China's insurance capital trillion yuan "hidden positions" exposed

Accustomed to the insurance companies' grand appearances with names like "traditional insurance" and "participating insurance" in the shareholder lists of listed companies, investors may overlook a "small item" on their financial statements.

However, this accounting item, which is not focused on by the outside world, is precisely the most important "platform" for insurance funds to increase their holdings in A-shares this year.

It is reported that under this item, insurance funds have quietly invested over one trillion yuan in assets this year—1.1 trillion yuan in stock assets—marking a historical first.

This item is Other Equity Instrument Investments (OCI), a category that is destined to impact the A-share market for many years to come.

The "Largest Warehouse" for Insurance Funds

Other Equity Instrument Investments (hereinafter referred to as "OCI"), although its name is inconspicuous, is growing at an extremely rapid pace.

According to third-party statistics, by the end of June 2025, the total OCI asset scale held by the five major listed insurance companies reached approximately 1.1 trillion yuan, setting a historical record.

At the end of 2024, this figure was only over 800 billion yuan. This means that the growth rate of insurance funds' OCI assets at the end of the first half of this year exceeded 35%.

This speed also indicates that the growth in the scale of these assets mainly comes from insurance companies increasing their investment scale under this item, rather than just asset appreciation.

Insurance Institutions Prefer More

Data clearly shows that insurance funds are increasing their equity investment efforts and placing great importance on the OCI channel.

Why is that?

The answer is that OCI, as a valuation account for insurance equity assets, allows the market price fluctuations and accumulated gains and losses of assets under this item not to enter the profit and loss statement.

This is indeed a "blessing" for insurance institutions that invest in equity assets for the long term.

In fact, the five large insurance institutions with the largest investment scales in the industry—Ping An, China Life, New China Life, China Pacific Insurance, and China People’s Insurance—are all actively using OCI accounts.

Ping An: Major Investments, Major "Harvests"

Looking at the asset statements of several insurance companies, Ping An makes the most comprehensive use of the OCI account, with a relatively higher asset allocation.

In the mid-2025 financial report, Ping An's "Other Equity Instrument Investments" historically surpassed the 500 billion yuan mark for the first time, with a year-end balance of 520.5 billion yuan.

This figure increased by 164 billion yuan in just six months compared to 356.5 billion yuan at the end of 2024, with a growth rate of 46%.

This scale not only achieved leapfrog growth within half a year but also established Ping An's leading advantage among insurance funds.

Ping An's senior management also mentioned in the mid-2025 performance communication meeting that there are about 60 billion yuan in unrealized gains from stock investments in the OCI account that have not been included in the profit and loss statement but have enriched the balance sheet. Ping An also pointed out that if this portion of unrealized gains were included, the company's net profit growth rate would actually exceed the industry average.

China Life: Grasping Both Increasing Holdings and Profits "Firmly"

As another "peak" of domestic insurance asset management, China Life Insurance, in its latest disclosed mid-term financial report for 2025, saw its "other equity instrument investments" surge from 171.8 billion yuan to 252.8 billion yuan in just six months, an increase of over 80 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 47.1%.

Although the total amount of OCI is slightly inferior to Ping An, China Life's investment scale in conventional equity asset investments (including investments through private equity funds) is also showing impressive growth.

Together, China Life not only achieved a 317% increase in investment income in the first half of the year but also quietly left room in OCI and private equity stock investments.

China Life Invests in Hong Kong Stocks, Relying More on "OCI"

A closer examination of China Life's investment report reveals that the company has taken a very "bold" approach in its investment layout in the Hong Kong stock market.

(As shown in the above image) The financial report indicates that its "other equity instrument investments" in the Hong Kong stock market (converted to RMB) rapidly expanded from 36.3 billion yuan at the end of last year to 61.1 billion yuan by the end of June this year, an increase of nearly 25 billion yuan in just six months, with a growth rate exceeding 68%.

What is even more noteworthy is that as of the end of June this year, the Hong Kong stock assets allocated by China Life through the OCI approach have surpassed trading financial assets: 61.1 billion yuan compared to 46.1 billion yuan, with the former becoming the "main character" of the company's Hong Kong stock investments for the first time.

This indicates that China Life is gradually placing more of its Hong Kong stock chips into the OCI asset pool, which can smooth out fluctuations and highlight long-term returns, rather than into short-term trading tools.

In August 2025, Liu Hui, Chief Investment Officer of China Life, stated at the performance briefing: "The company is highly focused on investment opportunities in the Hong Kong stock market. With the newly approved QDII quota, we have achieved good returns in the Hong Kong stock market in the first half of the year and will continue to focus on new economy and high-dividend assets in the Hong Kong stock market in the second half, maintaining a balanced and stable investment portfolio."

