Core Viewpoint - AIA (AAGIY) is currently outperforming its peers in the Finance sector, with a year-to-date performance of 2.8% compared to the sector average of 1.1% [4]. Company Performance - AIA has a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy), indicating a positive outlook based on earnings estimates and revisions [3]. - Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIA's full-year earnings has increased by 1%, reflecting improved analyst sentiment [3]. - The stock's year-to-date gain of 2.8% positions it favorably against the average Finance sector gain of 1.1% [4]. Industry Context - AIA is part of the Insurance - Life Insurance industry, which consists of 16 individual stocks and currently ranks 62 in the Zacks Industry Rank [5]. - The average performance of the Insurance - Life Insurance industry has been 1.1% year-to-date, indicating that AIA is performing better than its industry peers [5]. - In comparison, Bank of Montreal (BMO), another Finance stock, has shown a year-to-date increase of 9.8% and has a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) [4][5].

Core Viewpoint - Goldman Sachs has reiterated a "Buy" rating for AIA Group (01299) and Prudential (02378), citing attractive risk-reward at current valuations, with target prices set at HKD 96 for AIA and HKD 150 for Prudential [1] Group 1: Stock Performance - Prudential and AIA's stock prices fell by 8% and 4% respectively on Friday, February 13, due to various factors including weak sales reported by Manulife Financial (00945) for Q4 2025 and concerns over potential disruption from artificial intelligence [1] Group 2: Sales Performance Analysis - The weak sales performance of Manulife is attributed to a high base effect and regulatory changes that disrupted the brokerage channel, which has limited direct implications for AIA and Prudential [1] - AIA and Prudential have a significantly lower contribution from annualized new premiums through the brokerage channel compared to Manulife, making them less susceptible to negative impacts from this channel [1] Group 3: Artificial Intelligence Concerns - While acknowledging the potential for disruption from artificial intelligence, Goldman Sachs emphasizes that products sold through agents are often complex, with long premium payment periods and/or high premium amounts, making them less vulnerable to AI disruption [1] - The firm believes that customer preference for personal interaction in these complex products will mitigate the impact of AI [1] - The narrative of sustained growth remains intact, with most pandemic-related disruptions now considered a thing of the past [1]

Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Overweight" rating for the insurance industry, driven by the growth in premium income and stable asset management [5][3]. Core Insights - The growth in premium income is expected to lead to a steady increase in the balance of insurance funds, with a projected year-end balance of CNY 38.5 trillion for 2025, reflecting a 15.7% increase from the beginning of the year [5][3]. - The report highlights a significant increase in equity allocation, with total equity and fund assets reaching CNY 5.70 trillion, up CNY 1.60 trillion from the start of the year, accounting for 15.4% of total assets [5][3]. - The bond allocation remains robust, constituting 50.4% of the total assets, indicating that bonds continue to serve as a stabilizing force for insurance companies [5][3]. Summary by Sections Premium Growth and Fund Allocation - The insurance industry is projected to see a premium growth of 7.1% year-on-year in 2025, with life insurance premiums increasing by 8.3% and property insurance premiums by 3.9% [5][3]. - By the end of Q4 2025, the allocation of stocks reached CNY 3.73 trillion, an increase of CNY 1.31 trillion from the beginning of the year, while fund assets totaled CNY 1.97 trillion, reflecting a slight decrease in the last quarter [5][3]. Asset Management Strategy - The report anticipates that the stable long-term interest rates, which are expected to range between 1.79% and 1.90%, along with a mild recovery in the equity market, will positively impact the profitability of insurance companies [5][3]. - The report recommends specific stocks, including China Ping An, China Pacific Insurance, New China Life, and China Life, as favorable investment opportunities within the sector [5][3].

