A-shares listed insurance companies annual reports conclude: net profit exceeds 420 billion yuan, equity increases by over 1 trillion yuan, this year focusing on increasing positions in high-dividend stocks and new productive forces

Ask AI · How can investments in the new quality productivity sector help insurance funds navigate market cycles?

(Image source: Visual China)

Blue Whale News, April 3rd Edition (Reporter: Shi Yu) The annual reports of the five major listed insurance companies in A-shares have been fully disclosed. Their combined net profit in 2025 exceeded 420 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of over 20%, with equity investments contributing a key “winning move” — stock balances alone increased by over one trillion yuan compared to the end of the previous year.

However, with market volatility intensifying in 2026, how will insurance funds continue to traverse the cycle? The reporter notes that from recent earnings calls, “high dividends” and “new quality productivity” have become preferred certainty factors.

Listed insurance companies’ annual profits increased by over 20%, with increased equity investments boosting high profit growth

Last year, the five major listed insurance companies in A-shares achieved a total net profit attributable to shareholders of 425.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.4%.

Among them, China Life’s net profit attributable to shareholders in 2025 surged by 44.1% to 154.08B yuan; Ping An of China’s net profit was 134.78B yuan, up 6.5%; China Pacific Insurance, PICC, and New China Life achieved net profits of 53.51B yuan, 46.65B yuan, and 387.69B yuan respectively, with growth rates of 19%, 8.8%, and 38.3%.

(Map: Blue Whale News)

The positive profit performance stems from a resonance at both the asset and liability sides. Based on controlling liability costs, optimized asset allocation combined with a favorable equity market environment is more directly reflected in profit figures.

New China Life Insurance led in total investment return rate at 6.6%; China Life achieved its best investment performance in recent years, with total investment income reaching 141.63B yuan, a 25.8% increase year-on-year, and a total investment return rate of 6.09%, up 59 basis points; Ping An of China’s 2025 comprehensive investment return was 6.3%, up 0.5 percentage points; China Pacific Insurance’s total investment return was 5.7%, with total investment income of 7.42T yuan, up 17.6%; PICC’s total investment income in 2025 increased by 12.4% year-on-year, with a total investment return rate of 5.7%.

At recent earnings conferences, management detailed the main reasons for the improved investment returns, with the core factor being that, benefiting from the favorable equity market and increased equity allocation, “equity investment is the winning move to enhance returns.”

The reporter’s statistics show that in 2025, the proportion of stocks and investment funds held by the five major listed insurance companies in A-shares overall increased. Stock balances alone grew by over one trillion yuan compared to the end of 2024. China Ping An’s stock balance increased the most, from 437.4 billion yuan at the end of last year to 958.1 billion yuan, a 119% increase, with its share in the investment portfolio rising from 7.6% to 14.8%.

China Life’s investment assets reached 74.237 trillion yuan at the end of 2025, up 12.3% from the end of 2024. In its annual report, it stated, “In 2025, we resolutely increased equity investments by seizing market opportunities, with the scale of public market equity investments exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan, an increase of over 450 billion yuan from the beginning of the year.” Stock balances reached 12k yuan, a 71% increase, accounting for 11.25%, up from 7.58%.

China Pacific Insurance’s stock and equity funds accounted for 13.4% of its investment assets, up 2.2 percentage points from the end of last year. Stock balances reached 33.7654 billion yuan, a 32.4% increase, with its share rising from 9.3% to 11.1%.

New China Life’s investment assets at the end of 2025 totaled 1.84 trillion yuan, up 13% year-on-year. Its stock holdings reached 858.34B yuan, up 19.7%, with stocks and funds together accounting for 21.2% of investment assets.

PICC’s investment assets in 2025 surpassed 1.9 trillion yuan, a 15.8% increase from the beginning of the year. Its stock holdings amounted to 337.65B yuan, a 176% increase, with the proportion rising from 3.7% to 8.7%, an increase of 5 percentage points.

(Map: Blue Whale News)

Where is the capital flowing? China Life stated, “In terms of equity investment, we are firmly increasing equity investments by seizing market opportunities, actively deploying in fields related to new quality productivity.”

Ping An also mentioned that in equity investments, it is balancing dividend value and technological growth, aiming for long-term market-beating, steady investment returns.

Patience Capital’s New Year Strategy: Actively Seize Market Opportunities, Favor High Dividends and New Quality Productivity

“This year, we see many uncertainties, and the entire capital market will be quite volatile, but we believe the overall market will be positive throughout the year,” said Guo Xiaotao, Co-CEO of Ping An of China, during the recent earnings release.

“Flow does not compete to be first; it competes for continuous flow. Long-term funds and patient capital need to traverse cycles through deep, long-term persistence,” summarized Liu Hui, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of China Life, on the stance of insurance funds.

In 2026, under the new market environment, how will listed insurance companies plan their investment strategies?

Firstly, from an investment strategy perspective, Qin Hongbo, Vice President of New China Life, stated that the company will adhere to three principles: first, asset-liability matching, aligning asset duration and structure with liability characteristics to ensure effective coverage of liability costs; second, diversification and multi-asset allocation, constructing reasonable proportions among fixed income, equities, and alternative investments to optimize structure, enhance risk resistance, and increase yield resilience; third, pursuing absolute returns, focusing on safety margins amid market volatility, actively seizing structural opportunities, and striving for long-term steady returns for the company and clients.

Cai Zhiwei, Vice President of PICC, said that in 2026, PICC will focus on “stability, growth, diversification, and innovation” to further optimize asset allocation. “Based on the different liability characteristics of property and casualty insurance and life insurance, we will improve differentiated allocation and refined management. Property and casualty accounts will focus on maintaining stable asset durations, while life insurance accounts will manage duration gaps and continue to allocate long-term government bonds.”

Regarding specific allocation directions, listed insurance companies mainly discussed the logic behind equity investment.

PICC views equity investment as a key to stabilizing and enhancing investment performance, stating it will continue to focus on high-dividend OCI stocks, while also exploring growth opportunities embedded in the “14th Five-Year Plan,” strengthening research on key industries and sectors, and reasonably planning TPL stock allocations.

“Under low-interest-rate environments, the company will increase equity assets within risk tolerance and actively seize structural market opportunities,” emphasized Su Gang, Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, and CFO of China Pacific Insurance. The core strategy for China Pacific’s dividend value is to focus on listed companies with high dividend payout capacity and stable growth prospects, using these quality assets as the core of the bottom layer. The company will also build a more comprehensive satellite strategy system covering key areas such as technological innovation, health, and consumer sectors.

Specifically, Liu Hui said that China Life will focus on two major asset classes: one is technology stocks representing China’s new quality productivity, following the main lines of technological iteration and domestic substitution, seeking explosive growth opportunities along the entire AI industry chain; the other is high-quality, high-dividend stocks, constructing a diversified dividend portfolio to cope with declining interest rates.

Ping An’s approach is “finding certainty amid uncertainty.” Guo Xiaotao mentioned that for long-cycle patient capital, the most important thing is to align with the country’s economic development directions. “New quality productivity is a certainty factor; large-scale infrastructure development is a certainty factor; healthcare, health, and elderly care are certain factors in national economic development; building a strong financial nation and a healthy China are also certainties. These are key directions for long-term investment and asset allocation.”

Qin Hongbo stated that regarding the equity market, he remains optimistic about China’s medium- and long-term development prospects, focusing on three main investment themes: first, industries with rising prosperity and sustained performance; second, sectors aligned with national strategic directions, especially fields related to new quality productivity; third, promoting high-dividend investment strategies under low-interest-rate environments.