The warming capital market has further fueled insurance funds' enthusiasm for researching listed companies. According to Choice data statistics, within the year ending October 8th, insurance companies and insurance asset management companies conducted at least over 12,000 research visits to listed companies in total.
Among insurance companies and insurance asset management companies with the highest number of research visits, nearly all achieved growth in their research activities compared to the previous year, with some institutions seeing increases of 30-40%. From the perspective of insurance funds' research targets, technology growth stocks are the key focus, with listed companies in high-end machinery equipment, electronics, biomedicine and other industries receiving concentrated research attention from insurance funds.
**Insurance Funds Conduct Over 12,000 Research Visits in One Year**
Data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration shows that as of the end of Q2 2025, insurance fund utilization balance has exceeded 36 trillion yuan, with direct stock investment reaching 3.07 trillion yuan, a net increase of nearly 1 trillion yuan compared to the same period last year. This massive funding scale has made their research activities a focus of market attention.
Choice data shows that within the year ending October 8th, insurance companies conducted 8,061 research visits to listed companies, while multiple insurance asset management companies each conducted over 600 research visits, totaling at least over 12,000 visits.
From the perspective of research frequency, among insurance asset management companies that handle large amounts of insurance funds from their parent insurance groups and other third-party entrusted funds, Taikang Asset Management conducted the most research visits in the past year with 1,105 visits. PICC Asset Management, Ping An Asset Management, New China Asset Management, and China Life Asset Management also each conducted over 600 research visits in the past year.
Among insurance companies, several pension insurance companies such as Ping An Pension and Changjiang Pension, which serve as investment managers for enterprise annuities and occupational annuities, led in research visits to listed companies, each exceeding 400 visits within the year. Sinatay Life, ABC Life, and Qianhai Life also each conducted over 200 research visits.
An insurance asset management professional stated that insurance funds researching listed companies is a "standard operation," and investment research capability building has become one of the main focus areas for insurance asset management companies. Due to the rigid characteristics of insurance funds' liability side, they have high requirements for fundamental research of listed companies. Whether for pre-investment judgment or continuous tracking after holding positions, insurance funds need clear and in-depth understanding and judgment of the industries, corporate strategies, and future growth potential of listed companies. Visiting listed companies for research is one of the most direct research methods.
**Rising Research Enthusiasm**
From the aforementioned Choice data, several major insurance asset management companies showed double-digit growth in their research visits to listed companies compared to the previous year, with New China Asset Management increasing by nearly 50% and Taikang Asset Management also increasing by over 40%. Among insurance companies, those with the highest research frequency almost all showed year-over-year growth, with Kunlun Health and Taiping Pension increasing their research visits by 40% and 30% respectively in the past year.
Industry insiders believe that behind the rising research enthusiasm of insurance funds is the dual driving force of their long-term allocation logic and market environment. From a market environment perspective, China Life AMP Fund predicted at the end of September that in the equity market, multiple positive factors including policy easing are resonating, driving continuous improvement in investor risk appetite. The market may experience short-term volatility, but this doesn't change the medium- to long-term narrative logic.
From a long-term allocation logic perspective, industry insiders generally believe that in a low interest rate environment, while consolidating the "ballast" role of long-duration fixed income assets, the "critical minority" role of equity assets should be further leveraged.
In fact, insurance fund allocation data at the end of Q2 already shows a clear trend of position increases by insurance funds. Looking ahead for the full year, the industry generally expects this trend to continue.
"Insurance companies have inherent demand for position increases, namely declining fixed income allocation yields under 'low interest rates + asset shortage,' and future increases in dividend insurance proportions," believe analysts at Sinolink Securities including Shu Siqin. Combined with regulatory encouragement for medium- to long-term funds like insurance funds to increase market participation, insurance funds' stock position increases will continue. It's expected that the full-year secondary equity allocation ratio will increase by about 2 percentage points, corresponding to incremental funds of around 1 trillion yuan.
**Concentrated Research on These Listed Companies**
In the over 12,000 insurance fund research visits in the past year, which industries and individual stocks are the key focus of insurance funds? According to Choice data, comprehensively observing the specific research activities of insurance companies and insurance asset management companies, Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co.,Ltd. (300124.SZ) received the most attention from insurance funds in the past year, receiving 49 research visits from insurance companies, ranking first. It also received 182 research visits from asset management industry companies (including insurance asset management companies).
According to available information, Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co.,Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise engaged in the research, development, production and sales of industrial automation control products, positioned to serve mid-to-high-end equipment manufacturers. Since the beginning of this year, Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co.,Ltd.'s stock price has accumulated gains of approximately 44%.
Additionally, Luxshare Precision Industry Co.,Ltd. (002475.SZ), which provides integrated smart manufacturing solutions for consumer electronics and other products, Supcon Technology Co.,Ltd. (688777.SH), which drives industrial intelligentization transformation, and medical device industry giant Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co.,Ltd. (300760.SZ) all received over 30 research visits from insurance companies within the year.
From the main businesses of the above intensively researched listed companies, growth stocks with technology innovation characteristics are key focus targets of insurance funds. In fact, growth stocks in new productive forces directions that align with national strategies have been a common choice for insurance funds in equity investment in recent years. Together with stable high-dividend stocks, they form the barbell structure of insurance funds' equity investments.
At the Q2 2025 insurance fund utilization situation analysis meeting held by the Insurance Asset Management Association of China at the end of July, Yan Zhiyong, Assistant General Manager and Chief Investment Officer of Equity at Taikang Asset Management, expressed cautious optimism about the equity market outlook and favored structural opportunities. Structurally, he recommended focusing on AI computing power, internet and domestic substitution opportunities in the technology growth field, targeting innovation drug and medical device recovery-related stocks in the pharmaceutical industry, continuing to allocate dividend assets that remain attractive in a low interest rate environment, and actively seizing overseas expansion opportunities brought by global industrial chain restructuring.
The "Asset Management 100-Person Questionnaire" Survey Report (Issue 8) released by the Insurance Asset Management Association of China at the end of August also shows that regarding judgment on which domestic assets will perform best in terms of investment returns in the second half of the year, the top three choices by surveyed asset management professionals were gold, A-shares, and interest rate bonds, accounting for 72%, 69%, and 31% respectively. In judging the most promising themes in the equity market for the second half of the year, the six most selected themes were: artificial intelligence industry, dividend assets, autonomous control, domestic consumption, high-end equipment manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.
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