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.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fwd-group-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34332:1" rel="noopener">FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK)</a>, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO in July 2025.  Its IPO-linked lockup will expire soon.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK), a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO in July 2025.  Its IPO-linked lockup will expire soon.
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.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


FWD IPO Lockup - US$1.9bn Cornerstone and Pre-IPO Investor Release

HK/China Healthcare Analyst (ex-Fosun Pharma)

Xinyao (Criss) Wang

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Turning losses around in 2024 relied on capital market recovery and adjustment of accounting standards. If investment returns fluctuate or premium growth slows down, profits may again come under pressure.</li>
<li>The excessive goodwill of insurance companies is essentially "overdrawing the current valuation with future expectations".Whether goodwill can be transformed into actual synergy effects is the key to determining long-term value. </li>
<li>The market usually gives lower valuation to companies with high goodwill. FWD relies on debt to provide funding for working capital/acquisition financing. Valuation of FWD should be lower than peers.</li>
</ul>


Turning losses around in 2024 relied on capital market recovery and adjustment of accounting standards. If investment returns fluctuate or premium growth slows down, profits may again come under pressure.
The excessive goodwill of insurance companies is essentially "overdrawing the current valuation with future expectations".Whether goodwill can be transformed into actual synergy effects is the key to determining long-term value. 
The market usually gives lower valuation to companies with high goodwill. FWD relies on debt to provide funding for working capital/acquisition financing. Valuation of FWD should be lower than peers.


Pre-IPO FWD Group Holdings (PHIP Updates) - The Pain Points and the Outlook

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fwd-group-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34332:1" rel="noopener">FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK)</a>, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>We looked at the company’s past performance and valuations in our previous notes. In this note we talk about the trading dynamics.</li>
</ul>



FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK), a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK 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.
We looked at the company’s past performance and valuations in our previous notes. In this note we talk about the trading dynamics.


Insurance & Central Asia-focused Analyst, KT Capital Group

Alec Tseung

Insurance & Central Asia-focused Analyst

KT Capital Group

Principal investments and advisory firm that focuses on connecting the CIS countries with East Asia.

Principal investments and advisory firm

<ul>
<li>Based on HKD 38 offer price per share, FWD has a market capitalization of USD 6.1 billion, assuming the overallotment option is not exercised.</li>
<li>FWD's P/FY'24 pro forma BV represents a significant discount to peers' trading P/FY'24 BV since it has higher-than-peers intangible assets.</li>
<li>P/EV might be a fairer approach as it excludes intangible assets. On this basis, FWD valuation almost has no discount.</li>
</ul>


Based on HKD 38 offer price per share, FWD has a market capitalization of USD 6.1 billion, assuming the overallotment option is not exercised.
FWD's P/FY'24 pro forma BV represents a significant discount to peers' trading P/FY'24 BV since it has higher-than-peers intangible assets.
P/EV might be a fairer approach as it excludes intangible assets. On this basis, FWD valuation almost has no discount.


FWD IPO Valuation: Intangible Assets Is the Key (Vs. Peers)

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.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fwd-group-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34332:1" rel="noopener">FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK)</a> has launched its IPO to raise US$442 million at HK$38.00 per share. The shares will be listed on 7 July.</li>
<li>I previously discussed the IPO in <strong><em><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/fwd-group-ipo-the-investment-case" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:190939" rel="noopener">FWD Group IPO: The Investment Case</a></em></strong>. </li>
<li>The IPO price implies a discount to peers' multiples. A discount is warranted as FWD is smaller than its peers. FWD is fairly valued at the IPO price. </li>
</ul>



FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK) has launched its IPO to raise US$442 million at HK$38.00 per share. The shares will be listed on 7 July.
I previously discussed the IPO in FWD Group IPO: The Investment Case. 
The IPO price implies a discount to peers' multiples. A discount is warranted as FWD is smaller than its peers. FWD is fairly valued at the IPO price. 


FWD Group (1828 HK) IPO: Valuation Insights

Hong Kong

Prudential is a multinational insurance and asset management company. It provides life and health insurance, long-term savings, and investment solutions, including mutual funds and annuities, to customers across Asia and Africa. The company was founded in London in 1848 and is headquartered in London and Hong Kong.

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Prudential (2378 HK)

FWD IPO Lockup - US$1.9bn Cornerstone and Pre-IPO Investor Release

FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK), a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO in July 2025. Its IPO-linked...

Sumeet Singh

Pre-IPO FWD Group Holdings (PHIP Updates) - The Pain Points and the Outlook

Based on IPO pricing of HK$38, P/B is 1x, lower than AIA (2.3x), Prudential (1.8x).But if based on embedded value (EV), P/EV of FWD, AIA,...

Xinyao (Criss) Wang

FWD IPO Trading - Tepid Demand

FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK), a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO. In this note, we talk about the...

Sumeet Singh

FWD IPO Valuation: Intangible Assets Is the Key (Vs. Peers)

FWD has higher-than-peers intangible assets. Hence, using embedded value might be fairer than book value to assess its valuation vs. peers. On a P...

Alec Tseung

FWD Group (1828 HK) IPO: Valuation Insights

The IPO price implies a discount to peers' multiples. A discount is warranted as FWD is smaller than its peers. FWD is fairly valued at the IPO price.

Arun George

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