Who are the top picks for insurance capital’s equity allocations—heavily positioned in bank stocks and adding more exposure to the new-quality productive forces sector?

Source: Beijing Business Today

As typical “patient capital,” insurers’ investment moves have long drawn significant market attention. A-share listed companies have been successively disclosing their 2025 annual reports, and the latest heavily held positions by insurers have also been released. Data from Wind shows that as of April 2, among the listed companies that have already disclosed their 2025 annual reports, there were 254 A-share listed companies in which insurers held heavy positions; of these, banks were the industry with the largest number of insurer-held shares, and in addition, industries such as transportation and communications have also attracted attention.

Industry insiders say that in an environment marked by scarce assets, high-dividend stocks represented by bank shares offer both stable payouts and the potential for valuation recovery, which is why they are held heavily by insurers. Recently, executives of multiple listed insurance companies have publicly said they will continue to steadily allocate to high-dividend, low-volatility dividend-and-bonus assets.

Seen again: investment in peers

As a typical representative of high-dividend, high-distribution bank stocks, they have long been a key allocation target for insurers. Based on listed companies that have already disclosed their 2025 annual reports, as of the fourth quarter of 2025, among the individual stocks heavily held by insurers, bank stocks ranked near the top.

Specifically, according to Wind data, as of April 2, after excluding Ping An Insurance Group’s holdings in Ping An Bank and China Life Group’s holdings in China Life, among the top 10 insurer-held stocks by market value, 7 are bank stocks. They are China Merchants Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Industrial Bank, Huaxia Bank, China Minsheng Bank, and Postal Savings Bank of China; the other 3 are China Unicom, Ping An, and China Telecom.

Why have bank stocks become insurers’ “favorite”? Economist and new finance expert Yu Fenghui said that insurers favor bank stocks and communications stocks mainly because of the stability and high-dividend characteristics of these two types of stocks. As a core part of the financial system, banks play a crucial role in the economy; their profit models are mature and they have strong resilience against risks, providing investors with stable dividend income. Meanwhile, under the backdrop of accelerating digital transformation, the communications industry has long-term growth potential.

It is worth noting that since last year, insurers’ investment in peers has also become increasingly common. Previously, China Ping An had twice bid up China Life’s H shares; and in China Ping An’s 2025 annual report, “China Life Insurance Company Limited—Traditional—Ordinary Insurance Products—005L-CT001 Shanghai” entered China Ping An’s top ten shareholders list, ranking tenth, holding an A-share portion of China Ping An of 1.14%. Industry insiders said bluntly that insurance stocks are typical high-yield stocks, which also shows that the long-term development prospects and investment value of leading insurance companies are recognized by peers.

Focus on new quality productive forces

In 2025, benefiting from strong performance on the investment side, many insurers achieved solid results. In 2026 and even throughout the entire “15th Five-Year” period, what areas will insurance funds focus on investing?

Judging from statements by different institutions, laying out new quality productive forces-related areas in advance will be a consensus among leading insurers. “Equity investment is the decisive factor for stabilizing and improving investment performance. We will adhere to making progress while ensuring stability, continue to focus on allocations to high-dividend stocks, and at the same time focus on the growth opportunities embedded in the ‘15th Five-Year’ Plan Outline, strengthening research on key industries and key sectors.” Cai Zhixwei, deputy general manager of China Life Insurance (PICC), said regarding the coming equity investment direction.

“For long-cycle patient capital, the most important thing is to remain consistent with the direction of the country’s economic development.” Guo Xiaotao, co-CEO of China Ping An, said at the company’s earnings conference. The company’s investment approach is to look for certainty amid uncertainty. New quality productive forces are a certainty factor; vigorous development of infrastructure is a certainty factor; the overall development of the national economy is a certainty factor; high-dividend and a strong financial country are certainty factors; Healthy China is a certainty factor. These are all important directions for asset allocation in long-term investment.

Liu Hui, deputy general manager and chief investment officer of China Life, summarized three consideration directions for the company’s investments: first, seize the opportunity and firmly go long on Chinese assets to capture the era’s alpha from new quality productive forces. Second, act in line with the trend, uphold long-termism, and focus on long-range strategic planning. The investment is centered around a clear strategic asset allocation core, and does not deviate from the liability nature. Third, take advantage of the momentum, carry out tactical adjustments and strategy optimization in a flexible and agile manner.

Behind the strategy, which specific sectors are expected to see insurers increase their holdings? Yu Fenghui predicts that high-quality enterprises in areas such as infrastructure construction, utilities (such as power and water), consumer goods (especially necessities), and medical and healthcare are expected to receive additional insurer allocation. Companies in these areas typically have stable cash flows and sustained profitability, can provide relatively generous cash dividends, and align with insurers’ investment philosophy of pursuing steady returns. At the same time, supported by national policy guidance, leading companies in these industries will have even greater certainty in future development and will be more in line with insurers’ investment strategy as “patient capital.”

Beijing Business Today reporter Li Xiumei

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