PICC Property and Casualty, China’s largest non-life insurer, will attempt to turn around its first half losses by controlling costs and increasing investments in fixed-income assets, the South China Morning Post reported. PICC on Tuesday reported a US$42 million first-half loss mostly due to expenses and claims from the Sichuan earthquake and weak investment returns. This compared with a US$467 million profit the previous year. PICC president Wang Yin-cheng said on Wednesday that he was "very confident" the company would return to profitability by the end of this year. Part of its strategy will be to shift its investment focus to fixed-income assets. PICC has already cut its exposure to equities to 10.5% of its portfolio from 20.8% in December. Bond investments have increased to 48.6% from 39.6%.
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