中国放宽保险公司投资渠道

China has opened a new area of alternative investments to the country’s insurance companies, giving them a wider range of options to boost returns after enduring several difficult years.

中国对国内保险公司开放了一些全新的另类投资领域，意在使最近几年处境艰难的保险公司有更多的选择来提高收益。

Chinese insurers will now be allowed to invest in high-yielding wealth management and trust products as well as asset-backed securities, some of the more profitable but also riskier investments available in China.

中国保险公司现在已被允许投资于高收益理财产品、信托产品和资产支持证券(ABS)——这些都属于中国目前利润更高但风险也更大的资产类别。

In the past Chinese regulators had sought to limit risk-taking by insurers, largely confining their investments to equities, ultra-safe bonds and bank deposits. But that approach has proved dangerous as insurers’ investment profits have dwindled and they have struggled to attract new customers.

过去，中国监管部门一直试图限制保险公司的冒险行为，大体上把它们的投资门类限定在股票、超级安全的债券和银行存款上。但事实证明这种做法是危险的，因为保险公司投资收益不断下降、同时又很难吸引到新客户。

Highlighting the challenges, China Life, the world’s largest insurer by market value, last week reported a net loss in the third quarter, its first quarterly loss since 2010 as weak capital markets took their toll. It has issued profit warnings before each of its earnings statements this year.

全球市值最高的保险公司中国人寿(China Life)身上就突显出这一挑战。上周中国人寿发布财报称，由于资本市场疲软，第三季度出现净亏损——这是自2010年以来该公司的首个季度亏损。今年以来，中国人寿每次发布财报前都会发布盈利预警。

Chinese insurers manage Rmb6.9tn ($1.1tn) in assets overall, about 10 times as much as a decade ago. Although that would be remarkably fast growth for most other countries, it has been relatively sluggish in China, especially over the past few years. Trust companies, loosely regulated groups that securitise loans, have grown much more quickly and could soon surpass insurers in terms of asset size, according to a recent report by KPMG.

中国保险公司管理的资产总计6.9万亿元人民币（合1.1万亿美元），约为10年前的10倍。放在多数其他国家，这一增速都可谓快得惊人，但在中国只算得上相对缓慢——在过去几年里尤其缓慢。毕马威(KPMG)最近一份报告指出，从事贷款证券化、受监管较松的信托公司发展要迅猛得多，其资产管理规模可能很快就将超过保险公司。

The loosening of investment guidelines will give insurers more ammunition to fight back.

投资准则的放宽，将为保险公司提供更多弹药展开反击。

They will now be permitted to invest up to 30 per cent of their assets in financial products, a category that the regulator defined as including wealth management products, trust products and asset-backed securities. Many of these are based on high-yielding loans to property developers, companies that are coming under intense pressure as the government tries to rein in property prices.

现在，它们获准将所管理的最高30%的资产投资于金融产品——按照监管部门的定义，该类别包括理财产品、信托产品和资产支持证券。其中很多产品是基于向房地产开发商发放的高收益贷款。在中国政府努力控制房价之际，这些房地产开发商正面临巨大财务压力。