Taikang Life Hong Kong stocks gold mining, earned 2 billion just from flipping IPOs

Listing | Damo Finance

Entering 2026, the Hong Kong stock market has experienced an epic rebound, with new stock offerings continuing to heat up and fundraising scales significantly increasing.

According to publicly available data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in the first two months of 2026, a total of 24 companies successfully listed in Hong Kong, a notable increase compared to the same period last year, with a year-over-year growth of 140%. The total amount raised through Hong Kong IPOs reached HKD 89.2 billion, a substantial year-over-year increase, and the overall market capitalization of Hong Kong stocks has steadily expanded.

The hot strategic placement of Hong Kong IPOs has not only attracted international investors but also garnered strong interest from insurance funds in high-quality IPO projects, with some projects even experiencing a rush to subscribe. Insurance funds such as Taikang Life, Ping An Life, New China Assets (Hong Kong), and DaJia Life have all repeatedly participated in Hong Kong IPOs.

Among these insurance funds involved in Hong Kong IPO placements, Taikang Life has received the most allocations, making it a top player in the industry. According to statistics, since the beginning of 2026, Taikang Life’s gains from participating in Hong Kong IPOs have approached HKD 2 billion in unrealized profits.

Taikang Life’s Explosive Rise in Hong Kong Stocks

Recently, the stock of MINIMAX (0100.HK), a star in the Hong Kong AI sector, has once again sparked market excitement, with its share price soaring to HKD 1,320 per share, setting a new high since listing. As of the close on March 12, MINIMAX’s stock price was HKD 1,084 per share, with a latest market value of approximately HKD 340 billion.

Public information shows that MINIMAX officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 9, 2026, with an issue price of only HKD 165 per share. Based on the latest closing price, the stock has surged by 557% since listing, doubling in just two months, with capital enthusiasm continuing to rise. This has also allowed cornerstone investors involved to earn substantial profits.

In this capital feast, cornerstone investors have reaped huge unrealized gains through early positioning. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) took the largest share, subscribing to 3.065 million shares, and with the stock price soaring, this investment’s unrealized profit has exceeded HKD 3.2 billion. Well-known institutions such as Alibaba Software, Boyu Capital, Harvest Hong Kong, HanYa Investment (a Pru Group subsidiary), E Fund, and IDG Capital have also entered the market, sharing in the investment dividends.

Insurance funds have also benefited from this surge. Taikang Life is a typical example. During the MINIMAX placement, Taikang Life spent HKD 156 million to subscribe for 946,100 shares. As of March 12, this investment has realized a profit of HKD 869 million in just two months, with very attractive returns.

Since the beginning of this year, insurance funds’ enthusiasm for participating in Hong Kong IPOs has exploded, with Taikang Life being the most representative.

Since the start of 2026, Taikang Life has increased its participation in Hong Kong IPO subscriptions, acting as a cornerstone investor in eight new stocks including Bairen Technology, Zhipu, Ruibo Biotech, MINIMAX-WP (Xiyu Technology), GigaDevice, Mingming Busy, Dongpeng Beverage, and Lankai Technology, with a total allocated amount of HKD 1.012 billion.

In terms of industry sectors, healthcare, consumer goods, artificial intelligence, and intelligent manufacturing are all within its scope of interest. Its high frequency of participation and large subscription scale are rare among insurance funds.

Looking at the Hong Kong IPO projects that insurance funds have participated in this year, three main categories are favored by long-term capital: first, AI-focused new technology companies; second, healthcare companies; third, large consumer companies. Taikang Life has also achieved impressive investment returns through precise positioning in the AI sector.

Among the Hong Kong stocks in which Taikang Life participated as a cornerstone investor in 2026, the most eye-catching are the popular stocks Zhipu and MINIMAX. As of March 12, both have increased by 378% and 557% respectively compared to their issue prices, and Taikang Life’s holdings have generated profits of over HKD 1.7 billion.

However, the Hong Kong new stock market is not entirely rosy. Taikang Life’s investments have shown mixed results, with the largest subscription, Dongpeng Beverage, performing below expectations. Data shows that Taikang Life spent HKD 234 million on Dongpeng Beverage, and as of March 12, this holding has a paper loss of about HKD 25 million, illustrating the uncertainty of investing in Hong Kong new stocks.

It is worth noting that the current gains from insurance funds’ participation in Hong Kong IPO placements are still on paper. Due to market fluctuations and individual stock performance, the actual realized profits remain highly uncertain.

Reviewing the Hong Kong market in 2025, overall new stock performance was better than in 2022-2024, but nearly 33% of IPOs still experienced a first-day decline. Additionally, as cornerstone investors, insurance funds generally face a six-month lock-up period, and some projects are held as long-term assets, so short-term gains are not necessarily final profits.

Currently, long-term capital faces asset-liability matching challenges in a low-interest-rate environment. Under the downward pressure on long-term yields, traditional fixed income and non-standard asset allocations continue to shrink, leading to a significant “long-term asset shortage,” which still motivates increased allocation to equities.

Significant Increase in Net Profit Last Year

In 2025, Taikang Life demonstrated absolute dominance in the life insurance sector.

With the disclosure of the solvency report for the fourth quarter of 2025, this unlisted life insurance giant delivered an impressive performance that rivals envy among peers. Last year, Taikang Life achieved insurance business revenue of HKD 238.664 billion and a net profit of HKD 27.159 billion.

Taikang Life not only remains the top non-listed insurance company but also accounted for over 40% of the total profits of 57 non-listed life insurers. Its net profit growth of 84.52% year-over-year is particularly striking in a low-interest-rate environment.

The significant increase in net profit is largely attributable to its stable investment performance. Although the comprehensive investment yield in 2025 fluctuated slightly, the three-year average was as high as 6.09%, which is rare in a low-interest-rate environment. Coupled with improvements in fee spreads from the “reporting and operation integration” and a phased recovery in capital markets, Taikang maintained strong profitability despite industry-wide net asset shrinkage.

However, behind Taikang Life’s impressive results, there are still concerns. In 2025, its net assets declined by 16.18%.

This is not an isolated issue for Taikang but a common challenge faced by the entire industry under new accounting standards. Falling interest rates have increased liabilities reserves, and asset-liability duration mismatches have eroded many insurers’ book value of net assets. Fitch Ratings pointed out that this “shrinkage” reflects insurers’ high sensitivity to declining interest rates.

A more serious hidden risk for Taikang Life lies on the consumer side, where complaints about “unauthorized charges” and “sales misguidance” continue to accumulate on platforms like Black Cat Complaint.

User feedback on Black Cat shows that while Taikang Life’s senior management advocates for honest business practices, the persistent misguidance by grassroots sales staff has not been eradicated. Branches in Qinghai, Jiangsu, and other regions have repeatedly been penalized. Moreover, the “zero-cost first month” marketing tactics on online channels have earned Taikang a reputation for “harvesting traffic.”

This disconnect between strategy and execution reveals internal management issues. As the HWP team expanded to tens of thousands within a few years, shortcomings in training and compliance management became evident. The solvency report shows that the main product, “Winner Life Whole Life Insurance,” has a surrender rate of 41.96%. Behind the phenomenon of early surrender after purchase, there are likely sales misguidance issues.