PICC CUTS ITS EXPOSURE TO EQUITIES

Weak stock markets in China prompted insurer PICC Property & Casualty to cut its investment portfolio’s exposure to equities, it has confirmed. At the end of last year equity holdings made up 20.8% of its investments, but in the first quarter of this year it has reduced that to just 12% to 13%. However PICC vice-president Wang Yincheng told reporters in China that he expected the stock markets to pick up in the second half of this year. After recording a Yuan1.43bn underwriting loss for last year, he said the company’s first quarter had been impacted by claims from the major snowstorm that affected vast parts of northern and southern China in the two weeks to February 9.