External broker reports(aggregated public sources), CMB International

CMB International

External broker reports(aggregated public sources)

Incorporated in Hong Kong, supported by the mainland and targeting in global market, CMB International Capital Corporation Limited (“CMBI”) is an integrated financial institution providing comprehensive and professional services. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank ("CMB"), by leveraging on the Group’s synergy and coordination in domestic and overseas markets, as well as CMB’s strong resources and outstanding social reputation, CMBI and its subsidiaries have been actively implementing diversified business strategies and set up an overall layout of main business segments including Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Global Markets and Structured Finance, etc. Adhering to the philosophy of “being clients oriented and increasing our own values by the way of creating value for clients”, CMBI endeavors to provide quality and integrated financial services to institutional, corporate and individual customers both domestic and overseas including Hong Kong IPO sponsorship and underwriting, share placement and rights issue for listed companies, financial advisors, bonds issuance services, asset management, direct investment, wealth management, equity sales and trading, etc.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>AIA reported full-year results with VNB +33% YoY (CER basis, +30% on AER basis) to US$4,034mn, and ANP +45% YoY (CER basis, +41% on AER basis) to US$7,650mn, in line with our forecasts (VNB +31%, ANP +44% on AER basis).</li><li>We saw a narrowed downtrend in VNB margin to 52.6%, sequentially improved by 3.8pct to 54.5% in 2H23 (vs 1H23: 50.7%).</li><li>Among double-digit growth in four segments, AIA HK’s VNB remarkably rose 82% YoY underpinned by sequential growth in 4Q23 by capturing MCV demands against a sector-wide slowdown. </li></ul>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

AIA reported full-year results with VNB +33% YoY (CER basis, +30% on AER basis) to US$4,034mn, and ANP +45% YoY (CER basis, +41% on AER basis) to US$7,650mn, in line with our forecasts (VNB +31%, ANP +44% on AER basis).We saw a narrowed downtrend in VNB margin to 52.6%, sequentially improved by 3.8pct to 54.5% in 2H23 (vs 1H23: 50.7%).Among double-digit growth in four segments, AIA HK’s VNB remarkably rose 82% YoY underpinned by sequential growth in 4Q23 by capturing MCV demands against a sector-wide slowdown. Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

AIA Group Ltd. (1299 HK) - FY23 VNB +33% in Line

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Strong start to 2024, but majority underperform: Average returns of 7.6% lags the SPDRs MSCI ACWI ETF by -0.33%, with 44% of funds outperforming.</li>
<li>USA Technology Drives Returns: US Tech sector accounts for 1/4 of total returns in Q1. China &amp; India Financials a drag on performance.</li>
<li>Apple and Tesla Positions Outperform: Underweights in both stocks help claw back losses made due to NVIDIA underweights.</li>
</ul>


Strong start to 2024, but majority underperform: Average returns of 7.6% lags the SPDRs MSCI ACWI ETF by -0.33%, with 44% of funds outperforming.
USA Technology Drives Returns: US Tech sector accounts for 1/4 of total returns in Q1. China &amp; India Financials a drag on performance.
Apple and Tesla Positions Outperform: Underweights in both stocks help claw back losses made due to NVIDIA underweights.


Global Funds Q1 Review: Benefiting from Underweights in Apple & Tesla

<ul>
<li>Strong start to 2024 as majority of GEM funds outperform: Average returns of 2.8% beat the iShares MSCI EM ETF by 0.66%, with 63% of funds outperforming.</li>
<li>Technology Sector Drives Returns: Technology sector the key contributor to returns, with TSMC accounting for just over half of total fund returns on the quarter.</li>
<li>Active vs Passive: Q1 performance adds to GEM active fund's impressive record of outperformance. 5-year average GEM fund returns are +7.4% ahead of the benchmark iShares MSCI EM ETF.</li>
</ul>


Strong start to 2024 as majority of GEM funds outperform: Average returns of 2.8% beat the iShares MSCI EM ETF by 0.66%, with 63% of funds outperforming.
Technology Sector Drives Returns: Technology sector the key contributor to returns, with TSMC accounting for just over half of total fund returns on the quarter.
Active vs Passive: Q1 performance adds to GEM active fund's impressive record of outperformance. 5-year average GEM fund returns are +7.4% ahead of the benchmark iShares MSCI EM ETF.


GEM Funds Outperform in Q1.  Long-Term Active Vs Passive Performance Compelling.

