IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

Equity Bottom-Up

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fwd-group-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34332:1" rel="noopener">FWD Group Holdings (FWD US)</a> is a Pan-Asia insurer founded in 2013 by Richard Li. FWD is seeking to raise $2 billion through an NYSE IPO and a valuation between $13 billion and $15 billion, according to press reports. </p><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/fwd-group-ipo-forward-march" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:58263" rel="noopener">FWD Group IPO: Forward March</a>, we stated that in the long-term, FWD’s compelling customer propositions and multi-channel distribution across different geographies within Asia will likely support further market share gains. FWD notes that there remains significant potential for cross-selling and up-selling to its millennial customers (59% of organic new individual policyholders in 1H21) as they advance through different life stages and gain spending power. On balance, we concluded that FWD has sufficient headroom to continue to gain market share while improving profitability. </p><div class="content-highlight"><p>A successful listing of FWD will provide investors with a new proxy for Asian insurance growth vs well-established names such as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aia-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14895:1" rel="noopener">AIA Group Ltd (1299 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/prudential-plc-4b9124ab-0799-4543-abca-bac6f31da5b6" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34048:1" rel="noopener">Prudential PLC (2378 HK)</a>. Prudential’s recent oversubscribed share offer which raised US$2.4 billion in Hong Kong will help grow its investor base in Hong Kong and increase the liquidity of its shares on the HKEx. In this context, there is increasing interest in drawing comparisons between FWD, AIA and Prudential. In this note, we compare the insurers’ actuarial assumptions and key metrics across FWD’s key regions.  </p></div>

FWD Group Holdings (FWD US) is a Pan-Asia insurer founded in 2013 by Richard Li. FWD is seeking to raise $2 billion through an NYSE IPO and a valuation between $13 billion and $15 billion, according to press reports. In FWD Group IPO: Forward March, we stated that in the long-term, FWD’s compelling customer propositions and multi-channel distribution across different geographies within Asia will likely support further market share gains. FWD notes that there remains significant potential for cross-selling and up-selling to its millennial customers (59% of organic new individual policyholders in 1H21) as they advance through different life stages and gain spending power. On balance, we concluded that FWD has sufficient headroom to continue to gain market share while improving profitability. A successful listing of FWD will provide investors with a new proxy for Asian insurance growth vs well-established names such as AIA Group Ltd (1299 HK) and Prudential PLC (2378 HK). Prudential’s recent oversubscribed share offer which raised US$2.4 billion in Hong Kong will help grow its investor base in Hong Kong and increase the liquidity of its shares on the HKEx. In this context, there is increasing interest in drawing comparisons between FWD, AIA and Prudential. In this note, we compare the insurers’ actuarial assumptions and key metrics across FWD’s key regions.  

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

FWD Group Holdings / Equity Capital Markets

<div><p>FWD, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, aims to raise up to US$3bn in its US IPO. </p></div><div><p>FWD is a pan-Asia life insurer operating in ten markets including Hong Kong (and Macau), Thailand (and Cambodia), Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. Southeast Asia markets contributed over 40% of its Value of New Business (VNB) in 2020. It had served over 9.9m customers as of Jun 21.</p></div><div>
<div>In our previous note, we spoke about the positive  and negatives aspects of the deal in our earleir notes, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/fwd-pre-ipo-the-positives-growing-fast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FWD Pre-IPO - The Positives - Growing Fast</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/fwd-pre-ipo-the-negatives-strategy-remains-unclear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FWD Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Strategy Remains Unclear </a>and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/fwd-pre-ipo-peer-comparison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FWD Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison</a>.</div>
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<div>In this note we will talk about valuations.</div>
</div>

FWD, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, aims to raise up to US$3bn in its US IPO. FWD is a pan-Asia life insurer operating in ten markets including Hong Kong (and Macau), Thailand (and Cambodia), Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. Southeast Asia markets contributed over 40% of its Value of New Business (VNB) in 2020. It had served over 9.9m customers as of Jun 21.
In our previous note, we spoke about the positive  and negatives aspects of the deal in our earleir notes, FWD Pre-IPO - The Positives - Growing Fast, FWD Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Strategy Remains Unclear and FWD Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison.

In this note we will talk about valuations.


<div><p>FWD, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, aims to raise up to US$3bn in its US IPO. </p></div><div><p>FWD is a pan-Asia life insurer operating in ten markets including Hong Kong (and Macau), Thailand (and Cambodia), Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. Southeast Asia markets contributed over 40% of its Value of New Business (VNB) in 2020. It had served over 9.9m customers as of Jun 21.</p></div><div><div>In our previous note, we spoke about the positive  and negatives aspects of the deal in our earleir notes, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/fwd-pre-ipo-the-positives-growing-fast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FWD Pre-IPO - The Positives - Growing Fast</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/fwd-pre-ipo-the-negatives-strategy-remains-unclear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FWD Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Strategy Remains Unclear</a>.</div></div><p></p><p>In this note we will undertake a peer comparison.</p>

FWD, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, aims to raise up to US$3bn in its US IPO. FWD is a pan-Asia life insurer operating in ten markets including Hong Kong (and Macau), Thailand (and Cambodia), Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. Southeast Asia markets contributed over 40% of its Value of New Business (VNB) in 2020. It had served over 9.9m customers as of Jun 21.In our previous note, we spoke about the positive  and negatives aspects of the deal in our earleir notes, FWD Pre-IPO - The Positives - Growing Fast and FWD Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Strategy Remains Unclear.In this note we will undertake a peer comparison.

