China's trillion-yuan "hidden positions" of insurance capital exposed
```
Investors who have grown accustomed to insurance companies making a splash under the banners of "traditional insurance" and "participating insurance" on listed company shareholder rosters may overlook a "minor item" on their financial statements.
However, this accounting item—which receives little public attention—happens to be the most important "platform" for insurance funds increasing their positions in A-shares this year.
It is reported that, under this item, insurance funds have quietly placed over a trillion yuan worth of assets this year—specifically, 1.1 trillion yuan in stock assets—marking a historic first.
This item is Other Equity Instruments Investment (OCI), an item destined to influence the A-share market for many years.
Insurance Funds' "Largest Position"
Other Equity Instruments Investment (hereafter referred to as "OCI") may have an unremarkable name, but is growing at a remarkable rate.
According to third-party statistics, as of the end of June 2025, the five major listed insurance companies held a combined OCI asset scale of about 1.1 trillion yuan, a record high.
At the end of 2024, this figure was just over 800 billion yuan. This means that by the end of the first half of this year, the growth rate of insurance funds' OCI assets exceeded 35%.
This pace also shows that the increase in asset scale comes mainly from insurance companies increasing investment allocations under this item, rather than just asset appreciation.
Insurance Institutions Have a Stronger "Preference"
The data clearly shows that insurance funds are stepping up their equity investments and placing significant emphasis on the OCI channel.
Why is this?
The answer is, as a valuation account for insurance fund equity assets, OCI allows changes in market value and accumulated trading gains and losses of assets under this item not to be reflected in the income statement.
This is indeed a "boon" for insurance fund institutions engaged in long-term equity asset investment.
In fact, all five major domestic insurance fund institutions—Ping An Insurance, China Life, New China Life, China Pacific Insurance (CPIC), and PICC—are actively using OCI accounts.
Ping An: Large-Scale Investment, Large-Scale "Harvest"
Examining the balance sheets of these insurance companies, Ping An's use of the OCI account is the most comprehensive, with a relatively higher asset allocation.
In its 2025 interim report, Ping An's "Other Equity Instruments Investment" surpassed the 500 billion yuan mark for the first time, with a period-end balance of 520.5 billion yuan.
Compared to 356.5 billion yuan at the end of 2024, this is a 164 billion yuan increase in just half a year, an impressive 46% rise.
This asset volume not only achieved a leap in half a year, but also established Ping An's leading position among insurance funds.
Ping An's senior management also mentioned in their 2025 interim results briefing that about 60 billion yuan of unrealized stock investment gains in the OCI account have not been included in the profit statement but rather bolstered the balance sheet. Ping An further pointed out that if these unrealized gains were included, the company's net profit growth would actually exceed the industry average.
China Life: Grasping Both Position Increases and Solid Profits
As another "summit" of domestic insurance fund asset management, China Life's latest 2025 interim report shows that "Other Equity Instruments Investment" soared from 171.8 billion yuan to 252.8 billion yuan in just half a year, an increase of more than 80 billion yuan, with a growth rate as high as 47.1%.
Though the total OCI volume lags behind Ping An's, the scale of China Life's conventional equity asset investments (including those via private equity funds) is also showing impressive growth momentum.
Together, these factors led China Life to achieve a 317% growth in investment income in the first half of this year, while still retaining room for further OCI and private equity stock investments.
China Life's Hong Kong Investment: Increasingly Relying on "OCI"
A close review of China Life's investment statements also reveals: China Life is quite "bold" in its investments in the Hong Kong stock market.
(As shown above) The financial report shows: "Other Equity Instruments Investment" in the Hong Kong stock segment (converted to RMB) rose rapidly 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 half a year, a growth rate of over 68%.
More noteworthy: as of the end of June this year, China Life's Hong Kong stock assets under the OCI category have surpassed those under trading financial assets: 61.1 billion vs. 46.1 billion yuan, with the former becoming the company's "main" Hong Kong stock investment for the first time.
This means China Life is gradually shifting more Hong Kong stock chips into the OCI asset pool, which is better at smoothing out volatility and focusing on long-term returns, rather than using short-term trading tools.
In August 2025, China Life's Chief Investment Officer Liu Hui stated at a results briefing: "The company pays close attention to investment opportunities in the Hong Kong stock market. Leveraging the latest approved QDII quota, we achieved strong returns in Hong Kong stocks in the first half of the year, and will continue to focus on new economy and high dividend assets in Hong Kong in the second half, maintaining a balanced and stable investment portfolio."