<ul>
<li>Over three quarters of Global equity managers are underweight China.  Average weights sit at the bottom of the 10 year range, with 18% of funds holding no exposure at all.</li>
<li>Continued rotation over the last 6-months. Within Asia, Japan has taken the lead as the key exposure, whilst Global funds prefer European countries as their main overweight positions.</li>
<li>Tencent owned by 22% of funds, Alibaba by just 18%.  China re-opening/COVID relaxation places Global funds vulnerable to outperformance.</li>
</ul>


Over three quarters of Global equity managers are underweight China.  Average weights sit at the bottom of the 10 year range, with 18% of funds holding no exposure at all.
Continued rotation over the last 6-months. Within Asia, Japan has taken the lead as the key exposure, whilst Global funds prefer European countries as their main overweight positions.
Tencent owned by 22% of funds, Alibaba by just 18%.  China re-opening/COVID relaxation places Global funds vulnerable to outperformance.


Founder of Antler Capital

Stanley Tsai, CFA

AIA <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aia-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14895:1" rel="noopener">(1299 HK)</a> 
AIA's proposed USD1.86bn minority investment in China Post Life marks a notable deviation from its long-held belief in maintaining control over its key operations. The transaction is touted as a barbell strategy that will give AIA's shareholders access to high-net worth clients on the one hand and the mass market on the other. In our view, the economics to China Post Life are clear, but the benefits to AIA may be more subtle (Exhibit 1).
The deal is fairly immaterial to AIA financially. At 1.34x historical P/B, the investment represents less than 0.6% of AIA's assets and 0.3% its IFRS capital. Valuation is in line with New China Life-A's <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/new-china-life-insurance-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:43:1" rel="noopener">(601336 CH)</a>, but we don't believe AIA is in it to turn a quick profit.
China Post Life stands to benefit almost immediately. The cash injection will boost the insurer's core solvency ratio from 110% to above 200%. But much more important is the promise of product ramp-ups, service upgrades, and sales training. On these fronts, China Post Life will be learning from the best.
The benefits AIA derives from the deal may be somewhat less tangible, but no less significant. The investment places the Hong Kong-based insurer front and center in the country's drive to widen the mass market's financial access. The unique position of the China Postal Group may open other doors down the road.
We are naturally skeptical of all insurance M&amp;As and joint ventures as so few of them have worked globally. That said, financial and executive risks seem to be well contained with the China Post Life transaction. While it may be an overstatement to call this transaction politically motivated, the potential regulatory and policy tailwinds it promises must be the envy of many of AIA's competitors.
<table class="table table-striped">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%;">Exhibit 1: AIA's China Footprint</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%;">
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/216/534/original/image_81757729821625228313721.png?1625228314" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="216534"></figure>
Source: China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), National Bureau of Statistics, Company disclosures, Our analysis
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Related Insight
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-financials-silver-linings-playbook" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:53013" rel="noopener">China Financials: Silver Linings Playbook</a> </li>
</ul>

AIA (1299 HK) 
AIA's proposed USD1.86bn minority investment in China Post Life marks a notable deviation from its long-held belief in maintaining control over its key operations. The transaction is touted as a barbell strategy that will give AIA's shareholders access to high-net worth clients on the one hand and the mass market on the other. In our view, the economics to China Post Life are clear, but the benefits to AIA may be more subtle (Exhibit 1).
The deal is fairly immaterial to AIA financially. At 1.34x historical P/B, the investment represents less than 0.6% of AIA's assets and 0.3% its IFRS capital. Valuation is in line with New China Life-A's (601336 CH), but we don't believe AIA is in it to turn a quick profit.
China Post Life stands to benefit almost immediately. The cash injection will boost the insurer's core solvency ratio from 110% to above 200%. But much more important is the promise of product ramp-ups, service upgrades, and sales training. On these fronts, China Post Life will be learning from the best.
The benefits AIA derives from the deal may be somewhat less tangible, but no less significant. The investment places the Hong Kong-based insurer front and center in the country's drive to widen the mass market's financial access. The unique position of the China Postal Group may open other doors down the road.
We are naturally skeptical of all insurance M&amp;As and joint ventures as so few of them have worked globally. That said, financial and executive risks seem to be well contained with the China Post Life transaction. While it may be an overstatement to call this transaction politically motivated, the potential regulatory and policy tailwinds it promises must be the envy of many of AIA's competitors.



Exhibit 1: AIA's China Footprint




Source: China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), National Bureau of Statistics, Company disclosures, Our analysis




Related Insight


China Financials: Silver Linings Playbook 


AIA / China Post Life Deal: A Worthwhile Excursion

Hong Kong

AIA Group Limited offers insurance and financial services. The Company writes life insurance for individuals, businesses, accident, and health insurance, as well as retirement planning and wealth management services.

AIA Group Ltd (1299 HK)