Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East
    • 2023 ESG Investing
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. MONEY MANAGEMENT
August 18, 2017 01:00 AM

Jack Ma-backed Yunfeng to buy MassMutual Asia in deal giving MassMutual 25% stake in Yunfeng

Sovereign wealth fund GIC to acquire minority stake in Yunfeng as part of the deal

Douglas Appell
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Bloomberg
    Billionaire Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

    Yunfeng Financial Group, a Hong Kong-listed brokerage firm backed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, will lead a group of Asian investors in acquiring Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s Hong Kong-based MassMutual Asia Ltd., the two companies announced Friday.

    MassMutual will receive $1.7 billion for its Asian insurance operations, with $1.01 billion in cash and roughly $668 million in Yunfeng FG stock. The deal will leave the Springfield, Mass.-based insurer holding a roughly 25% stake in Yunfeng FG.

    Yunfeng, in turn, will hold a 60% interest in MassMutual Asia, with roughly 20% of that consideration in the form of cash and the rest in stock.

    A group of strategic investors will hold the remaining 40% of MassMutual Asia, with Meyu International Co. owning 9.8%; Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC with 7.5%; Ant Financial Services Group, Sina Corp. and Sheen Light Development with 5% each; Harvest Billion International with 4.9%; and Giant Investment (HK) with 2.8%.

    In a joint Yunfeng-MassMutual news release Friday, Roger Crandall, the chairman, president and CEO of MassMutual, said his firm "will continue to participate in the growing and attractive Asian markets through our ongoing stake in the combined Yunfeng FG and MassMutual Asia Business."

    A MassMutual spokesman said the transaction will combine MassMutual's expertise in insurance and retirement planning with Yunfeng FG's expertise in brokerage, wealth management and employee stock ownership plan administrative services, among other synergies.

    Eddie Ahmed, chairman, president and CEO of MassMutual International, in the same news release, said the tie-up will position MassMutual to "partner with an innovative network of entrepreneurial Hong Kong- and China-based businesses, with an exciting range of prospective initiatives — from big data to asset management."

    As part of the transaction, MassMutual, Yunfeng FG and Ant Financial Services Group, the latest incarnation of the Alibaba Group's Alipay financial services and payments network, "have agreed to enter into a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly explore future business opportunities," Mr. Ahmed added.

    Asked about potential areas of cooperation, a MassMutual spokesman said with the complex nature of the transaction making it likely that the deal could close about the end of 2018, it's too early at this point to go into detail.

    Yunfeng FG's stock opened Friday up more than 30% on the back of the MassMutual news, but gave up the bulk of those gains by the close, ending up 5.4% at HK$6.62 (85 cents).

    Related Articles
    CEFC China to buy 19.9% stake in Ramius-owner Cowen Group
    Nikko Asset Management takes 15% stake in ETF boutique ARK Investment Management
    Avendus Capital acquires India equities specialist Ocean Dial Asset Management
    Firms lining up to do business with China's Alibaba
    Ant Financial annual profit jumps 65% ahead of anticipated IPO
    Recommended for You
    Ashmore taps Ng for new head of Asia ex-Japan
    Barry Silbert
    Institutions seek out non-correlated assets after 2022 losses in stocks and bonds
    Ariel poaches 5 emerging markets value equity managers from AllianceBernstein
    The Institutional Investor's Guide to ESG Investing
    Sponsored Content: The Institutional Investor's Guide to ESG Investing

    Reader Poll

    January 25, 2023
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    The Future of Infrastructure: Building a Better Tomorrow
    Fulcrum Issues: Equity Returns and Inflation — Choose Your Own Adventure
    What Matters Most in Considering a Private Debt Strategy
    Why pursue direct lending in the core middle market?
    Research for Institutional Money Management
    Are Factors a Thing of the Past?
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    December 12, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East
      • 2023 ESG Investing