FORTIS PING AN ‘TO RIVAL MAJOR US PLAYERS’

THE chairman of Fortis Investments has told Belgian reporters that he expects Ping An Insurance Company’s investment to make the company a serious competitor to big US players. Ping An is paying Euro2.15bn for a 50% stake in Fortis Investment, the global asset management arm of Belgian bank Fortis. Richard Wohanka, chairman of Fortis Investment, which will be renamed Fortis Ping An, added he thought profits from Asian operations would quickly outstrip European earnings. He believed that between 2010 and 2012 Asian operations would contribute more to group profits than their European counterparts.