Home ›› 17 Aug 2021 ›› World Biz
HSBC Holdings has agreed to acquire French insurer Axa’s Singapore assets for $575 million, part of its strategy of scaling up its wealth-management business in Asia to boost fee income.
HSBC said in a statement that the combined unit comprising HSBC Life Singapore and Axa Singapore would be the seventh-largest life insurer and the fourth-largest retail health insurer in Singapore, with over 600,000 policies in-force covering life, health and property and casualty insurance.
HSBC currently ranks 10th in life insurance in Singapore, and does not have a health insurance business.
The Asia-focused bank, like its peers, is battling poor returns from lending in a low interest rate environment and is looking to boost customer fee income in areas such as insurance and asset management.
It said in February it would invest $3.5 billion in its wealth and personal banking business in Asia, which includes its insurance operations, part of an overall investment in the region of $6 billion.
The deal is HSBC’s largest acquisition since the $726 merger of its Oman branch with Oman International Bank in 2012, according to Dealogic.
AXA, which also is struggling with low interest rates, is streamlining its business and withdrawing from areas where it lacks scale.
