CIGNA & CMB Life Insurance

The firm operates an insurance balance sheet, not a standalone investment-management entity with a CIO who is publicly profiled. Strategic direction is set by a board chaired by Miao Jianmin, the chairman of China Merchants Bank, with asset-management execution carried out through Cigna & CMB Asset Management Co., Ltd., which received regulatory approval in 2020. Day-to-day portfolio management rests with the asset-management subsidiary, which invests policyholder premiums within the bounds of China's insurance regulatory regime.

The insurer is a 50/50 joint venture between China Merchants Bank — one of China's largest retail banks, founded in 1987 — and Cigna, the global health-services group that traces its roots to 1792. CMB provides domestic distribution through its branch network and brand credibility with Chinese retail and private-banking clients, while Cigna supplies underwriting know-how, product design for medical insurance, and access to an international healthcare-provider network spanning more than 30 countries.

The firm is a regulated Chinese life insurer, not a direct-investment platform or venture-capital vehicle. Its investment activity is typical of an insurance general account: the bulk of deployable assets is allocated to fixed income, with controlled exposures to listed equities and alternative assets, all managed through the wholly owned asset-management subsidiary. No portfolio of direct company stakes similar to a family office or private-equity fund has been publicly disclosed.

The product mix centers on health insurance — including high-end medical plans with direct-billing access to over 1,000 hospitals — critical-illness policies, accident insurance, participating whole-life products, and annuity products linked to retirement planning. A notable recent addition is an individual-pension-annuity plan structured to qualify for China's personal income-tax deduction program, which channels incremental premium flows onto the balance sheet.

By the end of 2022, total assets had surpassed CNY 130 billion, and the cumulative customer count exceeded 10 million. The firm's health-services network reached 266 cities, supported by nearly 30,000 health-service points. By 2025, the insurance-trust business alone had scaled past 10,000 policies with assets exceeding CNY 68 billion, placing the firm among the top three insurance-trust providers in China (per the firm, 2025).

The firm participates in corporate-social-responsibility activities through a long-standing partnership with the Ai You Charity Foundation, which focuses on children's welfare. The engagement runs separately from the insurance balance sheet and is disclosed publicly alongside annual charity-award recognitions, including a 2024 Charity Gala 'Annual Charity Role Model' award from China Philanthropy Times.

Operations are concentrated in mainland China, with branch offices in Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Chongqing, and Yunnan. While the insurance licenses are domestic, the firm's 2023 global health strategy leverages Cigna's infrastructure to connect Chinese policyholders with medical providers across more than 30 countries — though the insurance liabilities themselves remain China-based.