Life insurer Prudential invests big in 3 Vietnam banks

Life insurance company Prudential Vietnam has invested considerably in at least three banks in Vietnam after nearly three decades of presence in the Southeast Asian country.

According to a recent disclosure of state-controlled VietinBank (HoSE: CTG), Prudential Vietnam holds 57.62 million shares, or a 1.07% stake, in the Hanoi-based bank.

In addition, the insurer’s affiliated persons own 2.99 million shares in the bank.

At privately-run Asia Commercial Bank (HoSE: ACB), Prudential Vietnam owns 69.46 million shares, or a 1.55% stake. Its related persons hold 350,635 ACB shares.

Meanwhile, at military-run MBBank (HoSE: MBB), the insurer holds 65.71 million shares, or a 1.24% stake, in addition to 1.45 million shares owned by its related persons.

At the close on Thursday, Prudential Vietnam’s portfolio of the above-mentioned bank was valued at VND5,511 billion ($221.5 million).

Under the amended Law on Credit Institutions, effective on August 1, banks are requested to disclose lists of shareholders owning 1% or more.

According to Prudential Vietnam’s mid-year financial statement, the company had VND17,339 billion ($697 million) worth of investments in equities listed on the local stock exchanges or the UPCoM as of June 30, up 16.2% from end-2023.

The insurer also had VND122,259 billion ($4.92 billion) in long-term investments, up 4% from end-2023, comprising government, government-backed, corporate, municipal bonds, and bank deposits.

As of June 30, Prudential Vietnam had total assets of VND182.28 trillion ($7.33 billion), up 3.2% from end-2023.