Since the beginning of 2025, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd. (CPIC) has initiated a wave of personnel adjustments. First, in June of last year, Wang Lei and Wang Mingchao successively received regulatory approval for their appointments as Assistant General Managers; in October of the same year, Chief Actuary Zhang Yuanhan resigned and departed; subsequently, in November, Fu Fan officially assumed the role of President, forming a new leadership structure alongside Chairman Kong.
However, while the strategic framework gradually took shape, the investment performance has been less than satisfactory. In the first three quarters of 2025, CPIC's investment yield ranked last among the five major A-share listed insurers, sparking widespread discussion.
Now, at the turn of the year, the group announced the appointment of a new Chief Investment Officer, Zhang Long. This sudden change in leadership raises questions: is it a routine personnel rotation, or a reflection on past investment strategies? The Chief Investment Officer has been replaced.
On January 1st, China Pacific Insurance announced that, following deliberation and approval by the Board of Directors, it has agreed to appoint Liu Long as the company's Chief Investment Officer (Assistant General Manager).
The announcement also mentioned that Liu Long's appointment is subject to approval by the regulatory authorities. Until his qualification is approved, Su Gang will continue to perform the duties of Chief Investment Officer.
Public resume information shows that Liu Long was born in March 1977, holds a postgraduate degree and a Master's degree, and possesses a fund practice qualification. He currently serves as Chairman of CPIC Capital, and has previously held positions including Senior Manager of the Investor Relations Department, Senior Manager of the Administration & Human Resources Department, Deputy General Manager of the Alternative Investment Management Department at the Asset Management Center of CPIC Life Insurance, General Manager of the Direct Investment Department, member of the CPIC Capital preparation team, and Deputy General Manager and General Manager of CPIC Capital.
It is noteworthy that this is the second time Liu Long has taken over a key position from Su Gang. Previously, he had already succeeded him as Chairman of CPIC Capital. Now, he is set to take charge of the investment direction for the group's nearly 3 trillion yuan in insurance funds.
Su Gang was appointed as CPIC's Chief Investment Officer in 2021. Information shows that Su Gang was born in September 1973, graduated from Shanghai University, and holds a postgraduate degree and a Doctorate. He previously served as Head of the Investor Relations Department, Project Investment Director of CPIC Asset Management, Deputy General Manager and General Manager of the Alternative Investment Management Center, Deputy General Manager of CPIC Life Insurance, and General Manager and Chairman of Changjiang Pension. Before joining the company, he served as General Manager of the Fixed Income Headquarters and Deputy General Manager of the Investment Banking Headquarters at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities.
Liu Long's ascension now marks a reshaping of the power structure within CPIC's investment division and is viewed by the market as a substantive response to the weak investment performance in recent years. Secondary Market Enthusiasm
Recently, the capital market has been sending continuous positive signals for China Pacific Insurance (stock code: 601601). By the close on January 5, 2026, the company's stock price surged 7.52% to close at 45.06 yuan per share; on January 6, it continued to rise, closing at 47.35 yuan per share, up another 5.08%, with the latest total market capitalization reaching 455.5 billion yuan, a record high.
In terms of fund flows, on January 5th, net inflows from main funds were 183 million yuan, and net inflows from retail investor funds were 78.6673 million yuan, indicating institutional investors' optimism about the company's prospects. Looking at a longer period, CPIC's stock accumulated a 26.6% gain for the full year of 2025, significantly outperforming the market average.
In the list of broker-recommended stocks for January 2026, China Pacific Insurance successfully entered the ranks of popular picks, receiving joint recommendations from four brokerages including Zhongtai Securities and Ping An Securities, becoming a key focus within the insurance sector.
The brokers' recommendation logic clearly points to two core advantages. First, the impressive growth rate of new policies during the 2026 "good start" period lays a foundation for full-year performance growth. Second, the stock offers both high dividend attributes and equity price elasticity, possessing high allocation value against the backdrop of a recovering capital market.
The market's positive feedback is not accidental. Looking back to December 2025, CPIC's A-share price had already shown a strong upward trend. On December 29th, it hit an intraday historical high of 43 yuan per share, simultaneously driving strength across the sector, with New China Life Insurance and PICC Group also reaching阶段性 highs.
The strong stock performance stems partly from an overall improvement in the insurance industry's景气度. In December last year, supportive policies were集中 released. The National Financial Regulatory Administration lowered risk factors for insurers' investments in certain stocks, reducing capital occupancy, which is expected to guide hundreds of billions of insurance funds into the market. Furthermore, relevant authorities jointly issued documents encouraging the development of commercial pension and health insurance products, opening up new growth space for the industry.
On the other hand, it is also closely related to investors' expectations for operational improvements at CPIC.
These broker recommendations coincide with the critical juncture of the Chief Investment Officer change at CPIC. The market generally interprets the personnel adjustment as a positive signal. Under the industry logic that "the investment side determines performance elasticity," the appointment of Liu Long, who is familiar with internal operations, is expected to further optimize the asset allocation structure and enhance investment returns, undoubtedly adding significant weight to the brokers' recommendations. Investment Yield "Falling Behind"
The 2025 third-quarter report indicates that CPIC's overall operational fundamentals remain稳健. As of the end of September, the group achieved operating revenue of 344.904 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%; insurance service revenue reached 216.894 billion yuan, up 3.6% year-on-year; net profit was 45.7 billion yuan, an increase of 19.3% year-on-year; total assets stood at 3,077.64 billion yuan, up 8.6% from the start of the year; the group's investment assets totaled 2,974.784 billion yuan, an increase of 8.8% from the end of the previous year.
Looking at yield metrics, the net investment yield for the first three quarters was 2.6%, down 0.3 percentage points year-on-year; the total investment yield recovered to 5.2%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
However, in a横向 comparison among the five major A-share listed insurers, CPIC's total investment yield for the first three quarters of 2025 ranked last, trailing behind New China Life Insurance (8.6%), China Life Insurance (6.42%), PICC Group (5.4%), and Ping An Insurance (5.4%). Although it showed a year-on-year recovery, a significant gap remains compared to the industry leaders.
This result reflects the conservatism of CPIC's investment strategy but also exposes shortcomings in the company's ability to allocate to equity assets and generate returns therefrom. In 2024, CPIC had achieved total investment income of 120.394 billion yuan, a surge of 130.5% year-on-year, largely driven by beta gains from the capital market, which significantly boosted revenue and net profit. However, this growth model reliant on market conditions lacks sustainability, as evidenced by the simultaneous decline in both revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2025.
Now, the new Chief Investment Officer, Liu Long, is about to officially assume his duties.
For him, the core mission ahead extends beyond merely improving investment returns and narrowing the gap with peers. It also involves optimizing the investment function to provide support for the transformation of the liability side.
The market will continue to monitor the direction of investment strategy adjustments under Liu Long's tenure and whether China Pacific Insurance can, while maintaining its稳健 foundation, truly build an investment capability that combines both profitability and sustainability.
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