Market Overview - The Hong Kong stock market experienced a decline, with the Hang Seng Index falling by 1.72% to 26,567.12 points, the Hang Seng Tech Index down by 0.90% to 5,360.42 points, and the National Enterprises Index decreasing by 1.55% to 9,032.71 points [1] - The Hang Seng Index opened lower at 26,640.16 points, dropped by 392.38 points, and ultimately closed down by 465.42 points, with a total trading volume exceeding 257.5 billion HKD [1] - The southbound trading (Hong Kong Stock Connect) saw a net inflow of over 20.2 billion HKD [1] Sector Performance - Overall, sectors such as chips and department stores saw gains, while new consumption, new energy vehicles, and telecommunications had mixed results. Conversely, sectors like gold, non-ferrous metals, biomedicine, port transportation, technology, oil and gas, brokerage, and banking mostly experienced declines [1] Individual Stock Movements - Notable stock movements included Xiaomi Group increasing by 0.88%, AIA Group decreasing by 4.18%, Zijin Mining falling by 7.64%, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing down by 2.13%, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation rising by 0.79% [1] - Ctrip Group-S dropped by 2.10%, Pop Mart fell by 1.90%, while Tian Shu Zhi Xin surged by 14.59% and Zhi Pu increased by 20.65% [1] - China Construction Bank decreased by 1.49%, China Resources Land fell by 2.52%, and Lao Pu Gold dropped by 3.97%, while Guotai Junan International rose by 4.61% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation fell by 4.33% [1] Top Traded Stocks - The top three traded stocks included Tencent Holdings, which fell by 0.65% with a trading volume exceeding 14.2 billion HKD; Alibaba, down by 2.02% with over 10.8 billion HKD in transactions; and Meituan, which decreased by 3.18% with a trading volume of over 8.1 billion HKD [2]

Core Viewpoint - Citic Lyon has upgraded the weighting of the Hong Kong market to overweight by 20%, citing reduced correlation with the Chinese market and allowing for differentiated allocation [1] Group 1: Market Performance - The Hong Kong IPO market is expected to surpass its performance in 2025, with total IPO and placement fundraising amounting to $82.3 billion last year [1] - The Hong Kong property market has recorded its first annual increase since 2021, which is anticipated to boost the stock market [1] Group 2: Earnings and Valuation - Earnings forecasts for Hong Kong companies are projected to turn positive starting July 2025, ranking second in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan [1] - The valuation of the Hong Kong stock market is attractive relative to regional peers, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.7 times, slightly below the 35-year average of 17.2 times [1] - The Hong Kong market is the furthest from its historical highs, indicating potential for catch-up [1] Group 3: Stock Recommendations - Preferred stocks include WH Group (00288), AIA (01299), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (00388), Sun Hung Kai Properties (00016), CK Hutchison Holdings (00001), Techtronic Industries (00669), and Galaxy Entertainment Group (00027), all rated as "outperform" [1] - WH Group is highlighted as a stock with "high confidence" by the firm [1]

Core Viewpoint - The Hang Seng Index (HSI) closed at 27,071.73, down 194.65 points or 0.71% from the previous close, indicating a decline in market performance [1]. Group 1: Market Performance - The HSI reached a high of 27,213.46 and a low of 26,949.38 during the trading session, with a trading volume of 40 million shares [1]. - The average price for the HSI was 27,081.42, while the 52-week high and low were 27,964.68 and 19,335.70, respectively [1]. Group 2: Major Blue-Chip Stocks - HSBC Holdings closed at HKD 139.794, unchanged from the Hong Kong close, while Tencent Holdings closed at HKD 543.262, down 0.86% [2]. - Among the major stocks, Alibaba (HKD 160.100, down 0.25%), and Xiaomi (HKD 37.100, up 4.27%) showed varied performance [3]. - Notable gainers included BYD Company, which rose by 3.50% to HKD 99.150, while Pop Mart International fell by 5.49% to HKD 255.000 [3].

Group 1 - The core viewpoint of the reports is that strong improvements in free surplus and free cash flow generation are expected to rebuild market confidence in the intrinsic value of AIA Group (01299) and Prudential (02378) [1] - Morgan Stanley maintains an "overweight" rating on both AIA and Prudential, citing attractive capital returns and free cash flow yield as potential drivers for stock price revaluation against intrinsic value multiples [1] - The stock prices of Prudential and AIA surged approximately 70% to 80% last year, attributed to the recovery of Asian stock markets and improved cash generation capabilities [1] Group 2 - Morgan Stanley forecasts significant growth in new business sales for Hong Kong life insurance in 2025, but expects normalization this year based on benchmark predictions for AIA and Prudential [2] - The firm believes there is upside risk to its assumptions, as the sales and product environment remains attractive, particularly for mainland visitors to Hong Kong [2] - Scenario analysis indicates that if Hong Kong sales maintain strong momentum (doubling the firm's benchmark growth rate), AIA and Prudential could see net earnings yield potential of 2.5% to 3.5% by 2028, along with an IFRS operating profit upside potential of 2.5% to 3% [2]

