Looming largest in the pipeline is AIA, the Asian arm of American International Group (AIG.N), which plans a Hong Kong IPO in the first half of 2010 to raise roughly $4 billion after its troubled parent failed to find a buyer for the unit.
Shanghai-listed China Pacific Insurance 601602.SS, meanwhile, aims to raise $3.5 billion in Hong Kong by early 2010.
The potential wave of issuance comes as IPOs make a comeback around Asia and as rising stock markets lift earnings for life insurers, for whom investment returns are a key source of income. The need for capital to fund expansion is another driver.
"There's a lot of pent-up demand for capital, as insurers need to raise capital to fund growth and meet new risk-based capital requirements," said Chin Yee-Png, co-head of the Asia financial institutions group at UBS (UBSN.VX).
UBS is among the investment banks, along with China International Capital Corp (CICC), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N), helping China Pacific, the country's No.3 life insurer, to revive an overseas share sale that had been shelved earlier due to weak markets.
SCARCITY, GROWTH
Scarcity value is expected to drive investor interest in a sector that is a proxy for the growth of the middle class.
Asia is home to just a handful of big listed insurers, led by China Life Insurance (2628.HK)(LFC.N)(601628.SS) and rival Ping An Insurance (2318.HK)(601318.SS), the world's two most valuable life insurers, and Taiwan's Cathay Financial Holdings (2882.TW).
"There's no way of playing the Indian insurance story today, so I think there's going to be very strong demand. This is part of a broader regional trend," said Rob Jesudason, Asia head of the financial institutions group at Credit Suisse.
"There are potentially 5-10 very large insurance IPOs across the region approaching the market," he said.
Esther Chwei, a portfolio analyst covering insurance and banking at fund manager RCM, a unit of Allianz Global Investors, said China and India, with fast-growing economies and low insurance penetration rates, are especially attractive.
Life insurance penetration in India is about 4 percent of GDP, in terms of total premiums underwritten in a year, compared with 2.4 percent in China and about 13.5 percent in the UK.
"For China and India, once people get wealthier and have financial obligations, the demand for protection policies will increase," said Chwei, whose firm manages $11 billion in the Asia-Pacific region
Shanghai-listed China Pacific Insurance 601602.SS, meanwhile, aims to raise $3.5 billion in Hong Kong by early 2010.
The potential wave of issuance comes as IPOs make a comeback around Asia and as rising stock markets lift earnings for life insurers, for whom investment returns are a key source of income. The need for capital to fund expansion is another driver.
"There's a lot of pent-up demand for capital, as insurers need to raise capital to fund growth and meet new risk-based capital requirements," said Chin Yee-Png, co-head of the Asia financial institutions group at UBS (UBSN.VX).
UBS is among the investment banks, along with China International Capital Corp (CICC), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N), helping China Pacific, the country's No.3 life insurer, to revive an overseas share sale that had been shelved earlier due to weak markets.
SCARCITY, GROWTH
Scarcity value is expected to drive investor interest in a sector that is a proxy for the growth of the middle class.
Asia is home to just a handful of big listed insurers, led by China Life Insurance (2628.HK)(LFC.N)(601628.SS) and rival Ping An Insurance (2318.HK)(601318.SS), the world's two most valuable life insurers, and Taiwan's Cathay Financial Holdings (2882.TW).
"There's no way of playing the Indian insurance story today, so I think there's going to be very strong demand. This is part of a broader regional trend," said Rob Jesudason, Asia head of the financial institutions group at Credit Suisse.
"There are potentially 5-10 very large insurance IPOs across the region approaching the market," he said.
Esther Chwei, a portfolio analyst covering insurance and banking at fund manager RCM, a unit of Allianz Global Investors, said China and India, with fast-growing economies and low insurance penetration rates, are especially attractive.
Life insurance penetration in India is about 4 percent of GDP, in terms of total premiums underwritten in a year, compared with 2.4 percent in China and about 13.5 percent in the UK.
"For China and India, once people get wealthier and have financial obligations, the demand for protection policies will increase," said Chwei, whose firm manages $11 billion in the Asia-Pacific region
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