In the midst of a significant industry reshuffle within the insurance intermediary sector, some entities are opting to divest at low valuations, while others are choosing to increase their stakes against the prevailing trend. Recent industrial and commercial registration changes show that Sichuan Yi'an Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yi'an Insurance Brokerage") has undergone a shareholder shift. The original shareholders, Zhang Ya and Chengdu Saimahe General Aviation Service Co., Ltd., have exited, with Shanghai Junfeng Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shanghai Junfeng") becoming the new sole shareholder.
Information indicates that Shanghai Junfeng is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiangsu Halo Puhui Technology Co., Ltd. This marks the second time Halo has taken control of Yi'an Insurance Brokerage, following an initial acquisition in 2022. It is noteworthy that Yi'an Insurance Brokerage was originally affiliated with the FAW Group's automotive sector. After its separation from the automaker, the company experienced prolonged stagnation, poor revenue performance, and fell into losses.
Halo's Second Acquisition of a "Shell" Insurance Broker
Data shows that Yi'an Insurance Brokerage was established in 2004 with a registered capital of 50 million yuan. As of 2025, the company has only five employees formally enrolled in social insurance, and its official website has not been updated since July 8, 2023. According to disclosures in the "China Insurance Yearbook 2025," Yi'an Insurance Brokerage reported revenue of merely 30,000 yuan for 2024, with a net loss of 2.22 million yuan.
At its inception, the company's shareholders included FAW Finance Co., Ltd., Fawer Automotive Parts Co., Ltd., FAW Jiefang Group Co., Ltd., Changchun Faway Group Automotive Components Co., Ltd., and FAW Asset Management Co., Ltd. However, these companies withdrew their stakes successively in 2017 and 2019. Information disclosed during the FAW Group's equity transfer in 2017 stated that "Yi'an Insurance currently focuses primarily on group business, has not developed market-facing operations, does not meet the highly market-oriented operational requirements of the insurance profession, and requires market-oriented reforms." It is reported that after separating from the FAW Group, the company nearly became a shell entity.
Despite this, Halo has proceeded with a second acquisition of Yi'an Insurance Brokerage. In May 2022, Shanghai Junfeng had previously acquired all equity in the company but exited its stake in less than half a year. Regarding this renewed entry into the insurance intermediary sector, Halo stated in response to media inquiries that this move represents a normal external investment activity for the company. It noted a prior cooperative relationship and foundational experience with Yi'an Insurance Brokerage, providing familiarity with its development. Overall, this investment is based on the company's strategy for diversified business expansion, aiming to further improve the compliant layout of its insurance brokerage license.
Potential Growth Remains if Integrated with Membership Systems
An expert commented that Halo's core resources have historically been concentrated in two-wheeled transportation, local services, and user growth, with insurance operations unlikely to contribute significantly to revenue in the short term. Consequently, the company's investment intensity and strategic priority for this area have been relatively cautious. This renewed acquisition suggests a shift in Halo's assessment of the value of contextual finance. As the shared mobility industry enters a phase of competition for existing market share, platforms increasingly need to enhance user lifetime value and ecosystem monetization capabilities. Insurance, as a natural risk management tool, aligns well with transportation scenarios, making a renewed focus on insurance intermediaries unsurprising.
An examination of the Halo出行 App reveals an insurance "portal" on its homepage, offering products including million-yuan medical insurance, critical illness insurance, and traffic accident insurance, many of which are products from ZhongAn Insurance. Additionally, there are insurance products like "Anxin Ride," available for users to purchase voluntarily when using shared bicycles.
The expert indicated that Halo possesses a vast user base in two-wheeled transportation and cycling scenarios, theoretically enabling the construction of a multi-tiered protection system around users, vehicles, and operating entities. Examples include cycling accident insurance, third-party liability insurance, shared bicycle loss insurance, cycling medical insurance, membership protection plans, and occupational liability coverage for new scenarios like delivery and instant services.
Compared to traditional insurance sales, the expert believes the greatest advantage of contextual insurance lies in its clear timing of demand, low customer acquisition costs, and simplified application processes, leading to higher conversion rates. If future integration with membership systems, cycling services, and travel benefits can be achieved, there remains room for growth.
Shared Mobility Giants Are All Entering the Insurance Intermediary Sector
In fact, shared mobility giants venturing into the insurance intermediary sector is not new. DiDi Global Inc. had already, in 2016, through a subsidiary, taken a controlling stake in Zhong'an Fengshang (Beijing) Insurance Agency Co., Ltd., obtaining an insurance agency license. Similarly, MEITUAN acquired an insurance brokerage license in 2018 through Chongqing Jinchenghunuo Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd. Currently, it appears that the three major companies in the shared mobility field—DiDi Global Inc., MEITUAN, and Halo—have all established a presence in the insurance intermediary business.
From the expert's perspective, compared to DiDi Global Inc. and MEITUAN, Halo's entry into the insurance field is relatively late. Furthermore, its brief control and subsequent exit from Yi'an Insurance Brokerage in 2022, followed by the current re-acquisition, indicates that the company's strategic positioning of its insurance operations has undergone repeated evaluation.
Simultaneously, the expert also pointed out, "Compared to DiDi Global Inc.'s ride-hailing scenarios, two-wheeled transportation involves lower transaction values per ride and smaller potential risk losses, resulting in relatively limited user willingness to pay. Compared to MEITUAN's vast ecosystem connecting merchants, riders, and consumers, Halo's scenario chain is also relatively singular."
The expert believes that although Halo boasts a massive user base, the insurable value per individual user may be lower than that for DiDi Global Inc. and MEITUAN. Whether the insurance business can achieve economies of scale depends not on user numbers but on whether high-frequency scenarios can continuously accumulate risk data, generate stable protection needs, and build a differentiated product system.
"Overall, Halo's renewed focus on insurance brokerage appears more like a crucial step to完善 its ecosystem layout and enhance its contextual service capabilities, rather than a单纯 pursuit of insurance sales revenue. There is still development space for shared mobility insurance in the future. However, compared to DiDi Global Inc. and MEITUAN, Halo needs to further demonstrate whether the two-wheeled transportation scenario can support a sufficiently high density of insurance demand and commercial value," the expert stated.
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