Perhaps losing $240m does not hurt quite so much when you’re still $1.2bn to the good. Dhanin Chearavanont is holding a profit of almost a fifth since his purchase of 15.6 per cent of Ping An was approved late last week. But the drop in the insurer’s shares on Monday was in stark contrast to the predictions of a bounce once HSBC’s overhang was lifted. What happened?

There certainly was an overhang. Ping An’s H-shares are up only half as much as its Shanghai-based A-shares since the Chinese market went on a tear in December, while Hong Kong-listed China stocks have generally gained only a third less over that time. Official approval for the deal between HSBC and Mr Dhanin’s CP Group was the best outcome for all involved. HSBC makes a clean exit from Ping An, the cloud hanging over the insurer’s Hong Kong-listed stock dissipates and Mr Dhanin’s reputation as a friend of China is strengthened.

Chinese insurance is in theory an attractive bet: penetration is still low in spite of the value of gross premiums on life and property and casualty business rising 20 per cent a year for the past decade. Tighter regulation of life assurance has slowed that sector’s growth in the past two years although P&C is still outpacing economic growth.