Ping An Life becomes first China insurance company to issue ESG bond index

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Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.

Apr 28, 2022, 08:56 ET

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, April 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that the ChinaBond Ping An Life Insurance ESG Integration Strategy Credit Bond Index has been jointly issued by its subsidiary Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An Life")_and the ChinaBond Pricing Center Co., Ltd. Ping An Life is the first insurance company in China to issue an ESG bond index, which aims to promote high quality sustainable development of different industries through environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.

Drawing on Ping An Life's experience and edge in long-term asset allocation, the index series strives for sustainable investment returns through diversified product innovation. It also aims to encourage more interest in sustainable investment.

The index constituents are bonds with comparatively good credit qualifications. Ping An Life selected them from the top 90% of the ChinaBond ESG Evaluation scored bonds in domestic public listing with remaining maturity of at least three months and which meet screening conditions during the listing period. Ping An Life narrowed the selection of industries for the index constituents. The index will be adjusted in principle on a quarterly basis. As of the end of March 2022, there were 2,765 bonds in the index, with a total market value of RMB7.27 trillion. The rates of return of the index are 2.01% for six months, 4.73% for one year, 13.42% for three years and 25.99% for five years.

To compile the index, Ping An Life uses an international mainstream methodology framework, taking into account the characteristics of China's credit bond market. It combines an ESG evaluation system with traditional credit analysis and forms an ESG integration strategy through positive scoring and negative screening.

Ping An Life said, "Driven by Ping An's sustainability strategy, Ping An Life has integrated the core philosophies and standards of ESG into its operations and management. The Company adheres to the concept of sustainable investment, and reflects the national strategies to achieve its carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality goals. Ping An Life serves the real economy with financial services and supports the construction of major national green projects and the green transformation of social and economic development." As of the end of 2021, the cumulative scale of Ping An Life's investment in green, inclusive finance and social investments through capital and non-capital markets was approximately RMB593.8 billion. Of that, Ping An Life's green investment was approximately RMB84 billion, including clean energy, energy conservation and environmental protection and infrastructure projects. Ping An Life's projects are in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the broader Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other regions in China.

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") strives to become a world-leading retail financial services group. With over 227 million retail customers and nearly 647 million internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An focuses on two over-arching domains of activity, "integrated finance" and "healthcare", covering the provision of financial and health care services through its integrated financial services platform and ecosystems in financial services, healthcare, auto services and smart city services. The "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ping An ranked 6th in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2021 and ranked 16th in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2021. Ping An also ranked 49th in the 2021 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZ^TM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list.