Many people are keen to tell the story of Li Ka-shing's wealth of giving 100 million insurance to future generations, but few people tell the legendary story of Li Ka-shing's second son, Li Zekai, who has a world-class insurance company.
In October 2012, since Li Zekai successfully acquired its insurance business in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand from ING Group (ING Group), and changed its name to FWD Group in July of the following year, the development of FWD Insurance began to enter the era of the richest man of the Li family.
ING is a world-renowned financial institution, founded in 1991 by the merger of Nationale-Nederlanden, the largest insurance company in the Netherlands, and NMB Postbank Group, the third largest bank in the Netherlands.
In 1845, the fire insurance company Assurantie Maatschappijtegen Brandschade de Nederlanden van 1845 (Dutch fire insurance company in 1845) was founded and gradually grew into the world's leading insurance agency, with 139 branches worldwide by 1900. Later, in order to accommodate the internationalization process, the name was shortened to "de Nederlanden van 1845".
Twenty years later, in 1863, the life insurance company Nationale Levensverzekerings Bank was founded in Rotterdam and in 1963 merged with "de Nederlanden van 1845" to form the Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company.
In 1990, in the Netherlands, the legal restrictions on the merger of insurance companies and banks were lifted and negotiations began between the Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company and the NMB Postbank Group.
In 1991, the two companies officially merged, and the ING Group was born, and its iconic lion took the world by storm.
Since its founding, ING has continued to expand and become one of the world's leading financial services institutions, most notably in 1995 with the £1 acquisition of Barings.
Founded in London in 1762 by the Englishman John and Francis Baring, Baring is one of the oldest commercial banks in Europe.
In 1803, Barings financed the Louisiana Purchase, buying land from France and subsequently selling it to the newly formed United States, nearly doubling the size of the United States.
In the 1830s, Barings did direct business with China and became one of the first foreign capital to enter China.
In 1995, Barings was forced to sell itself to ING (ING Group) for a symbolic £1 due to a mistrade by 28-year-old trader Nick Leeson, who was forced to sell itself to ING (ING) for a symbolic £1, and thus the famous investment institution with a history of 233 years collapsed.
In 2000, ING obtained a business license to establish a joint venture insurance company in China, and in the same year, it passively held a 50% stake in Pacific Aetna Insurance due to the acquisition of Aetna Insurance of the United States.
In 2002, Aetna Life Insurance Company, a joint venture between ING and Beijing Capital Group, opened in Dalian.
In 2003, ING Bank Shanghai Branch was approved to start RMB business. In the same year, China Merchants **, a joint venture with China Merchants **, was established in Shenzhen.
In 2005, ING signed an agreement with Bank of Beijing to purchase its 199% of the shares, the two have established a strategic partnership.
As of 2007, ING serves more than 75 million customers in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia, with total assets of more than 1313 trillion euros with 124634 employees.
In 2008, affected by the global financial crisis, ING Group's assets depreciated severely.
Against this backdrop, the Netherlands** promised ING a €10 billion grant and a credit guarantee for 80% of the group's ALT-A mortgage guarantees** (worth €27.7 billion), on the condition that the company spin off its insurance and banking businesses and divest its insurance and asset management businesses by 2013.
In desperation, ing began to frequently ** assets.
On October 20, 2008, ING paid US$600 million to Fubon Financial Holdings** Taiwan Antai Life Insurance.
On 26 September 2009, ING paid US$1.5 billion to the Australian Bank Group** for Australian and New Zealand Life Insurance.
October 16, 2009, ing to 14US$600 million to OCBC Bank, Singapore's third largest bank** Private Banking in Asia.
On June 16, 2011, ING financed $9.0 billion to ING Direct, a U.S. online banking company, consisting of $6.2 billion in cash and $2.8 billion worth of 55.9 million shares**.
On July 25, 2011, ING made a total transfer of approximately €2.7 billion to most of the Latin American insurance businesses of a large Colombian consortium**.
On August 30, 2012, ing to 31US$600 million to Bank of Nova Scotia** Canada ING Direct business.
On 10 October 2012, ING made a €1.3 billion transfer to AIA for its insurance business in Malaysia.
October 19, 2012, ing to 21US$400 million to Li Zekai's Pacific Cash expanded its insurance business in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand, and officially changed its name to FWD Insurance after the transaction.
With a big tree as a backer, the development of FWD Insurance has become more mature.
In October 2013, Swiss Re (Swiss Re) started with 4$2.5 billion to buy the Fortune & Medif. 123% equity to support the development of FWD Insurance with practical actions.
In June 2015, FWD acquired PT Finansial Wiramitra Danadyaksa 501% equity interest, fully entering the Indonesian insurance market.
On June 7, 2016, Fortune & Medid approved the acquisition of Great Eastern Life (Vietnam)** to successfully open the Vietnamese insurance market.
On August 4, 2016, the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) and Employee Retirement Scheme (ERP) businesses of VESTD**, including the "VESTD Pension Trust***", were awarded to Sun Life Hong Kong, and a 15-year strategic distribution agreement was entered into between the two parties.
On January 15, 2016, VESTD acquired the Japanese life insurance business held by AIG, a U.S. insurance group.
On October 23, 2018, the Fortune Meditech ended with 4$2.6 billion acquisition of an 80% stake in PT Commonwealth Life (PTCL), the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's life insurance business in Indonesia, and a 15-year strategic distribution agreement.
On June 27, 2019, Vest & Wedd acquired MetLife's Hong Kong business for US$400 million and renamed MetLife Hong Kong as Vest Life.
On July 1, 2019, VESTD acquired the entire equity interest in SCB Life Insurance Company for US$3 billion and other additional interests, and entered into a 15-year exclusive distribution agreement to distribute VESTD Life Insurance to Thai customers.
On June 20, 2020, VESTD signed an agreement with Bank Indonesia to purchase its life insurance business, Bri Life299% equity interest and a 15-year life insurance distribution agreement.
Adhering to the century-old insurance genes of the Netherlands and the abundant financial resources of the Li family, FWD Insurance has rapidly grown into an internationally renowned insurance institution, with business in more than 10 countries and regions in Asia, serving more than 11 million customers, the third largest first-year premium income in Hong Kong, with total assets of more than HK$100 billion, and a financial rating of A3 by Moody's.
Ten years of name change, ten years of change, it seems that Fuwei is young enough to expand and challenge.
Just like Li Zekai's life creed, we must always stay young, expand, challenge, and create extraordinary.