(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc has won its battle against Ping An Insurance Group Co. about a strategic reset for now, but that doesn’t mean that the Chinese giant has nothing to show for its campaign.

This week, HSBC Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn looked to draw a line under a yearlong push by one of the bank’s biggest investors for changes that had a carving out of the Asian business at its core, after most other holders failed to support such a move at an annual general meeting in May.

“That matter is now closed from the point of view of HSBC,” Quinn told Bloomberg Television as he sought to underline how the current strategy was responsible for a new round of share buybacks and earnings that were well ahead of estimates.

HSBC, which counts Hong Kong as its biggest market, has been pivoting to Asia to profit from faster-growing economies and has committed to invest about $6 billion in the region from 2021 to 2025.

Ping An was seeking a more abrupt break-off of the region’s more profitable operations.

As it stands, the insurer already has had some success in pushing for changes that HSBC otherwise might not have acceded to. The door also remains open for Ping An, which holds around 8% in HSBC, to return with a fresh push for a shake-up in future.

Below is a list of proposals that Ping An campaigned for and measures that HSBC has implemented. Both companies declined to comment.

Pay Performance

Ping An complained that the peer group used for the calculation of executive pay didn’t include banks that made most of their money in Asia, making the comparison irrelevant.

HSBC has since decided to include more Asian peers to calculate performance awards.

Asian Executives

Ping An complained about HSBC’s failure to appoint local staff to senior positions, highlighting how the bank relied executives who had little to no experience of the region.

HSBC has pledged to develop talent in Asia, while highlighting that more than a third of the bank’s senior leadership roles are now located in the region.

Operating Costs

HSBC’s high costs were a major issue for Ping An, which said that urgent action was needed to particularly bring staffing and IT spending lower.

Full-year results at HSBC showed that employees in operational roles had fallen by 11% year-on-year to 28,100 and were projected to decrease further in 2023.

Asian Spin-Out

Arguably the core demand of Ping An, the insurer had pushed HSBC to consider a spin-out of its Asian operations into a separately-listed company, saying such a move would unlock substantial value.

HSBC stood firm, rebutting the need for such radical action. However, the bank has started to provide investors with more detailed disclosure on the performance of its Asian units.

Asset Disposals, Capital Returns

The apparent trigger for Ping An’s campaign was the cancellation in 2020 of HSBC’s dividend. Improving returns to shareholders was a big part of the insurer’s plan, as well as pushing the bank to sell off underperforming businesses.

This week, HSBC offered a $2 billion share buyback to be completed within the next three months, on top of the $2 billion program it had already completed this year. The bank has also pledged to return much of the proceeds of the sale of its Canadian business through a special dividend.

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