Are brokers seriously selling insurance?

Staff Reporter Yu Hong

When you browse stock market quotes and make trades on a brokerage app, have you noticed that insurance products are quietly appearing alongside mutual funds and wealth management products? From million-dollar medical insurance to dividend insurance, from auto insurance to pet insurance—behind these seemingly simple product launches, a cross-industry breakthrough led by brokerages is quietly unfolding.

Faced with declining traditional commission income, brokerages are urgently transforming from “simple trading channels” to “comprehensive wealth managers.” Insurance products, with their unique protection features and long-term planning value, are increasingly becoming important tools for brokerages to extend their service chain and deepen full lifecycle client services. They also serve as a key “piece” to fill gaps in the wealth management business landscape.

Insurance Section Emerges Suddenly

Recently, reporters observed that many brokerage apps have newly established insurance sections, alongside “public offerings” and “wealth management,” providing investors with various types of insurance products. For example, CITIC Securities’ app features 20 insurance products for sale; GF Securities’ app has launched 8 insurance products; China Galaxy Securities’ app currently offers 1 insurance product. The insurance products sold on these apps mainly include life insurance, annuities, and health insurance.

A GF Securities client manager told reporters that insurance products have a unique protective role, helping investors achieve goals like retirement planning and wealth transfer while increasing assets. This makes them an important supplement to the traditional product lines focused on investment appreciation, and a crucial part of brokerages’ efforts to expand wealth management services.

According to a review by reporters, the insurance products currently sold on brokerage apps are mainly dividend insurance. For example, among the 20 insurance products sold on CITIC Securities’ app, 14 are explicitly labeled as “dividend type”; the 8 insurance products on GF Securities’ app are also all dividend insurance.

In response, Long Ge, Deputy Director of the Innovation and Risk Management Research Center at the University of International Business and Economics, told Securities Daily: “Dividend insurance aligns well with brokerage clients’ investment preferences. Brokerage clients tend to have higher risk tolerance and seek wealth appreciation, so dividend insurance, which combines protection and floating returns, suits their needs. Additionally, selling such complex products allows brokerages to better leverage their professional advantages in asset allocation, making dividend insurance the mainstream insurance product in brokerage channels.”

However, currently, the insurance sections on brokerage apps are still relatively niche, with only a few institutions, mostly large, well-established brokerages, offering such services. A person related to a listed brokerage told reporters, “Our app’s insurance section is still in trial operation, and related business processes and service standards are continuously being optimized.”

To better understand the situation, reporters recently visited multiple brokerage branches in Beijing. Currently, only a few branches are engaged in insurance agency sales. A staff member at a leading brokerage branch said that although the company has obtained an insurance sales license, not all branches are qualified to operate in this area. Currently, only some branches have been approved to carry out related business, but in the future, more offline outlets may be authorized to do so.

Regarding the phenomenon of brokerages actively developing insurance agency sales, Wú Xiǎowēi, a global partner at McKinsey and head of China’s insurance consulting, told Securities Daily: “The core goal for brokerages to develop insurance agency sales is to better build a ‘client financial service portal.’ Their advantage lies in asset management capabilities, integrating insurance, funds, and other financial products to provide clients with comprehensive financial planning and asset allocation services—from protection to investment. Developing insurance agency sales not only helps fill the business chain and optimize revenue structure but also significantly enhances client stickiness, giving brokerages a competitive edge in the client portal.”

From Breaking Through Qualifications to Building Trust

The opening of online insurance sections depends on breaking through licensing barriers. From the perspective of qualifications for brokerages selling insurance products, reporters found that 11 brokerages have obtained insurance intermediary licenses issued by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. For example, Pacific Securities received its insurance intermediary license as early as 2005; Ping An Securities, GF Securities, and others obtained theirs in 2013; CITIC Securities’ license was approved in 2022. All 11 licenses were issued between 2022 and 2024.

Looking at industry pioneers, in 2022, CITIC Securities officially launched its insurance agency sales business, becoming the first in the industry to be approved for an insurance intermediary business with a “legal person license and branch registration.” Since then, several licensed brokerages have begun testing insurance agency sales at their offline branches, though on a limited scale.