It is evident that China Life is not only greatly expanding its OCI positions in A-shares, but is also signaling "long-term money lying in wait" in Hong Kong stocks. This not only highlights the appeal of the Hong Kong stock market, but also reflects a structural shift in overall insurance fund equity investment.
New China Life: Major Chip Redistribution
In New China Life's 2025 interim report, the expansion of OCI-type assets is particularly notable, showing a "chip sedimentation" posture.
"Other Equity Instruments Investment" grew from 30.64 billion yuan at the end of last year to 37.47 billion yuan at the end of June this year, an increase of 6.826 billion yuan in half a year.
In contrast, trading financial assets actually shrank: from 485.93 billion to 480.12 billion yuan, a decrease of 5.8 billion yuan.
This set of data is fascinating: in the first half of the year, New China Life shifted more funds toward longer-term equity allocations like OCI.
Additionally, the interim report revealed a key data point: "Dividend income recognized for other equity instrument investments in this period was RMB 1.048 billion (for the six months ended June 30, 2024: RMB 314 million)."
This figure is also astonishing.
This means that in the first half of this year, New China Life's dividend income from OCI more than tripled year-on-year, representing tangible cash dividend returns and exemplifying insurance funds' preference for high-dividend assets.
PICC: OCI Account "Recharged" by Over 10 Billion Yuan
In PICC's 2025 interim report, OCI-type assets also expanded significantly.
(As shown above) Data shows "Other Equity Instruments Investment" increased from 115.78 billion to 139.64 billion yuan in half a year, with the book value rising by 23.86 billion yuan—a 20% increase in just 6 months.
The size of this increase is substantial, equivalent to a medium-sized listed bank's annual net profit; the OCI asset pool is quickly becoming the "core reservoir" of this insurance fund's investment portfolio.
PICC stated in its interim report: "Strengthen absolute return orientation, optimize equity position structure, gradually increase the scale of investments in other equity instruments that are in line with the concepts of long-term and value investing of insurance funds, and enhance investment performance stability under new standards."
Besides PICC, China Pacific Insurance (CPIC) also "recharged" more than 10 billion yuan of OCI assets in the first half of the year.
(As shown above) "Other Equity Instruments Investment" (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 in half a year, an increase of about 8.6%.
What Did the Trillion-Yuan Positions Buy?
An intriguing question is: What stocks might these vast OCI assets be invested in? Currently, our main reference is the insurance product holdings disclosed in the top ten shareholders lists of listed companies.
It should be emphasized that this is only part of the public information and cannot cover all insurance fund investments, nor can it be confirmed that these holdings are definitely included in OCI. Even so, these clues can still help us sketch the general preferences of insurance funds in A-share equity investing.
For example, China Life's positions are mainly in the three major telecom service providers (Unicom, Telecom, Mobile) with strong free cash flow; coal (such as Shenhua); utilities (China Merchants Expressway); food and beverage (Yili, Shuanghui); and some bank stocks (mainly CITIC Bank). China Life's holdings have a strong dividend tilt, so there is a significant probability that its heavy holdings fall under the OCI account.
Currently, Ping An's main heavy stocks on the mainland A-shares focus primarily on Yangtze Power, much of which is confirmed to be held via the OCI account. Additionally, Ping An holds large amounts of various financial stocks in Hong Kong, including major banks and other insurance companies. These holdings also generally have high dividend yields and are likely to be partly allocated in the OCI account.
Relatively, New China Life's main layouts demonstrate a strong stock-selection style, with pharmaceuticals as a specialty—companies like Huadong Medicine, Shanghai Pharma, and Lingrui Pharma. While the latter have dividend yields, they are not outstanding, showing New China Life may value asset appreciation more.
CPIC, similarly, has a strong dedicated allocation direction: on one hand, it has a significantly higher proportion of small/mid-cap stocks, with a clear leaning toward growth or high-quality stocks; on the other hand, the assets listed in interim reports do not fully match CPIC's huge asset scale, suggesting CPIC has many configurations not yet "surfaced" in industry statistics.
But from the visible portfolio composition, major insurance companies have distinct characteristics and high professionalism in equity investment, deserving special attention and research.
Risk DisclaimerThe market has risks, and investment must be cautious. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the special investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article are appropriate for their specific situation. Investing accordingly is at your own risk. ```