As of last year, the Chinese insurance industry was ranked #3 in Asia. But, with the surging economic growth, I'm sure it will ultimately become #1. After all, life insurance premiums represent only about 1.7% of China's GDP (this compares to about 4% in the US).

In fact, there are more than 1,600 insurance agencies in China. But, one of the standouts is CNinsure. And, this week, the company filed to go public.

The company has roughly 11,000 sales reps and a distribution network that extends into key affluent areas, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The company provides property/casualty and life policies.

Growth has been stunning, averaging about 169.4% over the past three years. For the first six months of 2007, revenues were about $22.7 million.

The lead underwriter on the IPO is Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and the proposed ticker is "CISG."

You can find the prospectus at the SEC website. Also, if you want to check out other IPOs, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

CNinsure - biggie Chinese insurance broker looks for an IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.