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AIA sells life and health insurance and manages savings plans for millions of people across Asia.
AIA is a giant life and health insurance company that mostly does business in Asia — China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and about a dozen other markets. It sells policies to everyday people: families who want protection if a parent dies, workers who want their medical bills covered, and savers who want a safe place to park money and earn a bit of interest. Customers pay premiums, usually every month or year, and AIA invests that money and pays out claims when something goes wrong. The gap between what it collects and what it pays out, plus the investment returns, is the profit. Think of it as a huge, patient piggy bank that also promises to hand out cash when life gets messy.
The business splits into a few main pieces. Life insurance is the biggest chunk — policies that pay a lump sum when someone dies or reaches a certain age. Health insurance is the fastest-growing part, especially in China and Southeast Asia, where rising incomes mean more people can afford private medical coverage. Savings and retirement products round it out, aimed at people worried about having enough money later in life. AIA also runs a small asset management arm that invests the premiums. Roughly half of the company's revenue comes from mainland China and Hong Kong combined, with Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia making up most of the rest.
AIA started over a century ago in Shanghai, moved its base to Hong Kong, and was spun off from AIG in 2010 — a turning point that let it focus purely on Asia. It has been one of the best-performing large insurers in the region, thanks to a huge army of agents (hundreds of thousands of them) and partnerships with banks that sell its policies. It generates lots of free cash, which it uses to pay a growing dividend and buy back its own shares — management has been steadily reducing the share count, which makes each remaining share worth more. The main risks are the usual ones for insurers: low interest rates squeezing investment returns, tighter regulations in China, and anything that dents consumer confidence in big-ticket savings products.
Saved answer · last researched 12 Oct 2026