Fresh from its expansion into the mortgage insurance business, QBE Insurance Group, one of Australia's largest insurers, plans to push into Hong Kong where it will compete with the Hong Kong Mortgage Corp (HKMC).
The move comes more than a year after QBE acquired the Australian and New Zealand units of the United States-based PMI Group. It also bought Hong Kong-based PMI Mortgage Insurance Asia.
QBE Mortgage Insurance (Asia), formerly known as PMI Mortgage Insurance Asia, would offer flexible and adaptable products to attract lenders, said Ian Graham, the chairman of QBE Lenders' Mortgage, formerly PMI Australia.
The Hong Kong market is dominated by the HKMC, with 90 per cent of the business. It is wholly owned by the government through the Exchange Fund.
QBE Mortgage would be an alternative option for banks, giving them confidence to lend through economic cycles, Graham said.
'We certainly see the opportunities to provide lenders with some choices,' he said. 'Speed of service by giving insurance approval to lenders is an option.'
Through PMI Mortgage, the company had acted as reinsurer for the HKMC's mortgage insurance programme, said Jonathan Chan, the managing director of QBE Mortgage. Recently, the company formed a partnership with Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong). 'Our partnership with Standard Chartered marks our first lender-direct business in Hong Kong. We intend to bring on additional staff and resources as we anticipate our business will grow in the next 12 months,' said Chan.