(Yicai) Jan. 29 -- Global insurance giants AIA Group and Aegon Group have set up the first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management companies in Shanghai, reinforcing the city's status as an international financial hub.

AIA Insurance Asset Management was established by AIA's subsidiary AIA Life Insurance, while Aegon Asset Management Shanghai was directly initiated by Aegon, according to information disclosed at their opening ceremony yesterday.

The National Financial Regulatory Administration approved the two insurance asset management firms for preparation last June and completed all preparatory work in the past six months with the efficient support of local regulatory agencies.

"What impressed us deeply from preparation to launch is the 'Shanghai speed,' which has far exceeded our expectations," Zhang Mengjiao, chairwoman of Aegon AM Shanghai, told Yicai during the opening ceremony.

"Without the efficient support of regulatory authorities, we could have never completed the establishment of the asset management company in just six months and successfully launched operations at the beginning of this year," Leon Au Yeung, director and general manager of AIA Insurance AM, told Yicai.

Shanghai will continue to expand high-level opening-up, accelerate the construction of an international financial center, give full play to its comprehensive advantages in modern industries, high-end talents, and business environment, provide more market, investment, and development opportunities for local financial institutions, and create a better environment, more optimized services, and more safeguards, Executive Vice Mayor Wu Wei said at the opening ceremony.

The first step for AIA Insurance AM is to smoothly acquire AIA Life's existing investment capabilities and properly manage life insurance funds, Au Yeung said. Later, it will build new investment capabilities by leveraging its asset management platform, such as issuing financial products and applying derivatives, promote market innovation, and provide more diversified strategic products for different investors, he added.

In the long run, AIA Insurance AM hopes to become the investment management center of AIA in China and play a role in the asset allocation of the group's businesses in different regions into the Chinese market, Au Yeung noted.

AIA was founded in Shanghai more than a century ago and is now based in Hong Kong. It covers 18 markets across the Asia-Pacific region. AIA Life was restructured from AIA's Shanghai branch and opened for business in 2020, becoming the first wholly foreign-owned life insurance company in the Chinese mainland.

With the acquisition of the insurance asset management license, Aegon hopes to have the opportunity to establish a China holding company to gather various Chinese financial licenses and use the group's resources more efficiently, Zhang said.

In fact, Aegon AM Shanghai has become Aegon's third business license in China after the parent company entered the life insurance and public fund industries by establishing two joint ventures with local enterprises.

The entrusted funds of Aegon AM Shanghai will come from Aegon's JV Tsinghua Tongfang Aegon Life Insurance, Zhang noted, adding that the new company hopes to develop third-party business partners and entrust part of the overseas funds from Aegon with the approval of regulators.

Based in the Hague, the Netherlands, Aegon is an international financial services group with a history of more than 180 years, with a business network covering many countries and regions around the world. It provides long-term life insurance, asset management, and retirement solutions for institutional and individual clients.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione