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Company type | Public |
---|---|
SEHK: 1828 | |
Industry | Financial services (insurance) |
Founded | 2013 in Hong Kong |
Founder | Richard Li |
Headquarters | Hong Kong |
Areas served | Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia [1] |
Key people | |
AUM | US$63 billion (2021) [1] |
Owner | Apollo Global Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Huatai Securities, Li Ka Shing Foundation, Metro Pacific Investments and Pacific Century Group [1] |
Number of employees | >6,900 (2024 [4] ) |
Parent | Pacific Century Group |
Website | fwd |
FWD Group is an insurance company based in Hong Kong. [5] [6] [7] [8] Founded in 2013 [9] as the insurance arm of Pacific Century Group, the company provides life and medical insurance, general insurance and employee benefits [10] in Asia. [11] As of 2021, the FWD managed approximately US$63 billion in assets. [12] The company filed for its IPO in 2022 and refiled its Main Board listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 13, 2023. [13] [14] On July 7, 2025, the company went public through an initial public offering on the HKEX. [15]
The company celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023 and currently operates in Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia. [1]
Richard Li of Pacific Century Group formed FWD Group in 2013 [9] after purchasing ING Group’s insurance and pension units in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand for US$2.1 billion. [6] [11] Swiss Re bought a 12.3% stake in FWD Group in 2013 [16] for $425 million. [17] Huynh Thanh Phong joined as CEO in 2013. [12] The company then expanded into the Philippines in 2014 and Indonesia in 2015. Expanding into three more countries in 2016, [5] [9] that year FWD Group acquired Shenton Insurance in Singapore, [10] also purchasing a unit from Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. in Vietnam [9] for $35 million. [18] In late 2016, FWD agreed to buy AIG's Fuji Life Insurance Co. in Japan. [9] By April 2017, FWD had [19] $24.4 billion in assets under management [5] and sponsored the Clockenflap music festival. [20] In 2018 FWD agreed to purchase an Indonesian life insurance venture, PT Commonwealth Life, from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for $300 million. [21] When the acquisition completed in 2020, PT Commonwealth Life was rebranded PT FWD Life Indonesia. [22] FWD Group also purchased HSBC’s stake in a Malaysian insurance joint venture in 2018, [21] acquiring 49% of HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia), [18] now renamed FWD Takaful (Malaysia). [23]
In June 2019, FWD Group purchased MetLife's business in Hong Kong [8] [16] reportedly for around $400 million. [11] 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." [8] [24] FWD also launched its Malaysian takaful (Islamic insurance) market at the end of July 2019. [25] 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, [7] in November 2019, FWD agreed to acquire Vietcombank-Cardif Life Insurance, a joint venture between Vietcombank and BNP Paribas Cardif, [26] for $400 million. [18] FWD announced in December 2019 it would exit its group medical insurance business in Singapore by December 2020. [10] [27]
In March 2020, Prudential acquired a bancassurance partnership in Thailand from FWD Group for $753 million. [28] The same month, FWD Vietnam Life became the largest life insurer in Vietnam by charter capital. [29] 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. [30] By September 2020, press reported that FWD Group was considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong. [16] That month, the company purchased a stake in IPP Financial Advisers. [31] As of 2020, FWD Group had $50.9 billion in assets under management and 7.5 million customers. [16] By 2021, the company managed approximately US$63 billion in assets and had 6,100 employees in Asia. [1]
In 2022, the company's Value of New Business reached US$823 million, up 29% compared to 2021, and its segmental adjusted operating profit before tax was US$334 million, representing an 83% increase over the previous year. [32] [5]
In 2023, the company entered the Malaysian life insurance market through an investment in Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, which was renamed FWD Insurance Berhad. Alongside other investors, FWD Group acquired a stake from The Prudential Insurance Company of America, a wholly owned subsidiary of the US-based, NYSE-listed Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI). [33] [34] On March 13, 2023, FWD refiled its Main Board listing application for its Hong Kong IPO, with total private placement amounting to US$1.825 billion since December 2021. [35] In May of the same year, the company appointed Sid Sankaran as a Managing Director and its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). [2] In August, FWD Group received investment-grade credit ratings from Fitch Ratings and Moody’s. Fitch assigned FWD Group a long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of “BBB+” with a stable outlook; Moody’s assigned a Baa2 issuer rating to FWD Group with a positive outlook. [36]
In March 2024, FWD completed an additional investment for a 21% stake in FWD Takaful Berhad, making it the majority shareholder with a 70% holding. [37] In May of the same year, the company launched a new health business, FWD HealthyMe, and appointed Dr. Sarah Salvilla as Chief Health Officer. [38]
For the year 2024, the company reported a net profit after tax of US$24 million, with operating profit after tax rising 29% from last year to US$463 million. [3]
From 2017-2020, FWD Group was the title sponsor of the North Pole Marathon, supporting environmental protection efforts. The company also collaborated with EcoMatcher to plant forests in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. [39]
In April 2020, FWD Philippines launched a Covid-19 Charity Drive to donate to healthcare workers and provide essential supplies across its operational regions. [40] In 2022, the company collaborated with Junior Achievement Asia Pacific to introduce JA SparktheDream, a program focused on teaching financial literacy, innovation, and social awareness to primary school students, teachers, parents, and volunteers. [41]
To commemorate its 10th anniversary in 2023, FWD initiated the 10 Grants in 10 Markets program, offering grants to support charitable programs focused on financial inclusion. [42]
Since its foundation in 2013, FWD has expanded to operate in 10 markets including Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia. [1] Notable acquisitions of the company include MetLife's business in Hong Kong and SCB Life Assurance in Thailand. [8]
FWD provides a range of insurance products, including life and medical insurance, general insurance, employee benefits, and health services such as FWD HealthyMe. [11] [38]
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