HONG KONG: China Strategic's newly appointed chairman, Frederick Ma, has cautioned investors about the potential risk in trading his company's shares after the stock skyrocketed in the past two days.

He urged investors to be careful when buying shares on news, because everything carries risks. "Investors shouldn't indulge in the so-called celebrity effect," Ma added, in response to questions about the stock's shining performance.

Ma's comments came as the company's deal to buy Taiwan's Nan Shan Life Insurance faced new uncertainty after thousands of the insurer's staff staged a protest yesterday.

Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Raymond Or has reportedly flown to Taiwan to handle the situation.

"Mr Or said he was confident the deal would go through," said Ma.

Frederick Ma, who resigned from his official duty 17 months ago for reasons of health, emphasized that his chairmanship in China Strategic is just a part-time job, which is "less demanding" and "less stressful" than his former government job.

Many commentators believe the former Hong Kong government minister is free to take up any private job now as he has past the one-year "transition period" set for former ministers before they can take up private jobs to avoid questions of interest conflict.

After shares of China Strategic soared over 78 percent on Monday, shares of the battery manufacturer surged another 23 percent to close at HK$0.81 yesterday.

The company said on Tuesday that it had appointed Ma, former Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong, as its chairman, and Raymond Or, formerly Hang Seng Bank's Chief Executive Officer, as its CEO.

Ma's comments came as the deal faces new uncertainty after thousands of insurance agents of Nan Shan Life staged a protest yesterday against the deal, which allows China Strategic to acquire Nan Shan Life from American International Group for $2.15 billion.

Nan Shan Life's management and employees are involved in a bitter row over pensions. Protesters demanded that the issue be settled before the company is sold off.

"AIG shouldn't sell Nan Shan to Primus (China Strategic's partner in the deal) at a time when there are still disputes between the management and employees," protester Tsai Wen-hsing told AFP.

The disputes between Nan Shan Life's management and its employees have added to worries about the fate of the deal after another contender, Taiwan's China Trust Financial Holding Company earlier threatened to sue AIG for rejecting its better offer for Nan Shan Life in favor of China Strategic's "less favorable" offer.

Nan Shan Life is one of the largest life insurers in Taiwan, with total assets exceeding $46 billion and 7.9 million in-force policies held by about 4 million policyholders.

(HK Edition 11/12/2009 page3)