(China Alert) Insurers: Changing landscape, changing tact

·China Life issued two rounds of investment mandates

·Changing domestic pressures are pushing insurers offshore

·Mid-tier insurers remain the key target for mandates

Update: China Life is issuing its second round of investment mandates, following a USD3.22bn initial round last year. Across the industry, the time between RFP and mandate issuance is shortening markedly and Z-Ben Advisors estimates this second round may be double the size of 2014’s mandates. Mainland insurers face new pressures to invest offshore as domestic equity market volatility, adjustments to the RMB and other shifts are requiring a new path to portfolio stability. CIRC and SAFE have also suggested that offshore diversification is the way forward for chronically domestic-focused insurers. As regulators and insurers themselves navigate this new landscape, Z-Ben Advisors forecasts that insurance mandates will become larger, more frequent and more international.

China Life’s move is not surprising as they are one of the biggest domestic insurers and were one of the first to go offshore. What is surprising is ……