It is evident that China Life is not only significantly expanding its OCI positions in the A-share market but is also signaling a "long money ambush" in the Hong Kong stock market. This move not only highlights the attractiveness of the Hong Kong stock market but also reflects a structural shift in the entire insurance capital towards equity investments.

New China Life Insurance: Major Chip Reallocation

In the mid-term financial report for 2025, the expansion of OCI-type assets in New China Life Insurance is particularly striking, presenting a posture of "accumulating chips."

"Other equity instrument investments" increased from 30.64 billion yuan at the end of last year to 37.47 billion yuan by the end of June this year, an increase of 6.826 billion yuan in just six months.

In contrast, trading financial assets are shrinking: from 485.93 billion yuan down to 480.12 billion yuan, a decrease of 5.8 billion yuan.

This set of contrasting data is quite thought-provoking: Xinhua Insurance has shifted more funds towards OCI, which is more inclined towards long-term equity allocation, in the first half of the year.

Additionally, the interim report disclosed a key piece of data: "The dividend income recognized from other equity instruments for this period was 1.048 billion yuan (for the six-month period ending June 30, 2024: 314 million yuan)."

This figure is also quite astonishing.

This means that in the first half of this year, Xinhua Insurance received dividends from OCI that increased more than threefold year-on-year, which translates to substantial cash dividend returns. This is precisely an example of the insurance capital's preference for holding high-dividend assets.

PICC: OCI Account "Recharges" Over 10 Billion Yuan

In the 2025 interim financial report of PICC, OCI assets are also significantly expanding.

(The above chart) shows that "other equity instrument investments" grew from 115.78 billion yuan to 139.64 billion yuan within six months, with a book scale increase of 23.86 billion yuan, equivalent to a growth rate of 20% in just six months.

This increment itself is quite substantial, equivalent to the annual net profit of a medium-sized listed bank. The OCI asset pool is gradually becoming the "core reservoir" in the investment portfolio of this insurance capital.

PICC revealed in its interim report: "Strengthen absolute return orientation, optimize equity holding structure, gradually increase the scale of other equity instrument investments that align with the long-term investment and value investment philosophy of insurance funds, and enhance the stability of investment performance under the new standards."

In addition to PICC, China Pacific Insurance also "recharged" over 10 billion yuan in OCI assets in the first half of the year.

(The above chart) shows that "other equity instrument investments" (OCI) rose from 142.01 billion yuan at the end of 2024 to 154.17 billion yuan at the end of June this year, an increase of 12.16 billion yuan over six months, with a growth rate of approximately 8.6%.

What Did the Trillion Yuan Position Buy?

A thought-provoking question is: what stocks could these massive OCI assets possibly be invested in? Currently, the basis we can rely on is mainly the disclosed holdings of insurance products in the top ten shareholders' lists of listed companies It is important to emphasize that this is only part of the publicly available information and does not cover all investments of insurance funds, nor can it fully confirm that these positions are necessarily included in OCI. Nevertheless, these clues can still help us roughly outline the preferences of insurance funds in A-share equity investments.

Among them, China Life's positions are mainly in the three major telecom service providers (China Unicom, China Telecom, China Mobile) with good free cash flow, coal (such as Shenhua), public utilities (China Merchants Jinling), food and beverage (Yili, Shuanghui), and some bank stocks (mainly CITIC Bank). China Life's holdings have a strong dividend inclination, so it is quite likely that its heavy positions will be included in the OCI accounts.

Currently, Ping An's main heavy positions in the mainland A-shares are mainly concentrated in China Yangtze Power, which has been clearly indicated to have a large proportion in OCI accounts. Additionally, Ping An holds a large number of various financial stocks in Hong Kong, including several major banks and other insurance companies. This portion of holdings also has high dividend characteristics and is likely to be partially allocated in OCI accounts.

In contrast, New China Life's current main layout reflects a strong stock selection style, with the pharmaceutical industry being its configuration feature, including East China Pharmaceutical, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, and Lingrui Pharmaceutical, among others. The latter has a dividend yield but is not prominent, indicating that New China may still prioritize the need for asset appreciation.

Pacific Insurance also appears to have a strong configuration direction apart from its own. On one hand, the proportion of small and mid-cap stocks it holds is significantly higher, with a clear focus on growth stocks or high-quality stocks. On the other hand, the assets it holds in its report do not seem appropriate given the large asset scale of Taiping Insurance, leading to the belief that Taiping still has many configurations that have not "shown their face" in the industry.

However, from the revealed composition, the equity investments of various large insurance companies each have their characteristics, demonstrating considerable individuality and professionalism, which are worth paying close attention to and studying.

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