Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter “Ping An” or the “Group”, HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that Ping An is the world’s most valuable insurance brand, with a brand value of USD44.8 billion, in the Insurance 100 2021 Ranking by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance. Ping An has retained the top spot as the world’s most valuable insurance brand for the fifth year in a row.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy. It evaluates thousands of the world’s biggest brands every year. The Insurance 100 2021 ranking evaluates aspects of the brands’ industry performance, brand equity, and contribution to business performance. Brand Finance feeds these factors into the Brand Strength Index (BSI) and quantifies the brand values. This year, Brand Finance also assessed the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on enterprise value, estimating the likely impact on brand value for each sector.
Brand Finance said, “As predicted, insurance brands have taken a hit this year as they negotiate the fallout from the pandemic … They have, however, fared better than our initial predictions at the outbreak of last year, demonstrating the resilience of the world’s top insurance brands. Ping An has already begun to show signs of a strong recovery as parts of the world begin to remerge from the pandemic, and therefore, if this trend continues, Ping An should see a solid increase in brand value in the coming year.”
Ping An continued to strengthen its technological capabilities and provide high quality products and services to clients amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first quarter of 2021, Ping An achieved steady business results. The Group achieved operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of RMB39,120 million, up 8.9% year-on-year. In addition, the Group promoted annuity products, improved its protection product portfolio by developing new “product + service” packages for healthy business development. New business value of the life and health insurance business rose by 15.4% year-on-year to RMB18,980 million. Operating profit rose steadily by 4.2% year-on-year to RMB25,580 million. Ping An’s retail customers also continued to increase. By the end of March, Ping An’s retail customers grew 1.0% in the year-to-date to more than 220 million, including 84.57 million, or 38.3%, who hold multiple contracts with different Group subsidiaries.
Ping An said: “While pursuing steady progress by continuously advancing our ‘finance + technology’ and the ‘finance + ecosystem’ strategies, Ping An adheres to the philosophy of ‘expertise makes life simple, technology makes financial services heartwarming, and healthcare makes life better’. In the future, Ping An will seize the development opportunities of fintech and healthtech, support the development of smart cities, fulfill social responsibilities and protect society and people’s livelihoods.”
In addition to Ping An, Chinese insurance brands in general have a significant presence in the Brand Finance Insurance 100 2021 ranking. A total of 12 Chinese insurers are featured, with Ping An, China Life, AIA, CPIC and PICC in the top 10. The cumulative brand value of the 12 Chinese insurance brands accounts for 30% of the total brand value of Insurance 100 2021.
