Last year, they increased holdings by 100 billion yuan; this low-profile mega institution can no longer remain hidden.
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In this era, different institutions exhibit distinctly different personalities.
Some enter the market with great fanfare, wanting to announce every move with a loudspeaker.
The typical example is the “national team”: entering the market buying stocks is accompanied by an announcement, increasing their positions triggers another announcement. When they sell, although no message is issued, the overwhelming huge orders on the market make their investment as transparent as possible.
Other institutions are low-key; not only do they refuse to disclose investment details publicly, but prefer that the market pays no attention to them while they make cautious decisions.
For example, the following institution. In the property insurance industry, which has a clear business model advantage, they hold the largest market share and enjoy good cash flow; but their investment moves are extremely low-profile, perfectly embodying the term “hidden crocodile”.
On the evening of March 26, Asia’s largest property insurance group, China PICC, released its 2025 annual report, and in doing so, revealed a glimpse of its substantial investment foundation.
Impressive Revenues Last Year
Where does insurance investment capital come from?
Premiums!
So, the key data to look at in this giant’s annual report is revenue.
On March 26. China PICC disclosed: in 2025, the company achieved total operating revenue of 669.044 billion yuan, an increase of 7.6% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent company shareholders was 46.646 billion yuan, up 8.8% year-on-year.
This property insurance giant achieved premium revenue of 738.3 billion yuan for the year, up 6.5% year-on-year.
Among them, last year, commercial non-auto insurance grew significantly faster than auto insurance; first-year regular premium growth in life insurance was 32.4%, and life insurance contributed over 60% of incremental premium to the group.
Clearly, China PICC had a bumper year in 2025.
Stable Investment Returns
China PICC also reported in its annual report: in 2025, it established a strategic equity portfolio, and investment returns reached their best historical level.
The annual report shows: in 2025, China PICC achieved a total investment return of 92.323 billion yuan, up 12.4% year-on-year; total investment yield was 5.7%, remaining relatively stable.
China PICC stated: the company fully implemented requirements for mid- and long-term funds participation in the market, actively participated in insurance funds’ long-term investment reform pilots, and continuously optimized secondary equity investment structure.
In short: I have money, I can make money, and I will spend more on stocks.
Where are the Investments Directed?
So, how does this giant invest?
This institution stated: taking asset securitization business as a breakthrough point, accelerating alternative investment transformation and innovation efforts, in 2025, PICC Group ranked first among insurers in REITs issuance scale.
China PICC disclosed specific figures for investment assets, covering fixed income and equity assets.
Among these, the scale of direct stock investment changed significantly year-on-year (see chart below).
The scale of stock investments increased sharply from 60.249 billion yuan at the end of 2024 to 166.235 billion yuan at the end of 2025, an increase of 105.986 billion yuan, with its proportion in total investment assets rising from 3.7% to 8.7%.
This isn’t just earning off existing assets; it’s a real increase in holdings.
First Creation of “Strategic Stock Portfolio”
The annual report contains another detail: China PICC, in its annual report wording, mentioned the strategic stock portfolio. Specifically, the situation is as follows:
“In equity investment, we firmly implement requirements for mid- and long-term funds entry, leverage the patient capital advantage of insurance funds, steadily increase secondary equity allocation. Strengthen absolute-return orientation, optimize the holding structure of equity assets, innovatively establish a strategic stock investment portfolio focusing on long-term investment, increase investment scale in other equity instruments aligned with the value-investing concept of insurance funds, and enhance the long-term stability of investment performance under the new standards.”
Among them, “innovatively establish a strategic stock investment portfolio focusing on long-term investment” is mentioned for the first time and matches the earlier data of over a hundred billion yuan increase in direct stock investment.
However, the annual report did not disclose further information about the operation of the above-mentioned strategic stock investment portfolio.
Asset Scale Near Two Trillion Yuan
As of December 31, 2025, PICC Asset Management’s asset scale was 1.98 trillion yuan; it achieved operating revenue of 1.76 billion yuan and net profit of 689 million yuan.
Among these, actively participating in insurance funds long-term investment pilot, PICC Qiyuan Huizhong Private Securities Investment Fund formally launched, taking practical action to maintain the capital market’s long-term stable development.
PICC Qiyuan, together with Honghu Fund (jointly founded by China Life and New China Insurance), are currently important attempts by large insurance capital to invest in the secondary stock market via private fund platforms, becoming a new force in China’s private equity stock market.
For PICC Asset Management’s major asset allocation approach, the annual report disclosed as follows:
Fixed income investment strengthens the ability to assess mid- and long-term interest rate trends, actively seizes opportunities brought by interest rate volatility for allocation and trading, adjusts asset duration flexibly, and increases investment returns.
Equity investment implements mid- and long-term funds deployment, strengthens absolute-return philosophy, enhances strategic allocation and grasping of structural opportunities.
Alternative investment actively promotes business transformation, with significant results achieved in the development and investment of innovative asset securitization products; exchange ABS issuance scale reached 9.466 billion yuan for the year, ranking first among insurers.
Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks; investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not considered the individual user’s specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their specific situation. Invest at your own risk. ```