The new year of 2026 has just begun, and insurance capital has already made its move.
Shanghai International Airport Co.,Ltd. recently disclosed in an announcement that CPIC Asset Management increased its stake in the company to 5% through a block trade on the 9th, triggering a mandatory disclosure threshold. The investment funds were sourced from the entrusted insurance capital of CPIC Life, marking the first instance of an insurer crossing the 5% threshold this year.
It has been noted that in recent years, insurance capital's acquisition of significant stakes has shown a significant warming trend. In 2025, the number of such acquisitions by insurers reached 41, more than doubling from 20 times in 2024 and hitting the second-highest level historically, only behind the record 62 times in 2015.
Industry insiders point out that in the current low-interest-rate environment, there is still room for insurance capital to allocate to the equity market. The sectors targeted for significant stakes are likely to continue the 2025 trend, focusing on high-dividend, high-yield sectors like banking and utilities.
The first major insurance capital move of the year has landed on a leading transportation company. Shanghai Airport's announcement stated that the company received notification that the disclosing party, Pacific Asset Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CPIC Asset Management"), completed an equity change through a block trade on January 9, 2026, increasing its holdings by 72.424 million A-shares. The total number of shares held rose from 51.9917 million to 124 million shares, and the shareholding ratio increased from 2.09% to 5%. According to the Simplified Equity Change Report, the shareholders holding Shanghai Airport shares involved in this acquisition include CPIC Asset Management and China Pacific Life Insurance Co., Ltd., both subsidiaries controlled by China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd. CPIC Asset Management manages the insurance funds of CPIC Life on a mandate basis.
The source of funds for this share increase was the insurance capital managed under mandate by CPIC Asset Management, specifically including CPIC Life's individual participating products, universal life insurance products, and traditional ordinary insurance products, among others.
This is the first significant stake acquisition by insurance capital since the start of the year. Market analysis suggests that the core logic behind choosing Shanghai Airport lies in its alignment with the long-term allocation needs of insurance capital. On one hand, Shanghai Airport possesses regional monopoly advantages and an expanding traffic barrier, boasting strong operational stability and ample cash flow, which aligns with insurance capital's preference for "fixed-income-like" assets. On the other hand, with the回流 of international consumption, the value of the company's non-aeronautical business is becoming increasingly prominent, indicating high certainty for long-term growth.
Yang Fan, General Manager of Beijing Paipaiwang Insurance Agency Co., Ltd., explained that as a leading transportation company, Shanghai Airport offers stable operations, ample cash flow, and sustainable dividends, meeting insurance capital's need for "long-term stability." In a low-interest-rate environment, its high-dividend attributes can hedge against declining returns from fixed-income assets, matching the requirements of insurance liabilities. Furthermore, the target aligns with national strategic direction, enabling investment and business synergy, and being classified under FVOCI can smooth profit volatility, complying with the new accounting standards.
Chen Haina, an analyst at Huachuang Securities, holds a similar view. She believes that against the backdrop of normalized low interest rates, insurers acquiring significant stakes in dividend-paying assets is a trend driven by the synergy between asset and liability sides. Returns on traditional fixed-income assets are declining, while high-dividend, stable cash flow quality assets can effectively enhance overall returns, fitting the need for funds that provide fixed returns on the liability side. As a leading transportation hub, Shanghai Airport possesses strong barriers and stable cash flow, matching the stock selection criteria of insurance capital's high-dividend strategy. Regulators continue to guide medium- to long-term funds into the market, improving systems for "long-term money, long-term investment" like insurance capital, and clarifying its role as "patient capital." Looking ahead over a 3-5 year horizon, the central tendency for long-term interest rates may still have room to decline, and the pressure for asset reallocation has not fully dissipated. Insurance capital actively allocating to dividend-paying assets not only provides an "anchor" and "stabilizer" for the capital market but is also a superior choice for alleviating concerns about their own "negative spread."
