Munich-based Allianz Global Investors ( AllianzGI ), one of the world’s leading active asset managers, has received regulatory approval for the investment of a 2% stake in the Beijing-headquartered national pension insurer Guomin Pension and Insurance Company ( Guomin Pension ), becoming the first foreign asset manager to own a stake in Chinese company.

Guomin Pension, established in 2022, was jointly launched by China’s large financial institutions to promote the development of the country’s private pension market. Its serves, the company says, as an important part of China’s active response to its ageing population and its presence will help the overall development of the third pillar pension market in China.

The German asset manager has received approval to subscribe to around 228 million newly-issued shares in Guomin Pension worth approximately 284 million yuan ( US$39 million ). This will result in an increase in the pension insurer’s registered capital to around 11.378 billion yuan, which has been approved by the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

The market size of China's third pillar personal pensions system, launched in 2018 as pilot schemes, is projected to grow to 4 trillion yuan under the existing regulatory landscape by 2030, according to KPMG China and ASIF’s China Pension Reform report, and may reach 7 trillion yuan if additional reforms are implemented.

“China’s pension market is growing fast,” notes Tobias Pross, AllianzGI’s CEO. “By drawing on our decades of international markets experience, along with our extensive expertise in areas, including risk management, product development and asset allocation, we can help Guomin Pension deliver innovative solutions that best meet the country’s retirement needs.”