Exclusive | Chubb CEO Greenberg says Hong Kong can boost insurance hub credentials by ‘limiting bureaucracy’ in Greater Bay Area
- Greater Bay Area will potentially make Hong Kong more attractive for international insurers, if the government can ‘limit bureaucracy’, Chubb CEO Greenberg says
- Chubb in November gained approval to increase its stake in China’s Huatai Insurance Group to 83.2 per cent
“Business is attracted to an environment of certainty,” Greenberg said in an exclusive interview with the Post during a recent visit to the city.
If Hong Kong can offer more “certainty, predictability and transparency”, companies will have more confidence and increase their presence here, he added.
Chubb is the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, with operations in 54 markets and 40,000 staff globally. It has also grown its presence in mainland China over the last two years.
Greenberg, 68, an industry veteran with 40 years of experience in Asia, said Hong Kong has already attracted some of the world’s top global insurers including Chubb, while the Greater Bay Area’s market potential will make Hong Kong more attractive.
Beijing unveiled a blueprint in 2019 to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland cities into an economic powerhouse.
“The more the government makes an effort to limit bureaucracy and take down the financial regulatory borders between Hong Kong and Guangdong, the faster they will have the opportunity to achieve the vision of the Greater Bay Area,” Greenberg said.
“Hong Kong has the intention, but you also need Beijing and local Guangdong regulators’ support to make that happen.”
06:19
High hopes for China’s Greater Bay Area, but integrating 11 cities will pose challenges
China, however, still maintains capital control, which means capital cannot be freely transferred between Hong Kong and the mainland. But since 2014, China has introduced a number of connect schemes to facilitate and boost cross border trading in stocks, bonds and wealth management products to forge closer integration.
Greenberg said despite these schemes, capital flow remains “somewhat narrow”, and he hoped to see it increase as the Greater Bay Area matures and develops further.
Chubb will continue to grow in the Greater Bay Area through its Hong Kong life and general insurance businesses and its 83.2 per cent owned Huatai Insurance Group in China, Greenberg said.
Asia now represents about 20 per cent of Chubb’s revenue. The US and international markets each account equally for the company’s overall business in the life, property and casualty insurance categories.
“My optimism [is based on the belief that] Asia and North America are the most dynamic regions today and they will remain so in the future in terms of overall wealth creation,” he said.
Will Hong Kong developers’ bets on Greater Bay Area backfire?
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the company’s revenue grew almost 50 per cent over a three-year period, Greenberg said. In November 2022, Chubb gained approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to increase its stake in Huatai Insurance Group from 47.3 per cent to 83.2 per cent.
Huatai operates in the life and non-life segments in the mainland, with more than 18,000 agents serving about 19 million customers. It also runs an asset management company with over US$100 billion assets under management.
“As far as we know, Chubb is the first foreign financial institution to majority-own a Chinese financial services holding company,” Greenberg said.
“My company has been building business in China on the ground for over 20 years. We are committed to taking part in long-term relationship-building in the country and growing Huatai.”
