Insurance asset research nearly 1,900 times this year, with more focus on STAR Market and ChiNext Board individual stocks

Reporter: Yang Xiaohan

As an important representative of “patient capital” in the A-share market, the allocation trends of insurance funds have attracted widespread attention from the market. According to data from Wind Information, as of March 22, when the Securities Daily reporter filed the report, insurance institutions (including insurance companies and insurance asset management companies) had conducted nearly 1,900 investigations of A-share listed companies this year, focusing on dividend assets, the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, and the ChiNext stocks.

Experts interviewed indicated that looking ahead, it is expected that by 2026, insurance fund investigations will trend towards a high-quality range, with research directions becoming more focused on new production capabilities, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), and the silver economy, upgrading from “information collection” to “industry empowerment.”

Frequency of Investigations

Decreased Compared to the Same Period Last Year

As of now this year, insurance companies have conducted a total of 896 investigations of A-share listed companies. Among them, Changjiang Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., Taiping Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., China Life Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., China People’s Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., and Ping An Pension Insurance Co., Ltd. ranked the top five with 65, 60, 56, 50, and 49 investigations respectively.

In terms of insurance asset management companies, they have collectively conducted 1,001 investigations of A-share listed companies this year. Among them, Taikang Asset Management Co., Ltd., Huatai Asset Management Co., Ltd., Xinhua Asset Management Co., Ltd., China PICC Asset Management Co., Ltd., and China Life Asset Management Co., Ltd. ranked highly with 128, 108, 85, 73, and 66 investigations respectively.

In comparison, insurance institutions have collectively conducted 1,897 investigations of A-share listed companies so far this year, showing a decrease compared to the same period last year. In recent years, the frequency of insurance fund investigations has continued to decline, with 30,300 times, 22,300 times, and 18,400 times in 2023, 2024, and 2025 respectively.

In response, Long Ge, deputy director of the Innovation and Risk Management Research Center at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Securities Daily reporter that the continuous decline in the number of investigations by insurance funds in recent years does not indicate a weakening of investment willingness, but rather a shift in investment strategy towards precision and efficiency. As the market reaches a consensus on the long-term trends of key sectors such as hard technology, insurance institutions have reduced the frequency of broad-based investigations. Additionally, in the context of a low interest rate environment and regulatory advocacy for long-term assessments, insurance funds are focusing more on in-depth research of high-dividend assets and are inclined to shift from short-term trading to long-term allocation, which has also made their investigation behavior more intensive.

Expected Focus

On New Production Capabilities and Other Fields

From the areas of investigation by insurance institutions, they mainly focus on industries such as industrial machinery, electronic components, electronic devices and instruments, auto parts and equipment, integrated circuits, and Western medicine. At the same time, this year, the attention of insurance funds to stocks related to the Sci-Tech Innovation Board and the ChiNext has increased.

According to Wind Information, this year, insurance companies have collectively investigated 434 stocks from the Sci-Tech Innovation Board and ChiNext, accounting for 54.18% of the total number of investigated stocks; insurance asset management companies have collectively investigated 472 stocks from these boards, accounting for 51.87% of the total number of investigated stocks. Both investigation ratios are over half and have increased compared to the same period last year.

Regarding the investigation style and preferences of insurance funds, Long Ge stated that the investigation preferences of insurance funds exhibit a clear “dumbbell-type” strategy. One end focuses on high-dividend, stable cash flow dividend assets to match liabilities and obtain predictable returns; the other end represents key areas of national industrial upgrading, such as hard technology and high-end manufacturing. This characteristic stems from their large fund size, long duration, and pursuit of absolute stability, requiring a balance between current returns and long-term growth.

In recent years, insurance funds have gradually increased their allocation to the equity market. Data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration shows that by the end of last year, the total balance of insurance fund investments in stocks and securities investment funds held by life insurance companies and property insurance companies was approximately 5.7 trillion yuan, an increase of about 1.6 trillion yuan compared to the end of 2024, representing a growth rate of 38.9%.

Regarding the future direction of equity asset allocation for insurance funds, Tian Lihui, a finance professor at Nankai University, stated in an interview with the Securities Daily reporter that it is expected that by 2026, the investigations by insurance funds will stabilize and improve in quality, focusing more on the “three new” main lines: first, focusing on fields related to new production capabilities, increasing research efforts in cutting-edge sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and commercial space; second, the “going global strategy” becoming standard, with a focus on corporate overseas capacity expansion and geopolitical risk hedging capabilities; third, the incorporation of ESG concepts into the regular investigation evaluation system alongside the silver economy. Meanwhile, the implementation of long-term assessment mechanisms will encourage insurance funds to be bolder in investments and long-term holdings, upgrading investigations from “information collection” to “industry empowerment,” truly becoming a stabilizer and innovation booster in the capital market. Investigations are expected to focus on identifying technological commercialization inflection points, supply chain positions, and corporate global competitiveness, truly realizing the value discovery function of “patient capital.”

(Editor: Wen Jing)

Keywords:

                                                            Insurance funds