New Chairman at Ping An Property & Casualty

Time: 2007-05-08 Source: Font: big middle small

 

8 May 2007,--- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd. (Ping An Group, HKSE: 2318; SSE: 601318) has appointed Mr. Ren Huichuan as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China Ltd. (Ping An Property & Casualty).

Mr. Ren replaces Mr. Cao Shi who has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Ping An Group.

Mr. Ren, 38, has been a Group Vice President and Group Financial Controller since 2004. He implemented reforms in Ping Ans financial planning structure, which led to the establishment of an internal financial control platform. This platform has been providing strong support to Ping Ans meeting of its profit targets by enhanced resource allocation and cost control mechanisms. Mr. Ren also played significant roles in the successful debuts of Ping Ans shares on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchange, as well as in the acquisition of Shenzhen Commercial Bank.

He is the youngest locally hired member of Ping Ans senior management team and a role model among Ping Ans young executives. He joined Ping An 15 years ago in the Shenzhen branch office of Ping An Property & Casualty. He was then promoted to the position of Assistant Head of the Groups reform and development division. In this capacity, he implemented the first set of reforms in Ping Ans Property & Casualty product marketing system and introduced a new marketing model. In December 2002, he was promoted to Deputy General Manager of Ping An Property & Casualty, and has since accumulated a wealth of experience in managing the property & casualty businesses.

Mr. Cao, 51, joined Ping An in 1991. He was General Manager and CEO of Ping An Property & Casualty between 2002 and 2004. He was promoted to the position of the units Chairman, General Manager and CEO in March 2004 and to Chairman and CEO in June 2005. Under his leadership, Ping An Property & Casualty made substantial progress in the development of its business, thanks to his endless devotion and untiring hardwork which provided the team with much-needed inspiration to navigate through uncharted waters. The achievements made included contracts to provide insurance coverage for such major landmarks as the Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station, the Permanent Ship Lock in the Three Gorges Project and the Shanghai Jin Mao Tower. These successes reinforced Ping An Property & Casualtys leading market position and contributed to substantial growth in the units premium income.

He also implemented effective reforms to establish a more customer-focused operation structure, a more optimized the business structure, and a new channel sales platform. All these measures enabled Ping An Property & Casualty to maintain very strong growth momentum. In 2006, while the whole industry was still in a recovery mode, Ping An Property & Casualty achieved above-average growth and notably expanded its market share, ultimately posting record earnings. Mr. Cao is expected to continue to contribute substantially to Ping Ans business in his new capacity as Senior Vice President of the Group.

Mr Rens position as Group Financial Controller will be taken over by Mai Weilin, who is currently Assistant General Manager and Chief Financial Officer of Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd. Mr Mai is a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) of the United Kingdom and a Hong Kong Certified Public Accountant (HKCPA). He joined Ping An in 2005 from New York Life, where he was an advisor for the firms businesses in Asia Pacific. Before that, he was Head of Information Technology at Sun Life Hong Kong. He has almost 20 years of experience in insurance and financial management.

This latest round of senior management appointments is expected to improve the overall management of the Ping An Group and help further develop the property and casualty business. With rich experience at both the Group level and the property and casualty business, Mr Ren is an ideal candidate for Chairman and CEO of Ping An Property & Casualty. Together with Wu Peng, who was appointed General Manager of Ping An Property & Casualty on March 2, they will form a highly dynamic and competent management team.