The wave of significant stake acquisitions by insurance capital is likely to continue. In fact, influenced by factors such as the relaxation of equity investment rules and the switch in accounting standards, a new wave of significant stake acquisitions by insurance capital has emerged over the past two years. According to incomplete statistics, insurance capital made approximately 41 such acquisitions in 2025, more than doubling the 20 times recorded in 2024. This figure is second only to the historical peak of 62 times in 2015, marking a new high for the past decade.
Regarding the motivations behind last year's activity, the mainstream market view attributes it primarily to the driving force of insurance capital's OCI investment strategy.
The so-called OCI strategy refers to insurers classifying invested assets under the Fair Value Through Other Comprehensive Income (FVOCI) category. The main purpose is to obtain stable dividend income rather than focusing on short-term price differential gains, which also implies that insurance capital tends to hold assets for longer periods.
Yang Fan believes that insurers adhere to the OCI strategy mainly for three reasons: First, under the new accounting standards, classifying equity assets into the OCI account can reduce volatility in the income statement. Second, in a declining interest rate environment, the stable dividends from high-dividend assets can compensate for the insufficiency of coupon payments. Third, under the guidance of performance evaluation systems, long-cycle assessment mechanisms require insurance capital to practice "long-term money, long-term investment."
A Huachuang Securities research report indicated that, in terms of market distribution, insurance capital still clearly favored H-shares, with 26 acquisitions targeting H-shares in 2025, likely mainly due to their dividend yield advantage. In terms of sector distribution, activity was concentrated in banking and utilities. Additionally, it included sectors like environmental protection, non-bank financials, transportation, and machinery, reflecting a preference for dividend-paying attributes. Regarding the acquiring entities, differing from the previous two years dominated by small and medium-sized insurers, the most active acquirer in 2025 was the Ping An group, followed by Great Wall Life Insurance, China Post Life Insurance, and Ruizhong Life Insurance.
In the low-interest-rate environment, insurance capital has strong motivation to allocate to the equity market. High-dividend, high-yield stocks remain a key focus for institutions like insurance capital this year. According to Tonghuashun data, since the fourth quarter of last year, insurance capital has conducted research on 997 A-share listed companies. Luxshare Precision received the most attention from insurers, being researched twice by 38 different insurance companies.
Yang Fan stated that the situation of "asset shortage" continues this year, especially against the backdrop of ample liquidity. Increasing investment in the equity market has become imperative for insurance capital. Overall, the strategy is expected to延续 last year's style, focusing primarily on high-dividend, high-yield, low-valuation stocks in sectors like banking, energy, and utilities.
The power sector has recently gained favor among institutions. For instance, Chendan Electric International has been "surrounded" by multiple institutions, having been researched three times by five different institutions since the fourth quarter. The primary reason is that Chendan Electric International, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Chendan Technology, has deeply integrated low-altitude economy technology into its core operations, pioneering innovations in operation and maintenance models. In the power grid inspection field, its deployed drone inspection system has improved efficiency by over five times compared to traditional manual methods, with a defect identification accuracy rate exceeding 93%. It can accurately identify typical issues like damaged insulators and broken strands in conductors, not only significantly reducing safety risks during inspections in complex areas like high mountains and dense forests but also lowering its own grid operation and maintenance costs by approximately 20%.
Furthermore, Chendan Electric International has extended its business boundaries into the PV operation and maintenance sector, initiating drone cleaning services for photovoltaic panels and value-added services. Considering the industry prospect that the PV panel cleaning market is expected to reach a scale of tens of billions by 2030, coupled with the vast base of 10 billion square meters of PV panels nationwide, the company's move precisely targets a blue ocean market. Compared to the cost of manual cleaning at 0.2-0.3 RMB per square meter, drone cleaning offers greater cost advantages in large-scale operations and can adapt to extreme environments like deserts and plateaus. Industry estimates suggest that the market size for a single nationwide PV panel cleaning could reach 2.8-3.9 billion RMB. By providing standardized cleaning services to peers, Chendan Electric International has the potential to quickly capture market share, transitioning from "self-operation and maintenance" to "industry services," thereby opening up new profit avenues.
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