New China Life Insurance's 2025 Investment Returns Impress; Equity Asset Allocation Features 'Offense and Defense' Balance

According to the latest market data and research reports, New China Life Insurance’s 8.6% total investment return rate is indeed impressive. Its equity asset allocation strategy shows the characteristics of ‘offense and defense balance’ in the current market environment, but investors still need to pay attention to potential market volatility risks.

New China Life Insurance’s annualized total investment return rate reached 8.6% in the first three quarters of 2025, leading among the five listed insurance companies [1]. This excellent performance is mainly due to the overall recovery of the A-share market in 2025. In the first three quarters, the five listed insurance companies collectively achieved a net profit attributable to parent companies of 426.039 billion yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 33.5% [2]. New China Life Insurance achieved a net profit of 32.857 billion yuan in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 58.9%, of which the third quarter profit was 18.058 billion yuan, an increase of 88.2% compared with the same period last year [3].

As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the balance of stocks and securities investment funds allocated by insurance companies has reached 5.59 trillion yuan, a significant increase of 35.92% compared with the same period in 2024. The combined allocation ratio of stocks and funds has continued to rise to a high level in recent years [1]. New China Life Insurance’s equity investment strategy has two main characteristics:

1. Dividend Assets as the Mainstay
   : Listed insurance companies have a relatively high allocation ratio to dividend assets and hold them for a long time, forming a relatively stable profit foundation [3].

2. Balance Between Growth and Value
   : Insurance funds balance high-dividend, low-volatility blue-chip stocks and high-growth technology innovation stocks, forming an ‘offense and defense balanced’ investment portfolio [1].

• Regulatory Policy Support
  : Regulatory authorities lowered the risk factors of CSI 300 Index components and CSI Dividend Low Volatility 100 Index components, “loosening” the asset side for insurance companies and helping them increase their allocation to dividend stocks [3].
• Industry Transformation Results
  : Policies such as “unification of reported and actual premium rates” in 2025 have promoted the industry from “disordered competition” to “rational operation”, creating a good environment for insurance companies’ profitability [1].
• Optimization of Capital Allocation
  : The regulatory authorities’ guidance for insurance funds to “invest long-term funds for long-term” has achieved obvious results, and capital allocation is more focused on industrial essence and long-term value [3].

• Market Volatility Risk
  : Equity investment returns are highly correlated with capital market trends. If the market corrects, it may affect short-term returns.
• Valuation Correction Pressure
  : New China Life Insurance’s full-year gain in 2025 exceeded 45%, and its stock price hit 73.45 yuan per share intraday on December 23, reaching a new phased high [1]. There is a short-term need for technical adjustment.
• Cyclical Characteristics
  : The insurance sector has obvious cyclicality and experienced an adjustment period of nearly four years before September 2024 [2].

Overall, New China Life Insurance’s 8.6% total investment return rate is based on a prudent asset allocation strategy, which effectively balances returns and risks through the combined allocation of dividend assets and growth assets. Although it may face short-term market volatility pressure, the risk of its equity asset allocation is generally controllable under the background of regulatory policy support and improved industry fundamentals. For investors, it is recommended to pay attention to the first-quarter premium data of 2026 and the trend of the equity market to evaluate the evolution of subsequent investment value.

[1] Sina Finance - In 2025, why did insurance stocks become the biggest “surprise” gainer in A-shares (https://finance.sina.com.cn/cj/2025-12-31/doc-inhesxnh9005979.shtml)

[2] 21st Century Business Herald - Insurance stocks quietly hit a historical high (https://www.21jingji.com/article/20251224/herald/4987237e62fc9e35d126cdb139a03988.html)

[3] Caishi Media - Review of A-share 2025 sector performance: Insurance: Positive news comes one after another, asset side loosening + competing for high dividends (https://www.caishiv.com/insight/detail?id=31321)