"後匯豐時代"的中國平安保險

China's No. 2 life insurer faced an uncertain future earlier this year when its biggest shareholder, HSBC Holdings, sold its entire 15.57% stake in the company to a Thai billionaire.

今年早些時候，中國第二大壽險公司中國平安保險（集團）股份有限公司(Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.)面臨着一個不確定的未來，因爲其最大股東匯豐控股有限公司(HSBC Holdings) 將全部持有的15.57%股份整體轉讓給了一位泰國的億萬富翁。

Analysts worried at the time about Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.'s operating outlook; HSBC had provided the insurer with significant help in establishing business foundations such as an integrated back office and risk-control mechanism. But with the dust settled on HSBC's exit, Ping An's president, Alex Ren, says those worries are behind the company, which is now focused on expanding its role in banking and asset management.

當時，分析師一度擔心中國平安未來的經營前景。以往，匯豐向這家保險公司提供過大量幫助，協助其打好業務基礎，如建立一體化的後援中心和風控機制等。不過中國平安總經理任匯川(Alex Ren)表示，匯豐的退出已經塵埃落定，這些擔憂已成爲明日黃花，公司正在集中精力拓展銀行和資產管理業務。

Ping An is a relatively young player in the country's financial-services sector, which is dominated by state-owned players such as its bigger rival China Life Insurance Co. Early on, Ping An saw its first and only overseas investments─amounting to about $3.78 billion that it invested in Belgian-Dutch financial-services company Fortis NV─wiped out when the European company was nationalized and sold off during the 2008 financial crisis.

在中國的金融服務板塊，平安相對來說還是一名新兵。這一板塊由一些規模更大的國有企業把持着，如中國人壽保險股份有限公司(China Life Insurance Co.)等。此前，平安的第一筆也是唯一一筆海外投資打了水漂：公司斥資37.8億美元收購比利時-荷蘭金融服務公司富通集團(Fortis NV)，但這家歐洲企業在2008年金融危機中被強制國有化並作價賣出。

That has prompted Ping An to focus on businesses at home, which helped lead to a 44% jump in profit over the past four years─a stellar performance compared with China Life's 66% profit decline in the same period.

海外投資遭遇滑鐵盧迫使平安公司專心致志發展國內業務，近四年來的利潤猛增44%，與中國人壽同期66%的利潤降幅相比，可謂表現出衆。

Mr. Ren, a 43-year-old executive who has spent his career at Ping An, met with The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong to discuss how he is grappling with China's slowing economy, changes in financial regulations and the fallout from the HSBC exit. Edited excerpts:

現年43歲的任匯川一直在平安工作。近期，他在香港接受《華爾街日報》記者的採訪，談論了他正如何應對中國經濟放緩、金融行業規則變化以及匯豐退出後所帶來的影響。下文是經編輯後的訪談摘要：

WSJ: What do you make of slower economic growth in China?

《華爾街日報》：你如何看待中國經濟增速的放緩？

Mr. Ren: China is, on one hand, under the process of destocking, or reducing excess capacity, and, on the other, looking for new growth drivers.

任匯川：一方面來說，中國正處於一個去庫存化的過程，或者說是在減少產能過剩；從另一方面來看，中國正在尋找新的增長引擎。

We're happy to see that the Chinese authorities are quite calm in dealing with the slower growth, and didn't roll out many stimulus policies. This is crucial for reforming the country's economic structure, which should focus more on domestic consumption, people's livelihood and environmental protection.

我們欣慰地看到，中國政府在應對經濟減速問題上相當鎮定，沒有急於推出許多刺激政策。這種態度對於調整中國經濟結構來說至關重要，改革的重點應該放在提升內需、改善民生和保護環境等方面。

WSJ: China is also reforming its financial markets. How does that affect Ping An and other financial institutions?

《華爾街日報》：中國也在實施金融市場改革，這會給中國平安和其他一些金融機構帶來什麼影響？

Mr. Ren: Ping An will benefit from these reforms. Nowadays, the vast majority of China's 140 trillion yuan ($22.8 trillion) in assets are sitting on banks' balance sheets, and the rest are split among insurance firms, trusts, securities and asset-management companies.

任匯川：平安將從這些改革中受益。如今，中國擁有140萬億人民幣（約22.8萬億美元）的資產，其中絕大部分放在銀行的資產負債表上，其餘的通過保險、信託、證券和資產管理公司來運作。

But the big trend is 'disintermediation' of banks' assets, which means: In the past, many companies could only borrow from banks, but now they can raise funds in the markets by issuing bonds or shares.

然而，未來的一個大趨勢將是銀行資產的“脫媒”(disintermediation)，也就是說：以前很多企業只能向銀行借錢，但現在可以通過發行債券或股票向市場融資。

So insurers, securities and asset-management firms now have business opportunities, which were only available to lenders before.

因此，保險、證券和資產管理公司現在擁有了一些新的商業機會，而這些業務以前只有銀行能做。

More importantly, bank loans, which used to be corporates' major financing channels, are set at highly regulated interest rates.

