Skandia-Guodian Life Gets Capital Boost From Stakeholders

Beijing-based Skandia-Guodian Life Insurance Co., formerly known as Skandia-BSAM Life, will be permitted to raise its registered capital to 620 million yuan (US$92.1 million) from 520 million yuan, while the stakes of its shareholders will remain the same, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Each of Skandia-Guodian Life's two shareholders has injected 50 million yuan, a Skandia-Guodian Life spokesperson said.

Skandia-Guodian Life, which has a company logo showing Oldmutual-Guodian, is a 50-50 joint venture between Sweden-based Skandia Insurance, now a member of U.K.-based Old Mutual Group, and China Guodian Capital Holdings Ltd.

Lingde Hong is president and chief executive officer of Skandia-Guodian Life.

The approved amendment of Skandia-Guodian Life's registered capital amount is based on a resolution made by the company's board of directors on May 19, the CIRC said.

The regulator cleared state-owned Assets Management Co. Ltd. to transfer its 50% stake in Skandia-BSAM Life to a capital holding limited company under China Guodian Corp. in March 2010.

Following completion of the equity transfer, Skandia Insurance and the capital holding subsidiary of China Guodian Corp. would each hold 50% stake in the insurer (BestWire, March 12, 2010).

Old Mutual Group said in May that management teams from Skandia-BSAM and Guodian were working on joint plans for the development of the business.

China Guodian Corp. is one of the five largest nationwide power generation groups approved by the State Council of China in a power industry restructuring. The company is involved in power generation, coal mining, engineering and finance in the country, and has more than 110,000 employees, Old Mutual said.

Skandia-Guodian Life said it aims to grow business through China Guodian's presence in the Chinese market nationwide and knowledge of the Chinese economy, as well as Old Mutual's global asset management and insurance experience and Skandia's experience in the long-term savings market.

Established in January 2004, Skandia-Guodian Life claimed to be the first insurance company to use a fund of funds investment management model in China, and sought to be a leading long-term investment and financial solutions provider in the Chinese market. It now has branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Zhejiang.

In July, Skandia-Guodian Life recorded cumulative original premium income of 483 million yuan, up 13.1% from 427 million yuan in June, noted the CIRC.

(By Rebecca Ng, Hong Kong news editor: Rebecca.Ng@ambest.com)