Ping An eyes overseas splurge, says CFO

Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd, the country's second-largest insurer, is aiming for a possible fivefold increase in overseas investments and has not been put off Britain by its vote to leave the European Union, according to its group chief financial officer.

The company plans to increase its overseas investments gradually to 5 to 10 percent of total insurance assets if it can find appropriate targets, Jason Yao reveals.

Now, it invests about 2 percent of its total assets abroad, well below the 15 percent cap imposed by China's insurance regulator.

"That could even happen in the next three to five years because the world is changing very fast," Yao says, naming the United States, Britain and Europe as the key investment markets the company is targeting.

Britain's vote on the EU is not an issue, he says. "There will be investment opportunities in the UK. ... Britain's stock market and currency have gradually stabilized (since the vote). We've been watching that closely."

Based on Ping An's insurance assets, the company's total overseas investments could reach as much as $27.5 billion, up from about $5.5 billion now, according to Reuters' calculations.

Yao says possible investments include property, logistics-related real estate and private equity funds. Ping An bought London office property Tower Place for 327 million pounds ($432 million; 383 million euros) in January 2015 and the Lloyd's Building in the financial district for 260 million pounds in July 2013.

Ping An posted an 18 percent rise in first-half net profit, led by a one-off gain in its internet finance business.