IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

Arun has over 15 years’ experience covering the Technology sector. During this time, he has worked with technology start-ups and as an equity analyst in investment banks and independent research firms. He was formerly a Technology Analyst for Canaccord Genuity, Altium Securities, Espirito Santo Investment Bank, Noble Group and Clear Capital. He has a dual Master’s degree in Financial Engineering and Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He is also a CFA charterholder.

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

FWD Group IPO: Slow 3Q Due to COVID-19 Disruptions

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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.  

FWD Group Holdings

FWD Group Vs AIA Vs Prudential