Insurers undervalued after selldown; Asean's growth prospects intact

SINGAPORE (Oct 21): A quick glance at the price-to-embedded values of a couple of life insurance companies shows that they are undervalued versus their historical ratios. In particular, the P/EV ratios of Great Eastern Holdings (GEH) and Prudential are at multi-year lows (see Charts 1 and 2). This is due to the twin effects of rising EV levels, and falling or stable share prices.