(Yicai Global) Sept. 7 -- Ren Huichuan, a senior consultant at Tencent Holdings, has been named interim person in charge of Samsung Property & Casualty Insurance China, after Tencent became the second-biggest shareholder in the non-life insurer.

Ren was appointed as acting GM after Kil Kyung Sub resigned, Samsung Property & Casualty said in a statement posted on its website yesterday, citing the resolution of a board meeting. The reason for the change was not disclosed. 

Regulators last month approved an application to increase the registered capital of the insurer’s Chinese arm to CNY876 million (USD125.5 million) from CNY324 million, giving the green light for the plan by Tencent and four other Chinese investors to buy into the firm. 

Shenzhen-based Tencent will take a 32 percent stake to become the second-biggest shareholder. South Korean giant Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will remains the No. 1 investor, though its stake will fall to 37 percent from 100 percent. 

Ren, 53, joined Tencent in 2020 as a senior consultant, after working for more than 20 years at Shenzhen-based Ping An Insurance Group. He became Ping An's GM in March 2011 and was promoted to vice chairman in October 2019. 

With over 60 years in business, Samsung Fire & Marine is the biggest property insurer in South Korea. The firm set up its Chinese unit in 2005 to offer insurance for property damage, traffic accidents and accidental injuries among others. 

In recent years, Tencent has been expanding into the insurance field. In 2013, it took part in setting up Zhongan Online P&C Insurance, China’s first internet-based insurer, before acquiring a 20 percent stake in Aviva Life Insurance, formerly a Hong Kong unit of UK insurance giant Aviva, in 2017.

Editor: Tom Litting