Where is "Patient Capital" Headed? Latest Insurance Fund Research Reveals Layout Signals

As an important representative of “patient capital” in the A-share market, the allocation trends of insurance funds have always attracted market attention. The first quarter is a key window for insurance funds to deploy for the year, and the investigation activities of insurance institutions (including insurance companies and asset management companies) are traditionally seen as important indicators of the annual investment direction.

On March 23, the “Daily Economic News” reporter found, based on Tonghuashun iFinD data, that since the beginning of this year, insurance institutions have conducted over 1,900 investigations of A-share listed companies. In terms of sectors, insurance funds mainly focus on industrial machinery, electronic components, electronic equipment and instruments, auto parts and equipment, integrated circuits, Western medicine, and finance.

“Behind the insurance fund investigations are core principles outlined in the ‘Measures for the Administration of Insurance Fund Operations,’ emphasizing prudence, safety, and asset-liability matching. As a typical long-term liability-based fund, insurance funds do not pursue short-term market hot spots but focus on fields aligned with national strategic transformation, possessing technological barriers, and with stable cash flow expectations,” an industry insider said. The electronics and semiconductor industries benefit from domestic substitution and technological innovation policies, the pharmaceutical industry has rigid demand attributes, and auto parts align with the deep development of new energy and intelligent manufacturing industries. Essentially, this layout aims to achieve long-term returns that cover the cost of rigid liabilities by selecting growth industries capable of crossing cycles in a low-interest-rate environment.

Multiple insurance institutions have conducted over 50 investigations this year

According to Tonghuashun iFinD data, as of 6:30 pm on March 23, the total number of investigations by insurance companies and asset management companies of A-share listed companies this year has reached 1,981.

Among insurance companies, specialized pension insurance firms have higher average investigation counts than general life and property insurance companies. For example, Changjiang Pension Insurance Co., Ltd. has conducted 78 investigations, TaiPing Pension Insurance Co., Ltd. has 66, and Ping An Pension Insurance Co., Ltd. has 54. In the asset management sector, Taikang Asset Management Co., Ltd., Huatai Asset Management Co., Ltd., and Xinhua Asset Management Co., Ltd. have high investigation frequencies, with 162, 129, and 98 respectively.

Regarding the sectors of insurance fund investigations, the focus remains on industrial machinery, electronic components, electronic equipment and instruments, auto parts and equipment, integrated circuits, Western medicine, and finance.

Regarding the style and preferences of insurance fund investigations, Yuan Shuai, Deputy Director of the Investment Department at the China Urban Development Research Institute, told the “Daily Economic News” that the focus on industries such as industrial machinery, electronic components, integrated circuits, Western medicine, and finance reflects the “patient capital” approach, anchored in technological self-reliance and essential public needs.

“At the strategic level, industries like industrial and electronic equipment are at the intersection of global industrial chain restructuring and domestic industrial upgrading, with strong performance resilience and technological barriers, meeting the insurance funds’ demand for medium- to long-term growth value. Finance and Western medicine sectors have defensive attributes—providing stable dividends and valuation recovery space, and under the aging population, the rigid demand for medical consumption supports these industries, effectively hedging macroeconomic fluctuations,” Yuan Shuai explained. From a strategic perspective, insurance funds are transitioning from traditional ‘interest spread defense’ to ‘high-quality asset enhancement,’ through in-depth research on the STAR Market and ChiNext, aiming to find high-cost-performance targets with new productive features, replacing pure secondary market speculation with industry empowerment logic, thus building a diversified portfolio that balances dividend income and growth premiums.

Wang Peng, Deputy Researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, shares the same view. He believes that the core logic behind the dense investigation of industries like industrial, semiconductor, and finance is “dividend cushion + technological offense.” “Financial and Western medicine industries provide stable cash flow and high dividends to hedge against the costs of liabilities in a low-interest-rate environment; emerging technologies like integrated circuits and auto parts are key directions for national strategy and long-term asset appreciation, as well as for achieving excess returns.”

Future equity allocation of insurance funds will follow a “dual main line”

This investigation direction also aligns with the results of the survey published by the China Banking and Insurance Asset Management Association in the “2026 Outlook for Banking and Insurance Asset Allocation.”

According to the survey, “hard technology” remains the main line of insurance investment. Insurance institutions focus on investment themes such as semiconductors, national defense and military industry, AI (artificial intelligence) computing power, robotics, energy metals, commercial aerospace, high dividend stocks, biotech and innovative drugs, and globalization. They believe that corporate earnings recovery and liquidity environment are the main factors influencing the A-share market. In terms of asset allocation, most insurance institutions plan to slightly increase their holdings of A-shares.

Wang Guojun, Professor at the Insurance School of the University of International Business and Economics, previously told the “Daily Economic News” that the 2026 insurance asset allocation trend is relatively clear. In 2025, insurance funds achieved high returns in the stock market, and it is expected that the A-share market will continue to improve in 2026. Therefore, stocks and securities investment funds will be the most favored domestic investment assets by insurance funds in 2026.

Data from the Financial Regulatory Administration show that by the end of 2025, the total utilization of insurance funds reached 38.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.7% from the end of 2024. Among them, the balance of equity funds invested in stocks and funds was about 5.7 trillion yuan, up approximately 39% from 2024.

Regarding the future direction of insurance funds’ equity asset allocation, Gao Chengyuan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Guangdong Social Policy Research Association, believes that the future allocation will follow the “dual main line”: one is the dividend defense line, where high-dividend assets such as banks, utilities, and white goods remain the ballast, providing stable cash flow and defensive properties; the other is the technology growth line, focusing on AI industry chains (such as computing power, storage, applications), semiconductor equipment and materials, innovative drugs, humanoid robots, and commercial aerospace. Additionally, IPOs of “specialized technology” and biotech in Hong Kong stocks, as well as gold and other safe-haven assets, will also be key areas of focus.

“Insurance funds are building a full-cycle investment and financing system through diversified tools like ‘equity, bonds, funds, and alternatives,’ transitioning from pure financial investment to ‘patient capital + industry empowerment,’ supporting the upgrade of the real economy while seeking long-term excess returns,” Gao said.