<div>
<p>Prudential raised around US$2.4bn via an international and public offering in Hong Kong. </p>
</div>
<p>We covered various aspects of the deal in our earlier note, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/prudential-hong-kong-offering-well-flagged-pivot-to-asia-mind-the-liquidity-gap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prudential Hong Kong Offering - Well Flagged Pivot to Asia, Mind the Liquidity Gap</a>.</p>
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<p>In this note, we will talk about the updates since then.</p>
</div>


Prudential raised around US$2.4bn via an international and public offering in Hong Kong. 

We covered various aspects of the deal in our earlier note, Prudential Hong Kong Offering - Well Flagged Pivot to Asia, Mind the Liquidity Gap.

In this note, we will talk about the updates since then.


Prudential Hong Kong Offering - Trading Quick Note

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fwd-group-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34332:1" rel="noopener">FWD Group Holdings (FWD US)</a> is a Pan-Asia insurer founded in 2013 by Richard Li. FWD is seeking to raise $2 billion through an NYSE IPO at a valuation between $13 billion and $15 billion, according to press reports. FWD has already secured $500 million in pre-deal demand from investors linked to the issuer - Li Ka Shing Foundation ($300 million), <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pccw-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:873:1" rel="noopener">PCCW Ltd (8 HK)</a> ($100 million) and PCGI Holdings ($100 million). Athene Life Re, whose assets are managed by Apollo Global Management, has agreed to purchase shares worth $400 million in a concurrent private placement. </p><p>As a relatively young insurer, FWD has built its market position as a Pan-Asian insurer through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions across Asia. FWD was the fastest-growing Pan-Asian life insurer in the past five years, according to NMG. In the short term, the outbreak of the Delta variant may impact the results. In the long-term, FWD’s compelling customer propositions and multi-channel distribution across different geographies within Asia will likely support further market share gains. </p><div class="content-highlight"><p>FWD notes that there remains significant potential for cross-selling and up-selling to its millennial customers (59% of organic new individual policyholders in 1H21) as they advance through different life stages and gain spending power. On balance, we think that FWD has sufficient headroom to continue to gain market share while improving profitability. </p></div>

FWD Group Holdings (FWD US) is a Pan-Asia insurer founded in 2013 by Richard Li. FWD is seeking to raise $2 billion through an NYSE IPO at a valuation between $13 billion and $15 billion, according to press reports. FWD has already secured $500 million in pre-deal demand from investors linked to the issuer - Li Ka Shing Foundation ($300 million), PCCW Ltd (8 HK) ($100 million) and PCGI Holdings ($100 million). Athene Life Re, whose assets are managed by Apollo Global Management, has agreed to purchase shares worth $400 million in a concurrent private placement. As a relatively young insurer, FWD has built its market position as a Pan-Asian insurer through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions across Asia. FWD was the fastest-growing Pan-Asian life insurer in the past five years, according to NMG. In the short term, the outbreak of the Delta variant may impact the results. In the long-term, FWD’s compelling customer propositions and multi-channel distribution across different geographies within Asia will likely support further market share gains. FWD notes that there remains significant potential for cross-selling and up-selling to its millennial customers (59% of organic new individual policyholders in 1H21) as they advance through different life stages and gain spending power. On balance, we think that FWD has sufficient headroom to continue to gain market share while improving profitability. 

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.

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AIA Group Ltd (1299 HK)

FWD Group Vs AIA Vs Prudential

FWD is seeking to raise $2 billion through an NYSE IPO. In this note, we compare FWD, AIA and Pru’s actuarial assumptions and key metrics across...

Arun George

FWD Pre-IPO - Thoughts on Valuation

FWD, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, aims to raise up to US$3bn in its US IPO. In this note we will talk about our thoughts on...

Sumeet Singh

FWD Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison

FWD, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, aims to raise up to US$3bn in its US IPO. In this note, we will undertake a peer comparison.

Sumeet Singh

Prudential Hong Kong Offering - Trading Quick Note

Prudential raised around US$2.4bn via an international and public offering in Hong Kong. In this note, we will talk about the updates since then.

Sumeet Singh

FWD Group IPO: Forward March

FWD is seeking to raise $2 bn through an NYSE IPO at a valuation between $13-15 bn, according to press reports. FWD has sufficient headroom to...

Arun George

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