia),[15] now renamed FWD Takaful (Malaysia).[20]

2019-23

In June 2019, FWD Group purchased MetLife's business in Hong Kong[6][10] reportedly for around $400 million.[9] That month, FWD Group agreed to buy SCB Life Assurance, the life insurance business of Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank, for $3 billion, "reflecting the largest insurance deal in Southeast Asia in terms of value."[6][21] FWD also launched its Malaysian takaful (Islamic insurance) market at the end of July 2019.[22] By August 2019, FWD had applied for a license to enter a joint venture in China. Having spent $6 billion on mergers and acquisitions since its founding,[5] in November 2019, FWD agreed to acquire Vietcombank-Cardif Life Insurance, a joint venture between Vietcombank and BNP Paribas Cardif,[23] for $400 million.[15] FWD announced in December 2019 it would exit its group medical insurance business in Singapore by December 2020.[24][25]

FWD Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In March 2020, Prudential acquired a bancassurance partnership in Thailand from FWD Group for $753 million.[26] The following month, FWD Vietnam Life became the largest life insurer in Vietnam by charter capital.[27] In April 2020 FWD Group launched a Covid-19 Charity Drive.[28] In June 2020, FWD Group purchased a minority stake in the life insurance arm of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), PT Asuransi BRI Life, for a reported $300 million.[29] By September 2020, press reported that FWD Group was considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong.[10] That month, FWD Insurance purchased a stake in IPP Financial Advisers.[30] In 2020, FWD Group had $50.9 billion in assets under management and 7.5 million customers, with 6,200 employees in Asia.[10]

In 2022, FWD Group's Value of New Business reached US$823 million, up 29% compared to 2021, and it's segmental adjusted operating profit before tax was US$334 million, representing an 83% increase over the previous year.[31][32][11]

FWD Group has 6,100 employees and $63 billion in assets under management, and as of 2023 approximately 10 million customers across 10 markets.[14][1]

In February 2023, FWD Group announced an investment in Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad (Gibraltar BSN) to enter the Malaysian life insurance market. Together with other investors, FWD Group will acquire 70% stake from The Prudential Insurance Company of America, the wholly owned subsidiary of US-based NYSE-listed Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI).[33]

On March 13, 2023, FWD refiled for a Hong Kong IPO with total private placement amounting to US$1.825 billion since December 2021.[34]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li’s FWD to raise up to $3bn in US IPO"; FT
  2. ↑ "Our Team;" FWD Group
  3. 1 2 3 "Upstart Hong Kong insurer FWD seeks a 'pan-Asian' reach". Nikkei Asia. 28 December 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Hong Kong Insurer FWD Group Eyes Singapore Listing". Insurance Journal. July 31, 2018.
  5. 1 2 Soon, Stella (September 20, 2019). "Asian insurer FWD is expanding aggressively in Asia". CNBC.
  6. 1 2 3 "Richard Li's FWD acquires life insurance unit of Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank". South China Morning Post. July 1, 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "AIG Agrees to Sell Japan Life Business to Hong Kong's FWD Group". Carrier Management. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  8. 1 2 Hermesauto (4 December 2019). "FWD to pull out of group medical insurance business in Singapore". The Straits Times.
  9. 1 2 3 "Richard Li's FWD Group acquiring an Asian insurance empire". www.ft.com. 28 June 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Richard Li's FWD Plans Up to $3 Billion Hong Kong IPO - Bloomberg". 23 September 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Billionaire Li's FWD Filing HK IPO Application Again, Sources Say". Wall Street Journal. March 13, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Billionaire Richard Li's FWD Files for Hong Kong IPO". Wall Street Journal. February 28, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Pacific Century sells FWD stake to reinsurer". South China Morning Post. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  14. 1 2 "FWD's Huynh Thanh Phong - 'You have to find the right way to connect'"; FT
  15. 1 2 3 "FWD Group 'close to acquiring Vietcombank' for $400m". www.internationalinvestment.net. 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  16. ↑ Daga, Sumeet Chatterjee, Anshuman (2017-04-19). "Thailand's Siam Commercial in exclusive talks with FWD for $3 billion insurance sale: sources". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-04.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ "Why FWD does not act like a traditional insurance brand and sponsors music festivals". The Drum. 23 November 2017.
  18. 1 2 "FWD to bag CBA's Indonesia unit". The Jakarta Post. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  19. ↑ "FWD Life rebrands business as acquisition completed". The Jakarta Post. 8 June 2020.
  20. ↑ Ching, Ooi Tee (2019-03-26). "Salim Majid Zain now heads FWD Takaful | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  21. ↑ "SCB, FWD Group set to reach life insurance deal". Bangkok Post. 30 March 2019.
  22. ↑ "Brand launch for Takaful provider | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. 29 July 2019.
  23. ↑ Vu, Anshuman Daga, Khanh (12 November 2019). "FWD in insurance distribution deal with Vietcombank bank, buys venture". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-04.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ Hermesauto (4 December 2019). "FWD to pull out of group medical insurance business in Singapore". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  25. ↑ "FWD Singapore to drop group medical insurance". www.internationalinvestment.net. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  26. ↑ "Prudential signs $753 mn deal with FWD Group". mint. 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  27. ↑ "Vietnam: FWD group strengthens life business". Asia Insurance Review. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  28. ↑ "FWD Insurance enhances coverage with Covid-19 Assist – The Manila Times". www.manilatimes.net. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  29. ↑ "FWD to buy stake in Indonesian life insurer for about US$300 million". South China Morning Post. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  30. ↑ "FWD Insurance buys minority stake in financial advisory company". www.spglobal.com. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  31. ↑ "Hong Kong Tycoon's FWD Nears Filing for $1 Billion IPO". Bloomberg. February 27, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Tycoon Richard Li Insurer FWD Files for $2 Billion U.S. IPO"; Bloomberg
  33. ↑ "FWD enters Malaysian life insurance with Gibraltar BSN investment". Insurance Business. February 21, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Life Insurer FWD Refiles Hong Kong Listing Application"; AM Best
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