Insurance funds have conducted nearly 1,900 research visits this year, with increased focus on stocks listed on the STAR Market and the ChiNext Board.

Reporter Yang Xiaohan

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

Experts interviewed stated that looking ahead, it is expected that by 2026, insurance funds will focus on high-quality research, with investigation directions shifting more towards new productive forces, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance), and the silver economy, evolving from “information gathering” to “industry empowerment.”

Research Frequency

Compared to the same period last year, it has decreased

Since the beginning of this year, insurance companies have conducted a total of 896 investigations on A-share listed companies. Among them, Changjiang Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., Taiping Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., China Life Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., PICC Pension 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 asset management companies, a total of 1,001 investigations on A-share listed companies have been conducted by insurance asset management firms this year. TAIKANG Asset Management Co., Ltd., Huatai Asset Management Co., Ltd., New China Asset Management Co., Ltd., PICC Asset Management Co., Ltd., and China Life Asset Management Co., Ltd. ranked the top five with 128, 108, 85, 73, and 66 investigations respectively.

In comparison, the total number of investigations by insurance funds on A-share listed companies this year is 1,897, which is a decrease compared to the same period last year. In recent years, the frequency of insurance fund investigations has been steadily declining, with 30,300 times in 2023, 22,300 times in 2024, and 18,400 times in 2025.

Regarding this, Long Ge, Deputy Director of the Innovation and Risk Management Research Center at the University of International Business and Economics, told Securities Daily that the continuous decline in investigation frequency in recent years does not indicate a weakening of investment willingness, but rather a shift towards more precise and efficient investment strategies. As the market reaches a consensus on long-term trends in key sectors such as hard technology, insurance institutions have reduced broad-spectrum investigation efforts. Meanwhile, in the context of low interest rates and regulatory encouragement of long-cycle assessments, insurance funds are increasingly focusing on in-depth research of high-dividend assets and tend to shift from short-term trading to long-term allocation, making investigation behaviors more concentrated.

Expected Focus

On fields such as new productive forces

From the perspective of the fields covered by insurance fund investigations, they mainly focus on industries such as industrial machinery, electronic components, electronic equipment and instruments, auto parts and equipment, integrated circuits, and Western medicine. Additionally, since the beginning of this year, insurance funds have shown increased interest in stocks related to the STAR Market and ChiNext.

Wind Information data shows that since the beginning of this year, insurance companies have conducted 434 investigations into STAR Market and ChiNext stocks, accounting for 54.18% of the total investigated stocks; insurance asset management firms have investigated 472 such stocks, accounting for 51.87%. Both proportions are over half and have increased compared to the same period last year.

Regarding the investment style and preferences of insurance funds, Long Ge said that their research areas tend to show a distinct “dumbbell” strategy. One end focuses on high-dividend, stable cash flow assets to match liabilities and secure definite returns; the other end targets sectors representing the country’s industrial upgrade, such as hard technology and high-end manufacturing. This characteristic stems from their large capital scale, long-term horizon, and pursuit of absolute stability, requiring a balance between current yields and long-term growth.

In recent years, insurance funds have gradually increased their allocation to equity markets. According to data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration, by the end of last year, the combined balance of insurance funds invested in stocks and securities investment funds by life and property insurance companies was about 5.7 trillion yuan, an increase of approximately 1.6 trillion yuan from the end of 2024, a growth of 38.9%.

Regarding the future direction of equity asset allocation by insurance funds, Tian Lihui, Professor of Finance at Nankai University, told Securities Daily that it is expected that by 2026, insurance fund research will become more stable and high-quality, with a focus on the “Three New” main lines: first, emphasizing fields related to new productive forces, increasing research on cutting-edge sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and commercial space; second, “going global” strategies will become standard, with a focus on overseas capacity expansion and geopolitical risk hedging; third, integrating ESG concepts with the silver economy, fully incorporating them into routine research and evaluation systems. Meanwhile, the implementation of long-term assessment mechanisms will promote insurance funds to be more willing to invest and hold long-term, with research evolving from “information collection” to “industry empowerment,” truly serving as a stabilizer and innovation booster in the capital market. Research is expected to focus on identifying technological commercialization inflection points, supply chain positioning, and companies’ global competitiveness, thereby truly realizing the value discovery function of “patient capital.”