According to equity information disclosed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Ping An Life Insurance Company of China Ltd. (Ping An Life) purchased 11.891 million H-shares of China Life Insurance Company on January 22 at an average price of HK$32.0553 per share, involving approximately HK$381 million. Following this acquisition, Ping An Life's stake in China Life's H-shares increased from 8.98% to 9.14%, with the total number of shares held rising to approximately 681 million.
This is not the first time Ping An Life has purchased China Life shares; as early as August 2025, it had already crossed the 5% disclosure threshold for China Life's H-shares. Since then, its buying momentum has continued unabated, with its shareholding climbing steadily from 5% to the current level of over 9%.
Insurance stocks are increasingly being viewed as "alternative dividend assets." Ping An Life's recent disclosure is a microcosm of a broader trend of increased acquisitions by insurance capital since 2025. Data shows that the number of such disclosures by insurers exceeded 30 in 2025, far surpassing previous years. Against a backdrop of declining risk-free interest rates and a perceived "asset shortage," state-owned enterprises in sectors like banking and insurance, known for their high dividends and stable operations, have become highly attractive targets for insurance funds. Last year, Ping An-affiliated capital successively triggered disclosure requirements for both China Pacific Insurance's H-shares and China Life's H-shares. On August 11, 2025, according to a Hong Kong Exchange announcement, Ping An Life bought approximately 1.74 million H-shares of China Pacific Insurance at an average price of HK$32.0655 per share, resulting in a total holding of 140 million shares. This represented 5.04% of the H-share float, triggering a disclosure, and accounted for 1.46% of the total share capital. On August 12, 2025, Ping An-affiliated funds purchased 9.5 million H-shares of China Life, increasing their holding to 5.04% of China Life's H-shares and triggering another disclosure requirement. At that time, Kong Xiang, an analyst at Guosen Securities Economic Research Institute, analyzing Ping An's acquisition of China Pacific Insurance H-shares, pointed out that the move was primarily a financial investment. It essentially reflects the inclusion of insurance stocks into the same high-dividend allocation category as bank stocks, coupled with a fundamental boost from improvements in bancassurance channels, creating a resonance with the sector's current strong beta characteristics. In Kong Xiang's view, this action released three important signals. First, insurance stocks still possess room for medium- to long-term valuation recovery. Against the backdrop of continuous improvement in the sector's fundamentals, Ping An's acquisition confirms that current valuations still do not fully reflect long-term value. Second, it signifies a strengthening of the high-dividend strategy for insurance capital. Insurance stocks are being redefined as "alternative dividend assets." Third, it indicates the continuous improvement in the efficiency of asset-liability linkage under new accounting standards.
Ping An Life is building a portfolio of high-dividend financial assets in Hong Kong stocks. Ping An Life has not only shown a particular fondness for its insurance peers but has also embarked on a "buying spree" for the H-shares of major state-owned banks, constructing a portfolio of high-dividend financial assets in the Hong Kong market. Since 2025, Ping An Life has cumulatively bought Agricultural Bank of China H-shares 16 times, increased its stake in China Merchants Bank H-shares 15 times, added to its position in Postal Savings Bank of China H-shares 12 times, and increased its holding in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China H-shares twice. Through its acquisitions of Agricultural Bank, Ping An Life's stake in the bank's H-shares surged from 5% at the start of the year to 20.10%. As of December 30, 2025, Ping An Life held approximately 4.618 billion Agricultural Bank H-shares, representing 20.10% of its issued shares with voting rights. Similarly, on December 31, 2025, Ping An Life's stake in China Merchants Bank H-shares also reached 20%, triggering a disclosure. As of January 6, 2026, Ping An Life had increased its stake in Postal Savings Bank H-shares 12 times. On May 9, 2025, its holding exceeded 10% of the bank's total H-shares, constituting a second disclosure event. On August 8, 2025, its holding surpassed 15% of the total H-shares, marking a third disclosure. Currently, Ping An Life holds 3.18 billion Postal Savings Bank H-shares, accounting for 16.01% of its issued shares with voting rights. Following a similar pattern, from last year to the present, Ping An Life has increased its stake in China Merchants Bank H-shares 15 times, raising its holding from 5.01% to 19.13%. It crossed the 10% and 15% thresholds on March 13, 2025, triggering the second and third disclosure requirements, respectively. In August of last year, Guo Xiaotao, Executive Vice President and Co-CEO of Ping An of China, discussed the company's acquisition activities during the 2025 interim results presentation. He stated that it is necessary to understand Ping An's overall investment strategy rather than viewing individual actions in isolation. The core of Ping An's investment strategy is asset-liability matching, focusing on how investments can be effectively aligned with the company's front-end liability business. According to Guo Xiaotao, whether investing in peers or other industries, Ping An adheres to a "three-assurables" principle: assessing if a company is operationally reliable, has promising growth prospects, and offers sustainable dividends. This is the core standard Ping An uses to evaluate investments and decide on the long-term, stable holding of these companies' stocks.
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