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Hong Kong insurer FWD raises $1.4bn in private placements

By Debabrata Das

07:36, 14 December 2021

FWD Group's logo on a billboard in Hong Kong
FWD Group’s logo on a billboard in Hong Kong – Photo: Shutterstock

Hong Kong-billionaire Richard Li’s insurance company FWD Group has raised $1.425bn through private placements, with its plans for an initial public offering seeing little progress since June 2021.

Several key investors such as Athene Holding, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Li Ka Shing Foundation, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, Swiss Re entered into subscription agreements for the private placement of stocks by FWD.

In a statement on Tuesday, the company said that the private placements will take the form of “cash subscription of new ordinary shares” that FWD will issue. Proceeds will be used to provide additional capital support to the company’s growth and reduce leverage.

Organic growth of business

“These latest investments in FWD reflect a recognition of our ability to continue our strong growth momentum in the attractive Asian life insurance sector,” said Huynh Thanh Phong, group CEO and executive director of FWD, in a statement.

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“Our strong performance has continued into 2021, with our value of new business growing 45% year-on-year in the first half of 2021, followed by a 21% year-on-year growth in the third quarter of 2021, driven by strong organic growth,” he added.

IPO delays

FWD filed for a US IPO to raise $3bn at a valuation of $13bn in June. It amended its IPO filing in November but regulatory risks in China have put doubts on whether it will list in the US or Hong Kong.

It remains to be seen whether the latest funding round changes FWD Group’s fundraising target through its IPO.

Read more: Hong Kong insurer FWD Group swings to 1m profit

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The difference between trading assets and CFDs
The main difference between CFD trading and trading assets, such as commodities and stocks, is that you don’t own the underlying asset when you trade on a CFD.
You can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss if it moves against you. However, with traditional trading you enter a contract to exchange the legal ownership of the individual shares or the commodities for money, and you own this until you sell it again.
CFDs are leveraged products, which means that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of the CFD trade in order to open a position. But with traditional trading, you buy the assets for the full amount. In the UK, there is no stamp duty on CFD trading, but there is when you buy stocks, for example.
CFDs attract overnight costs to hold the trades (unless you use 1-1 leverage), which makes them more suited to short-term trading opportunities. Stocks and commodities are more normally bought and held for longer. You might also pay a broker commission or fees when buying and selling assets direct and you’d need somewhere to store them safely.
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