Recently, many brokerages have been actively building online platforms for insurance sections. Experts interviewed said that moving from scattered, small-scale offline sales to accelerating the development of online insurance sections aims to make insurance agency sales more systematic, scaled, and standardized, laying a foundation for future in-depth operations. More importantly, these initiatives are supported by policies. In July 2025, the China Securities Industry Association issued the “Implementation Opinions on Strengthening Self-Discipline Management and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Securities Industry,” which mentions steadily promoting more compliant and risk-controlled brokerages to obtain licenses for bank wealth management and insurance product sales.

“Brokerages increasing investment in insurance agency sales may be driven by multiple strategic considerations,” Long Ge told reporters. “First, policy requirements push brokerages to take on a greater role in helping residents with asset allocation and to promote wealth management transformation. Second, the demand and potential for wealth management services are huge, attracting brokerages to seize growth opportunities. Third, brokerage performance is closely linked to capital market conditions, with revenue often fluctuating significantly with market cycles. In this context, brokerages are actively promoting revenue diversification, and income from insurance agency sales, which is less correlated with market fluctuations, can help stabilize earnings.”

Overall, the insurance sections on brokerage apps will display detailed product information, including product descriptions, coverage details, suitability classifications, features, case studies, and related agreements. Brokerages are also strengthening advisory services; for example, Ping An Securities’ app has set up dedicated live broadcast rooms to introduce “insurance selection guides.”

But do investors “buy into” this emerging insurance purchase channel on brokerage platforms? Through conversations with multiple investors and client managers, reporters learned that compared to direct sales by insurance companies and bank agency channels, brokerage online insurance sales are more reliant on existing clients and less effective at attracting new customers. The key factors influencing whether investors choose to buy insurance products on brokerage platforms are service quality and trust in the brokerage.

“At the core, service is king. First, whether the broker’s investment advisor (or client manager) can clearly explain the advantages and mechanisms of insurance products to clients; second, how well the advisor integrates insurance into the client’s overall asset plan, addressing pain points and meeting needs; third, the long-term service quality and whether a deep trust relationship has been established,” a wealth management professional at a brokerage told reporters.

Accelerating the Reconstruction of the Wealth Management Ecosystem

The “cross-industry” push by brokerages into insurance agency sales is not just about adding new services but is a sign of their efforts to accelerate the expansion of their wealth management business and deepen the transformation from brokerage to comprehensive wealth manager.

Currently, brokerage commission rates are continuously declining. By 2025, the average A-share commission rate in Shanghai has fallen below 0.02%, a significant drop from the previous year. Meanwhile, the new era demands brokerages to better serve as professional “managers” of social wealth.

Chen Yinhua, director of the Western Financial Research Institute, told Securities Daily: “Insurance products can diversify brokerages’ mainly equity-based product structures, forming asset allocation portfolios that include high-risk/high-return, low-risk/stable-return, and protection-oriented options, covering investors with different risk preferences. Moreover, developing insurance agency sales requires brokerages to deeply understand clients’ family structures, financial situations, and risk preferences, pushing investment advisors to upgrade into ‘comprehensive wealth planners’ with capabilities in asset allocation, risk management, and tax planning. Relying on integrated ‘investment + protection’ solutions, brokerages can shift their role from ‘single transactions’ to ‘lifetime wealth partners.’”

However, competing in the crowded insurance agency sales market is no easy task for brokerages. Long Ge believes that while expanding insurance agency sales will add an important channel for insurance product sales, brokerages, as latecomers, do not yet hold a dominant market position and still need to explore and adapt.

A non-banking financial industry analyst in North China said: “Currently, in the early stages of business development, brokerages face challenges in product and personnel reserves, assessment mechanisms, and channel deployment. But in the future, insurance agency sales are expected to effectively enrich clients’ asset allocation options, improving client retention and overall revenue.”

“Ensuring compliance is paramount for brokerages entering this new arena,” said Zou Ye, a partner at Beijing Zhude Law Firm and member of the Legal and Compliance Committee of the China Banking and Insurance Asset Management Association. “Brokerages need to obtain insurance sales licenses and register their personnel as insurance intermediaries. Since insurance products differ significantly from funds and other asset management products, practitioners must deepen their understanding of complex insurance products, adjust sales strategies, and carefully manage sales rules and client needs.”

Looking ahead, Wú Xiǎowēi expressed optimism that insurance agency sales have significant growth potential and could become an important revenue driver for brokerages. The key to success lies in providing more professional asset allocation services than banks and other channels. Only then can the “new puzzle piece” of insurance agency sales truly integrate into the wealth management landscape and help brokerages transition from “simple trading channels” to “comprehensive wealth managers.”