HSBC kicks off Singapore insurance business sale, eyes over US$1 billion value: sources

[HONG KONG] HSBC has started the sale process for its Singapore life insurance product manufacturing business with the hiring of an adviser, and is hoping for the deal to be valued at more than US$1 billion, said three sources with knowledge of the matter.

The bank, which makes the bulk of its revenues and profits in Asia, has hired JPMorgan as its adviser, said two of the sources, who declined to be named.

HSBC has started engaging with potential buyers including Japanese insurers Nippon Life and Dai-ichi Life, and non-binding bids for the business could be expected in a month, said one of the sources.

HSBC, JPMorgan, and Dai-ichi Life declined to comment on the potential sale of the Singapore insurance manufacturing business. Nippon Life did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

HSBC’s plan to divest its Singapore life insurance manufacturing business comes as the London-based bank pushes to simplify itself and exit areas that are not viewed as adding value.

Since assuming his position a year and a half ago, chief executive officer Georges Elhedery has shaken HSBC up by revamping divisions along East-West lines, shedding sub-scale investment banking units in the US and Europe and slashing the ranks of senior managers.

In total, the bank initiated 11 exits from various businesses across the globe last year.

The bank is only seeking to sell the insurance manufacturing operations in Singapore, the sources said, not the entire insurance business, which means it will continue to distribute insurance products to investors in the market.

Bidder interest

The valuation expectations of more than US$1 billion for HSBC’s Singapore insurance product manufacturing business could change depending on potential bidder interest, one of the sources said.

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At the insurance manufacturing business, the bank creates products and then distributes them via its retail banking network, digital channels and private banking relationships. It has a separate business that sells policies of other insurers.

In 2025, revenue from the bank’s insurance manufacturing operations reached US$2.3 billion, HSBC said in its annual results.

On the bank’s 2025 earnings call on Wednesday (Feb 25), Elhedery said the Singapore insurance business was under strategic review but no decision had been made.

“The reason we decided to put this business under strategic review is because we are not in the top five in the life business in Singapore, and therefore our ambition is always to be as a leader in what we do, or let others do it better than us and not be there,” he said.

HSBC’s insurance franchise, at which global revenue grew 36 per cent in 2025 to US$2.6 billion from a year earlier, is one of the fastest-expanding segments among the bank’s fee-based businesses as it seeks to increase wealth income. REUTERS