China Life(601628) 长江证券·2025-03-30 23:30Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" and is maintained [8]. Core Views - The insurance industry is currently facing challenges on the asset side, but the company, as a pure life insurance provider, demonstrates strong sensitivity and elasticity, making it a recommended quality beta asset for allocation [2]. - The company's current stock price corresponds to a 2025 PEV of 0.70 times, which is at a historical low, leading to a continued recommendation for investment [2]. Summary by Sections Financial Performance - The company achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 106.94 billion yuan in 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 108.9% [6]. - The value of new business grew by 24.3% year-on-year on a comparable basis [6]. Investment Returns - The company reported significant improvement in investment returns, with total and net investment yields of 5.5% and 3.47% respectively, showing notable improvement from the mid-year figures of 3.59% and 3.03% [11]. Embedded Value and Business Quality - The embedded value (EV) reached 1.4 trillion yuan in 2024, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 11.2%, which is relatively high within the industry [11]. - The company adjusted its economic assumptions for the value system cautiously, with the investment return rate lowered from 4.5% to 4.0% [11]. New Business Development - The new business value maintained a high growth rate, with a year-on-year increase of 24.3% in 2024, despite a slight decline from 25.1% in the previous quarter [11]. - The first-year premium growth rate was 5.8%, with a notable 14.3% increase in new policies with a term of ten years or more [11]. Workforce and Marketing Strategy - The individual insurance workforce stood at 615,000 by the end of 2024, showing a slight decrease from previous quarters, but productivity per capita improved with a 15% year-on-year increase in new policy premiums [11]. - The company is implementing a "seed plan" to explore new marketing models, which has shown initial success in 24 cities [11].