The five major listed insurance companies' total net profit in the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 16.98% year-on-year, with fluctuations in the capital market impacting investment profits, while new business value in life insurance generally increased.

China Life, Ping An, PICC, China Pacific Insurance, and New China Insurance, five A-share listed insurance companies, have concluded their Q1 2026 reports, with a combined net profit of 69.88B yuan, a 16.98% decrease year-on-year.

Specifically, New China Insurance and China Pacific Insurance achieved growth, with net profits attributable to shareholders of 6.5B yuan and 10.04B yuan, respectively, representing increases of 10.5% and 4.3% year-on-year; China Ping An, China Life, and PICC, on the other hand, experienced varying degrees of decline in net profit attributable to shareholders, at 25.02B yuan, 19.51B yuan, and 8.81B yuan, respectively.

Overall, the performance of listed insurance companies in Q1 declined, mainly due to the impact of the capital market leading to decreased investment profits. Compared to short-term fluctuations on the asset side, the liabilities side of listed insurers performed remarkably well. Benefiting from residents’ asset reallocation, the new business value on the liabilities side generally saw significant growth.

Image source: Meiri Media Asset Library

In the first quarter of 2026, the Shanghai-Shenzhen 300 Index fell by 3.89%, compared to a decline of 1.21% in the same period last year, with the decline widening. Previously, multiple securities firms issued research reports predicting that net profit growth of listed insurers might diverge due to stock market volatility.

Specifically, the net profits of the five major listed insurers showed “two increases and three decreases” year-on-year. In this year’s first quarter, New China Insurance achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 6.5B yuan, up 10.5%; China Pacific Insurance achieved 10.04B yuan, up 4.3%.

In this year’s first quarter, China Life reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of 19.51B yuan, down 32.3% year-on-year. China Life stated in its quarterly report that the profit decline was mainly due to a high base in the same period of 2025 and fluctuations in the market value of some equity investments at the end of the reporting period. Additionally, PICC reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of 8.81B yuan, down 31.4%. Ping An achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 25.02B yuan, down 7.4%.

Non-bank financial analysts at Zhongtai Securities recently noted that under the new accounting standards, a large number of stocks are recorded under FVTPL (Fair Value Through Profit or Loss), where changes in fair value are recognized in current profit and loss, intensifying the impact of stock fluctuations on profits. The firm estimated that the return on equity investments in insurance funds’ portfolios in Q1 2026 was about -2.7%, compared to approximately 4.2% in the same period last year.

According to statistics from the Daily Economic News, in Q1 this year, the five major listed insurers collectively recorded fair value change losses of 140.4 billion yuan, compared to a loss of 20 billion yuan in the same period last year. Fair value change gains and losses are on the books as “floating profits and losses,” better reflecting the short-term market volatility’s impact on performance. From the perspective of fixed-income investment returns, these five insurers achieved a total investment income of 142.4 billion yuan in Q1, a year-on-year increase of 70%.

Compared to the divergence in net profits, the new business value of listed insurers generally increased in Q1, reflecting ongoing improvements on the liabilities side. The new business value refers to the present value of expected future profits from newly sold policies, discounted to the current year, and is an important indicator of the long-term sustainable development of insurers.

In Q1 this year, China Life’s new business value increased by 75.5% year-on-year. New China Insurance’s new business value grew by 24.7%; PICC Life’s new business value increased by 21%; Ping An Life and Health’s new business value grew by 20.8%; and China Pacific Life’s new business value increased by 9.6%.

In a low-interest-rate environment, residents’ savings continue to shift toward insurance products, with dividend insurance—combining protection with “guaranteed + floating” returns—becoming a core product to meet residents’ asset allocation needs. According to industry leader performance data, China Life disclosed that in Q1, the proportion of first-year premium for floating return-type business in the first-year premium was over 90%, with rigid costs of new business liabilities further decreasing, indicating significant results from business structure transformation.

From the perspective of non-bank analysts at Zhongtai Securities, the dual-channel drive of individual and bancassurance channels has led to continued outperformance in 2026, demonstrating the advantages of “guaranteed + floating” dividend insurance as a long-term savings alternative under the sustained low-interest-rate environment. In the long term, benefiting from residents’ asset reallocation through deposit migration, the growth rate on the liabilities side is expected to continue, and a market rebound in equities may strengthen the sales logic of dividend insurance.

In property and casualty insurance, in Q1 this year, PICC Property & Casualty, Ping An Property & Casualty, and China Pacific Property & Casualty achieved insurance business revenues of 183B yuan, 90.95B yuan, and 63.03B yuan, respectively, representing year-on-year increases of 1.4%, 6.8%, and a slight decrease of 0.3%. The combined cost ratio indicators show PICC P&C at 94.2%, Ping An P&C at 95.8%, and China Pacific P&C at 96.4%, decreasing by 0.3, 0.8, and 1 percentage points, respectively. Dongwu Securities’ research report analyzed that the improvement in the combined cost ratios of these three listed property and casualty insurers mainly results from continuous cost reduction and efficiency enhancement, as well as fewer natural disasters in Q1.

Industry analysts pointed out that on the liabilities side, robust demand for residents’ insurance savings is expected to drive growth in new business value in 2026; on the asset side, thanks to insurers’ asset allocation optimization, which may outperform previous market expectations, there remains optimism for valuation recovery opportunities in high-quality insurance stocks amid expectations of interest rate stabilization and rebound.