Nan Shan Life Insurance (NSINTW)

At present, Nan Shan Life can be viewed as a large insurance issuer with a top-tier franchise in Taiwan’s life insurance market, an adequate premium base, investment-grade ratings, and capital-market access. After the 2025 Taiwan dollar appreciation stress, Fitch removed the Rating Watch Negative, and capital was reinforced through the USD Tier 2 issuance, so it is reasonable to view the near-term credit direction as stabilised. However, that stability includes FX assumptions and capital reinforcement through capital securities; it does not mean that capital is naturally accumulating at a thick level.

The supports are more than 6.7 million policyholders, over 11.7 million in-force policies, more than 30,000 agents, top-tier total assets and shareholders’ equity in Taiwan, high persistency, and access to international capital markets. The constraints are the large offshore fixed-income asset base, the currency mismatch identified by Fitch, insurance contract liabilities of NT$4.580tn, assumptions around guaranteed rates, surrender rates, and claims, unrealised gains and losses, and regulatory capital transition. FYP growth alone should not be viewed as credit improvement; product profitability, ALM, hedging, and RBC/Prism also need to be tracked.

For Tier 2 investors, it is important to separate issuer credit and security risk. Nan Shan Life is a large investment-grade life insurer, but Nanshan Life Pte. Ltd.’s USD Tier 2 is rated BBB by Fitch and carries subordinated capital characteristics, regulatory loss absorption, and possible redemption and coupon restrictions. Even with an issuer guarantee, the specific guarantee ranking, coupon suspension, write-down, redemption approval, and regulatory approval conditions should be confirmed in the Offering Circular and trust deed.