Richard Li's FWD rises in HK debut, reversing earlier declines
The insurer's stock climbed 1.1 per cent to HK$38.40 on Monday (Jul 7), reversing a drop of as steep as 2.5 per cent.
The debut comes after the tycoon – son of famed Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing – tried to take the company public in New York in 2021, which was abandoned after regulatory scrutiny. Subsequent efforts to list at home in Hong Kong were stalled as the city's IPO entered a prolonged slump.
Now, with Hong Kong's equity markets rebounding, Li is seizing a more favourable window to raise capital for the crown jewel of his business empire.
Investors' sentiment has been buoyed by a wave of multibillion-dollar deals, with IPOs and follow-on offerings raising US$37.4 billion so far in 2025 – the highest since the record-breaking year of 2021 and a sharp jump from US$5.1 billion during the same period last year.
'It's been a long journey,' FWD chief executive officer Huynh Thanh Phong said in a Bloomberg TV interview. 'Hong Kong, as you can see, is back in a big way, and we're extremely happy to be part of that comeback story post-Covid.'
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The city's stock benchmark, the Hang Seng Index, has risen about 20 per cent for the year. Insurers have been particularly hot lately, with shares of AIA Group and Prudential each rising since their April lows.
Criss Wang, an analyst who writes on the Smartkarma platform, said that although FWD's stock may appear cheap based on book ratios, concerns about the company's potential impairment risks justify FWD shares trading at lower valuations than local peers.
Richard Li, who founded the company in 2013, owns a 66.5 per cent stake in FWD through various corporate entities. His stake in FWD accounts for two-thirds of his US$6.1 billion net worth at the IPO price, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The insurer plans to use the proceeds to reduce debt, support growth and enhance its digital capabilities. BLOOMBERG
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