On June 17, 2020, AIA obtained the approval of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to transform the Shanghai branch of AIA Insurance Co., Ltd. into a wholly foreign-owned life insurance company-AIA Life. On August 18, 2020, at the inauguration ceremony of AIA Life Insurance Co., Ltd., facing issues of general concern to the outside world, such as how does AIA Life, which “set a new path in the “hometown”, view the current and future China insurance industry; What opportunities does it mean to AIA? What kind of development strategy will AIA Life have when it enters the second-tier, third-tier, and even more sinking regional markets.” Answered one by one.
Zhang Xiaoyu speaks moderately, with a calm expression, and receives the great news as a daily good news. His life experience and career path make people never question the inevitability of his great success, because he is the kind of person who stands at the forefront of any situation in life no matter what the cusp or no one cares about. People in the ranks of warriors. Moreover, from AIA baby to AIA giant, for him, it was an internship that was thoughtless from the beginning, and then he concentrated on going all the way. He kept a clear and clear mind and indulged forward along the way.
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Zhang Xiaoyu said, “The establishment of AIA Life is another milestone in China’s new round of financial opening up to the outside world. It means that AIA has the opportunity to expand its business to the mainland other than Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jiangsu, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang in the near future. Other markets. We are confident in the future of China’s insurance industry. Although the industry is facing short-term pressure in the increasingly volatile market environment, the long-term upward trend will not change as a result. What we must continue to focus on is endogenous competitiveness. Cultivate and continue to create sustainable advantages.
I believe that the opportunities brought by the establishment of AIA Life Insurance must be huge. I have worked at AIA for more than 20 years. This is the most anticipated thing of every generation. The establishment of AIA Life means that AIA is expected to break through years of policy restrictions and expand its business operations to a wider area. “Talking about the impact of the establishment of AIA Life, Zhang Xiaoyu commented with excitement, “In addition, the success of this reconstruction brings the significance of AIA also reflected in multi-level and multi-dimensional operation and development. “
“First of all, the establishment of AIA Life means a more optimized and flexible organizational structure, allowing us to react more quickly to the market.” After the establishment of AIA Life, the organizational structure between branches and subsidiaries and within the company will take advantage of this time. Opportunities have been reorganized to achieve more efficient and agile operations.
The establishment of AIA Life Insurance is expected to change the situation in which branches in the past are fighting each other in their daily operations and realize a shared operating platform. The scale effect brought by the shared operating platform will greatly improve operating efficiency, reduce operating costs, and leave more energy and resources to focus on continuously improving the user’s insurance service experience. Another example is the previous investment account. We need to create seven accounts in different cities. A robust account for investment-linked insurance products requires documents from all regional companies such as AIA Shanghai and AIA Guangdong. However, after the reconstruction, the efficiency of the entire process will be greatly improved. . “Zhang Xiaoyu gave an example.
In addition, the establishment of AIA Life means that AIA will have a unified and independent legal entity in mainland China. In addition to expanding its business to more regions, its business content and model in the mainland market will also have more possibilities. “Theoretically, our investment portfolio and business model will all benefit from the reforms. Fields that we could not do before, such as investment in real estate, nationwide Internet insurance business, etc., will have the opportunity to try in the future. Of course, we will We will look for these opportunities on the premise of rationally analyzing our own development strategies, competitive advantages and market environment.”
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However, in Zhang Xiaoyu’s eyes, behind the many opportunities, AIA people should also clearly see the objective challenges brought to the industry by market trends and realities in recent years. On the one hand, with the continuous acceleration of China’s urbanization and the rapid rise of the middle class The Chinese people’s demand for protection is continuing to increase, and the government and regulatory authorities are also encouraging and promoting the popularization of commercial insurance, so as to achieve an effective complement to social insurance. This means that the development of the insurance industry in Mainland China still has huge potential and space; but On the other hand, with the intensification of product homogeneity, the slowing of channel and industry innovation, the disappearance of demographic dividends, the decline of interest rates, and the emergence of “black swan” events such as new crown pneumonia, the life insurance industry is facing inevitable challenges.
He analyzed the current market situation facing AIA Life in this way: “The long-term trend of the Chinese mainland market must be positive. From the perspective of the client, there is huge room for growth; but in the short term, it will be under certain pressure because there are vacancies and vacancies on the supply side. Shortcomings. For example, with the gradual disappearance of the demographic dividend, the middle class’s demand for risk protection, pension protection, and service quality continues to increase, but the innovation and service capabilities of the industry have not kept up, and there will be various types in the short term. With market volatility, every insurance company has the issue of capacity improvement and transformation.”
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In this context, in order to better achieve business expansion and development, and to respond to changes in the objective market environment, how will AIA Life formulate its own development strategy? Zhang Xiaoyu’s answer is: “Be customer-centric, adhere to long-termism, persist in doing the right thing, and always drive business success and cultural construction with mission.”
Behind such a strategy is AIA Life’s in-depth thinking about customer needs, team building, innovation trends, and the nature of financial services based on the present and the future. Zhang Xiaoyu said: “Financial services are the most time-tested industry. The essence of insurance services is still people. AIA Life will focus on increasing investment in innovation capabilities, technological construction and various channels. The ultimate goal of these investments is to Turn our attention to customer value.”