Group 1 - The core viewpoint of the reports is that strong improvements in free surplus and free cash flow generation are expected to rebuild market confidence in the intrinsic value of AIA Group (01299) and Prudential (02378) [1] - Morgan Stanley maintains an "overweight" rating on both AIA and Prudential, citing attractive capital returns and free cash flow yield as potential drivers for stock price revaluation against intrinsic value multiples [1] - The stock prices of Prudential and AIA surged approximately 70% to 80% last year, attributed to the recovery of Asian stock markets and improved cash generation capabilities [1] Group 2 - Morgan Stanley forecasts significant growth in new business sales for Hong Kong life insurance in 2025, but expects normalization this year based on baseline predictions for AIA and Prudential [2] - The firm believes there is upside risk to its assumptions, as the sales and product environment remains attractive, particularly for mainland visitors to Hong Kong [2] - Scenario analysis indicates that if Hong Kong sales maintain strong momentum (doubling the baseline growth rate), AIA and Prudential could see net earnings yield potential of 2.5% to 3.5% by 2028, along with an IFRS operating profit upside of 2.5% to 3% [2]

摩根大通发表研报指，自由盈余和自由现金流生成的强劲改善，有望重建市场对友邦保险和保诚内含价 值的信心。该行认为，自由现金流收益率及具吸引力的资本回报可能会推动股价对内含价值倍数重估， 其中香港强劲的增长动能带来上行风险。该行重申对友邦和保诚的"增持"评级。 该行称，得益于亚洲股市的复苏，去年保诚和友邦股价强劲上涨约70%至80%，但也归功于现金生成能 力的改善。两家公司都专注于优化产品组合以缩短新业务的回收期，例如提高健康及保障类产品的比 例。P/EV倍数已从之前的低谷回升，友邦约为2026年预测内含价值的1.3倍，保诚约为0.9倍。新业务利 润驱动自由现金流，而这些现金流被用于资本回报及进一步增长，该行认为这可能推动两只股票的 P/EV重估。 ...

Market Overview - The Hang Seng Index rose by 0.58% to close at 27,183.15 points, while the Hang Seng Tech Index increased by 0.62% to 5,451.03 points, and the National Enterprises Index climbed by 0.81% to 9,242.75 points [1] - The index opened at 27,202.96 points, initially rising before retreating, and ultimately gained 155.99 points with a total turnover exceeding 234 billion HKD [1] - There were 1,344 advancing stocks, 923 declining stocks, and 896 stocks closing flat by midday [1] - The net inflow for the southbound trading (Hong Kong Stock Connect) was 84.7 million HKD [1] Sector Performance - Most sectors experienced gains, including chips, optical communications, biomedicine, new energy vehicles, oil and gas, banking, aviation, and port transportation [1] - Mixed performance was noted in new consumption, non-ferrous metals, and brokerage sectors, while gold, technology, real estate, and electricity sectors mostly declined [1] Individual Stock Movements - Notable stock movements included Pop Mart rising by 4.90%, Longi Green Energy increasing by 8.88%, Xiaomi Group up by 1.08%, and SMIC gaining 1.71% [1] - China Ping An rose by 0.62%, AIA fell by 0.52%, Zijin Mining increased by 2.52%, and Tianzuo Zhixin surged by 12.40% [1] - COSCO Shipping Energy rose by 5.49%, Zhihui gained 14.81%, and Rongchang Biotech increased by 3.64% [1] - HSBC Holdings rose by 0.72%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China increased by 0.77%, and China Petroleum gained 1.64% [1] Top Traded Stocks - Tencent Holdings saw a decline of 1.61% with a turnover exceeding 16.1 billion HKD; Alibaba rose by 1.65% with a turnover over 9.3 billion HKD; Meituan fell by 2.47% with a turnover of 6.6 billion HKD [2]