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Why we’ve bought back AIA: the first stock we ever owned
Why we’ve bought back AIA: the first stock we ever owned
The GBI team has recently added AIA to the strategy. It’s a stock you’ve owned before
AIA is a company we know extremely well. It is a Hong Kong-based multinational life insurance giant with a leading market position across much of Asia and Oceania.
Asia is arguably the most attractive market for life insurance and protection in the world, largely due to the general lack of state protection and its population’s natural inclination to save. Life insurance, in its many forms, has developed over time to become one of the main mechanisms through which people across the region save and invest.
We originally bought AIA in 2010 after its longtime owner, AIG, decided to IPO the business and sell down its shares. It subsequently became the GBI fund’s first-ever holding at launch in 2013.
Our investment in AIA did very well for many years but then external factors, most notably the political unrest in Hong Kong and the COVID-19 crisis, seriously impacted its business operations as its agents become restricted in their ability to travel and sell product. We fully exited the stock in 2023, but continued to watch it closely. With these exogenous problems now behind it, we started to rebuild a position in it from December 2025.
AIA is the only company GBI owns in Asia. What makes you think it is the very best quality company in the region to own?
Of its peer group, AIA is the highest quality. It predominantly sells its products through an agent distribution business model, and its agents are by far the best performing in the industry. Each AIA agent, on average, sells more than four policies each month, making them almost three times more productive than the average peer agent.
Partly this performance is a result of AIA’s commitment to investing in technology. Today, its agents are armed with the latest cloud-based technology, meaning policies can be set up almost instantly, rather than over several days as was once the case.
While it serves tens of millions of customers, AIA focuses on the top wealthiest 1% of consumers in Asia, and it dominates the ultra-high net worth and high net worth categories. AIA also has a range of high-quality bancassurance partners including BEA, Citi, BCA, Postal Savings Bank of China, Bank of China, and SPD Bank, which cater to the wealthiest consumers in Asia. But it is the quality of its agent force that provides it with its strongest competitive advantage.
We also consider AIA to be the best managed life insurer in Asia. This is reflected by its best-in-class profitability, cash generation and balance sheet strength.
What has changed since you last owned it?
The financial performance of AIA has improved in several important ways. Having seen a decline in performance over the pandemic period, AIA’s Value of New Business (VONB), or rather the profits it earns on the premium it writes in a period, has recovered significantly. The margin has also improved and is back near pre-pandemic levels.
Not only are AIA’s agents back out there selling products, its customers are taking out more policies at the same time. Today, each AIA customer has on average six policies through AIA. Weak consumer confidence in China is also supporting AIA’s growth as consumers save more and spend less on luxury goods and housing.
As the company that introduced Vitality, the wellness program that rewards members for making healthier lifestyle choices, to the Asia-Pacific region through a joint venture with Discovery Ltd, AIA is a leader in health and medical insurance. But its sheer range of life, health, accident insurance and savings & retirement plans means it can sell a host of policies to the same customer.
How important was Mark Tucker returning to the business in 2025?
Mark Tucker’s original appointment as CEO of AIA back in 2010 triggered our initial interest in AIA. We had previously followed his career at Prudential. He built a highly successful leadership team across the region and embedded a culture of quality that persists at AIA to this day. We certainly missed his presence when he left in 2017 to chair HSBC and later Discovery in South Africa.
His return to AIA as Chairman in October 2025 was another catalyst for us to reintroduce the stock to GBI. Quality management is one of the four key pillars of our investment strategy and Mark Tucker has shown everywhere he has worked that he is an executive of the highest quality.
What’s the outlook for AIA today?
There's strong momentum in the business again. Only COVID was able to briefly derail its growth. Having been founded in Shanghai over 100 years ago, AIA has endured multiple wars, pandemics, famines and financial crises.
Importantly, AIA’s brand remains extremely strong across Asia - David Beckham is its Global Ambassador - and the level of trust consumers have in it is incredible. That is an extraordinary advantage given the powerful structural growth drivers for life and health insurance in Asia.
Opinions expressed here are as of the date of publication and subject to change without notice. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any of the investments mentioned herein.
Issued and approved by Stonehage Fleming Investment Management Limited authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FRN. 194382).
