The general manager of New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.’s (NCL) onshore asset management subsidiary is missing and has likely been detained by graft-busters, sources with knowledge of the issue told Caixin.
People close to the state-owned insurer said that Zhang Chi has been removed from his positions at New China Asset Management Corp. Ltd. (NCAMC). Multiple attempts by Caixin to reach out to either Zhang or NCL were unsuccessful.
Sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin that Zhang had been previously asked to assist investigations into matters linked to Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed NCL’s investments.
The 59-year-old is not the only person linked to NCL to have gone missing recently. Li Quan, a former NCL chairman, has been unreachable since late March, Caixin previously reported. Li’s disappearance was likely linked to the insurer’s offshore asset management subsidiary, New China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., people with knowledge of the issue told Caixin at the time.
Li, who chaired the Hong Kong-based subsidiary from 2013 to 2023, worked with Zhang for more than a decade, sources close to NCL said. It is not yet clear if Zhang’s disappearance is linked to Li.
Like Li, Zhang is an asset management veteran. He worked at several securities companies from 1993 before moving into insurance asset management in 2004. His track record included a seven-year stint as general manager of the fund investment department at China Life Asset Management Co. Ltd.
Zhang joined NCAMC in 2011 as a vice general manager, and became general manager in 2019. As an NCL spin-off, NCAMC came to life in 2006.
Industry insiders close to NCL described Zhang as gentle and professionally competent.
NCL’s alternative investments, which used to make up a large portion of its total investments, have been hamstrung by the protracted property slump over the past few years, an industry senior executive close to the company said. Its investments in real estate developers could result in serious consequences if not handled properly, he said.
In March, NCL was hit by a double whammy of precipitous drops in both its stock and bonds, due to its involvement in real estate developer China Vanke Co. Ltd.’s nonstandard debts.
The insurer’s investments in nonstandard assets have declined since 2020, including a year-on-year drop of 29% in 2023, according to a report published Thursday by Cinda Securities Co. Ltd. The value of such investments as a proportion of NCL’s total investments slid from 35% in 2017 to 11.7% last year, the report showed.
In addition, NCAMC was fined last year by the National Financial Regulatory Administration for violations including allocating insurance funds to commercial housing projects, according to the company’s disclosure in January. A penalty of 4.1 million yuan ($564,754) was imposed on the company as a result.
Contact reporter Qing Na (qingna@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
