Page 4 - ASCOT GROUP COMPLETE DOCUMENT (2)

“What are the benefits of a Chinese Life Assurance Company entering the
international cross border life assurance and wealth management markets”.

The products typically sold in the international cross border Life-Wealth sectors are investment linked
life assurance products (regular premium & single premium - investing into an unlimited range of
international funds and both listed and unlisted securities), protection/risk assurance (including
medical & term assurance) and comprehensive international banking services.

Typical clients include expatriates (of all nationalities living in any country) and the rising middle classes
growing throughout the emerging markets that are in need of wealth management products that
provide:

● high levels of investor protection

● mitigate against counterparty risk

● a full range of currency and international investment options

● tax and inter-generational succession planning

● robust & stringent regulatory oversight

● client services available online in the 10 most global common spoken languages, 24 hours a
day, coupled with internet access to interrogate and take action on their accounts/policies

In order to provide the product benefits listed above (a superior product, to domestic onshore issuing
life companies in the emerging markets), the issuing product provider will need to be domiciled in an
international and cross border jurisdiction.

There are currently no Chinese life assurance companies domiciled in a jurisdiction offering
international cross border wealth management and life assurance products. In fact, there are very few,
if any, Chinese life assurance companies established in domestic retail markets outside of China using
their own brands. There are many reasons for this, but none more so than the difficulty in navigating
foreign domestic retail markets where each country has a different set of regulators, products, work
ethic, culture, tax regime, barriers to entry and government policies.

Unlike other industrial sectors, (where China has been very aggressive in promoting itself on a global
scale - the Belt and Road initiative being a perfect example) financial services, as a sector, invariably
brings greater potential reputational risks, that come when entering into the retail wealth
management industry, where often private investors have large portions of their wealth at risk - and
in many cases their entire family’s life savings.