Insurers could be considered a cross between a casino and a hedge fund. Retained premiums are the casino’s win ratio; investment returns on the premium capital are the hedge fund. Sometimes the casino wins, sometimes it loses – both with the bets it places on risks and with the returns it makes on its assets.
保险公司可被认为兼具赌场与对冲基金的特点。自留保费(retained premiums)就相当于赌场的胜率；而通过保费获取投资回报有点像对冲基金的做法。赌场有时会赢，有时会输——由其风险押注和资产回报的综合结果而定。

Chinese insurer Ping An’s third-quarter results this week could be seen as a solid win. Diluted earnings per share rose four-fifths year on year; in the first nine months Ping An delivered 90 per cent of analysts’ earnings estimates for the full year.
中国平安保险(Ping An Insurance)本周发布的第三季度业绩可谓相当坚挺。该公司稀释后每股盈利(diluted EPS)同比增长五分之四，今年头9个月的盈利已相当于分析师所预期的全年盈利的90%。
If anything, Ping An is growing a little too quickly for comfort. Its premiums have grown 16 per cent this year. By contrast, premiums at China’s largest life insurer, China Life , are down 2 per cent year to date. Those at property and casualty leader PICC have grown only 14 per cent. Either Ping An knows something its rivals do not, or it is mispricing risk.
要说有什么东西令人不安的话，那就是平安发展得有点太快了。该公司今年保费收入增长了16%。相比之下，中国最大的寿险公司——中国人寿(China Life)今年迄今的保费收入下降了2%。财险和意外险领域的领军者中国人保(PICC)的保费收入仅增长14%。要么就是平安知道了竞争对手所不知道的事情，要么就是它对风险作出了错误的定价。
The one-third growth in Ping An’s wealth management assets since last December is similarly concerning. China’s insurance market is highly controlled. The regulator is haunted by the guaranteed returns of the 1990s which drove many insurers out of business. Wealth management, introduced in 2009 and relatively less constrained, is an attractive alternative for insurers and customers. But there are risks, especially if the insurers offer guaranteed yields of, say 4 to 5 per cent. That works if the manager can achieve returns higher than that. But should that return lapse, the wealth manager could end up out of pocket.
平安的理财资产自去年12月以来增长了三分之一，这同样令人不安。中国保险市场受到严格管控。上世纪90年代许多保险公司向客户许诺回报，导致最终破产，让监管机构还心有余悸。2009年起保险公司可以开展理财业务，受限制相对较少，对保险公司和客户来说都是一个有吸引力的替代选择。但这里面有风险，尤其是保险公司保证收益率，比如说是4%至5%的话。如果理财业务能够实现比这还高的回报，那么没有问题。但如果回报低迷，理财业务就会赔钱。
China’s life market has immense potential. According to a Swiss Re study in 2011, China had a cover shortfall of $19tn in 2010. Annual new premiums in the life and health sector are only 2 per cent of GDP, says Bernstein; in Hong Kong the figure is 11 per cent. So Chinese insurers should be able to grow. But even in growing markets, the house does not always win.
中国寿险市场拥有巨大的潜力。根据瑞士再保险(Swiss Re) 2011年的一份研究报告，2010年中国寿险缺口达到19万亿美元。伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)表示，中国寿险健康险每年新增保费收入仅相当于国内生产总值(GDP)的2%，而香港的这一比例是11%。因此，中国的保险公司应该能够发展壮大。但即便是在不断发展壮大的市场里，赌场也不会总赢。