更重要的是，銀行貸款作爲企業以往的主要融資渠道，其利率水平是受到嚴格管制的。

When financing channels gradually shift to other nonbank institutions via wealth-management products or bonds, interest rates will be determined by risks, the borrowers' credit ratings and debt profile.

通過理財產品和債券發行，融資渠道正逐漸向其他非銀行機構轉移，融資利率將由風險、借款人信用等級和債務狀況等因素來決定。

That's exactly what China's financial industry participants should do─to refine our credit ratings (system) and improve risk disclosure so that investors can make investment decisions based on risk analysis.

這正是中國金融業的參與者應該做的事情──即優化我們的信用評級（體系），改善風險披露機制，讓投資者可以通過風險分析來做出投資決策。

WSJ: What distinguishes Ping An from its competitors?

《華爾街日報》：平安與其他競爭對手相比有何獨到之處？

Mr. Ren: We've developed three core businesses─insurance, banking and investment. That makes the group more resilient. We were the first Chinese financial institution to establish an integrated operating center─first in Shanghai, then in other cities with lower costs.

任匯川：我們正在拓展三大核心業務──保險、銀行和投資，這能增強平安集團抵禦風險的能力。我們是國內第一個建立一體化後援中心的金融機構──先是在上海，然後又在成本較低的其他城市。

Thanks to this back office─the establishment of which was helped by HSBC─we now have lower operating costs and better efficiency.

正是依靠後援中心──其建設過程得到匯豐的幫助──我們現在的運營成本更低，效率更高。

WSJ: Ping An has been ahead of its competitors in terms of technology, particularly in the case of mobile sales. What's next for this side of the business?

《華爾街日報》：平安一直在科技應用上領先競爭對手，尤其是在移動銷售方面。這方面的業務下一步考慮怎麼發展？

Mr. Ren: We'd like to offer one-stop service for customers. For example we've launched an online account named 'One Account Management Services,' or 'Yi Zhang Tong' in Chinese. The account allows customers to look for financial products provided by Ping An, as well as by other financial institutions. Young customers are increasingly active and like comparing various products due to enormous amount of information on the Internet. So if we don't address customers' needs, we may lose them.

任匯川：我們想爲客戶提供一站式服務。舉例而言，我們已經推出一個名爲“一賬通”(One Account Management Services)的在線賬戶，通過這個賬戶，客戶可以瞭解平安和其他金融機構提供的各種金融產品。年輕客戶的活躍度越來越高，他們喜歡根據互聯網上的海量信息來比較不同的產品；因此，如果公司不能滿足這部分客戶的需求，就會與他們失之交臂。

WSJ: Chairman Peter Ma has driven the company's focus on technology platforms. Why is that important to him and to the company?

《華爾街日報》：平安董事長馬明哲把公司的重心放在技術平臺上，原因何在？爲什麼技術平臺對公司如此重要？

Mr. Ren: Chairman Ma is an entrepreneur who's cautious of risks and curious about new technology. He always asks himself: 'Will I fall behind [rivals] in five years? How can I be ahead of competitors?' He doesn't only ask this of himself, but also pushes the whole management team to think about it.

任匯川：馬董事長是一位創業家，他關注風險，對新技術也抱有好奇心。他總是問自己：“五年後我會不會落後（於競爭對手）？怎麼才能領先於競爭對手？”他不只問自己這個問題，還督促整個管理團隊思考這個問題。

The technological transformation may not happen that fast [in China], but that will definitely change the landscape of the financial industry. We must be well-prepared in advance.

科技轉型（在中國）可能不會發生得那麼快，但必將改變金融行業的格局，我們必須提前做好充分準備。

WSJ: HSBC became Ping An's biggest shareholder after buying shares both before and after its Hong Kong listing in 2005. How are you dealing with the loss now that HSBC sold its entire stake early this year?

《華爾街日報》：匯豐在平安2005年香港上市前後都買入了平安的股權，從而成爲最大股東。今年匯豐出售了其持有平安的全部股份，你如何應對匯豐的離去？

Mr. Ren: We are thankful to HSBC, which supported us over the past decade but Ping An has a vast and diversified base of shareholders, unlike many Chinese peers that are largely owned by the nation, so we won't easily change our business strategy just because of a change of one or two shareholders.

任匯川：我們對匯豐心存感激，因爲它過去十年來一直在支持平安。不過，平安股東數量衆多，而且股東結構多元化，不像國內許多同業公司那樣大部分股權歸國家所有，因此我們不會因爲一兩個股東的變化而輕易改變公司的經營戰略。

Résumé

任匯川個人履歷

Education: M.B.A. from Peking University.

教育背景：北京大學(Peking University)工商管理碩士

Career: President of Ping An since March 2011. Previously served in the roles of senior vice president, chief insurance business officer, and the chairman and chief executive of the company's property and casualty unit.

工作經歷：自2011年起擔任中國平安集團總經理，此前曾任集團副總經理、首席保險業務執行長，以及平安產險公司董事長兼首席執行長。

Extracurricular: Reading, outdoor activities, gym.

個人愛好：閱讀、戶外運動、健身。