China’s Ping An Insurance becomes second largest stakeholder in HSBC

China’s Ping An Insurance has raised its stake in British banking group HSBC to 5% from 4.96%, becoming the bank’s second largest shareholder.

The insurer raised its holding in the bank by acquiring 1.02 billion shares of the bank through the Stock Connect programme that enables Chinese firms to purchase Hong Kong shares.

Ping An said that HSBC has a strong business performance and good dividend.

“This complements the assets and liabilities matching principles of Ping An Asset Management’s insurance funds,” the insurer noted.

BlackRock is the largest shareholder in HSBC with a stake of around 6.8%, and JPMorgan Chase the third largest shareholder with a stake of over 4.8%.