(June 16): AIA Ltd and Prudential plc have created new jobs in Hong Kong in a bid to win business from the region’s richest people, part of a broader push among insurers to grow revenues from wealthy clients.
Chirag Rathod recently started at AIA as its chief executive officer for global high-net-worth business at the Hong Kong unit. It is a newly created role, people familiar with the matter said. Donna Cotter joined Prudential this month as the CEO for wealth and Bermuda, also a new position, according to a company announcement.
The moves came as Paris-based AXA Group launched a platform this month for high-net-worth clients to purchase insurance policies in both its Hong Kong and Bermuda offices.
Insurers have increasingly been looking to target Asia’s growing wealthy class, after years of focusing on mass-affluent customers. Those efforts have taken on extra urgency as wealth flows into Hong Kong and Singapore, mainland Chinese individuals deepen their search for higher returns, and geopolitical fears boost the need for rich clients to protect their assets.
“The geopolitical tensions increase investment uncertainty, which may heighten fear about certain asset classes such as dollar-denominated bonds,” said Jason Alleyne, the founder and executive of insurance technology firm Reimagine Risk. That creates opportunities for insurers to sell other products such as indexed universal life policies, he said.
Hong Kong authorities last year relaxed rules to give wealthy individuals access to such policies, which have part of their cash value linked to a benchmark stock index.
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Still, the moves come at a time when China is stepping up scrutiny of cross-border capital flows. Shares of AIA and Prudential, which is listed in London and Hong Kong, tumbled in recent weeks on concerns that the crackdown may hurt their mainstay business of selling insurance products to Chinese visitors to the financial hub. The stocks have pared losses in recent days.
A Prudential spokesperson said Cotter’s appointment “reflects our commitment to serve the evolving wealth and protection needs of high-net-worth customers in Asia”. AIA declined to comment.
The firms are catching up with early movers that have recently been logging record premiums. Manulife Financial Corp sold a US$300 million ($385 million) life insurance policy in Singapore earlier this year, topping what Guinness World Records certified as the most valuable ever issued. That surpasses the previous record of US$250 million set by HSBC Life in Hong Kong in 2024.
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The insurers are building the new operations from Hong Kong to serve Chinese clients after wealth poured into the city from the mainland in recent years, some of the people said. One appeal Bermuda has as a booking centre is the lower capital charges required to underwrite such policies there, they said.
Both AIA and Prudential saw new business profit grow in 2025, propelled by strong demand from Hong Kong and China.
Sally Wan, the CEO of AXA Greater China and the new private wealth platform, said in a June news briefing that the insurer is targeting Asia clients initially before rolling it out to other markets. The company is looking to provide insurance products and advisory services on life, luxury houses, art collections, and protection against ransom and kidnapping risks.
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