Shenwan Hongyuan Securities·2025-09-16 09:14Investment Rating - The report maintains a positive outlook on the insurance industry, recommending several key companies including China Life, China Pacific Insurance, New China Life, Ping An Insurance, China People’s Insurance, China Property Insurance, and Sunshine Insurance [3]. Core Insights - The "anti-involution" policy on the liability side has shown significant effectiveness, leading to notable improvements in NBV and COR performance [3]. - Profit performance among listed insurance companies is differentiated, with a year-on-year increase in net profit of 3.7% to CNY 178.2 billion in the first half of 2025 [3][10]. - The investment performance is varied, with a steady increase in the proportion of equity allocation in the secondary market [3]. Summary by Sections 1. Profit Performance and EV Growth - In the first half of 2025, the net profit of listed insurance companies reached CNY 178.2 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 3.7% [6][10]. - The embedded value (EV) of listed insurance companies increased steadily, with growth rates ranging from 2.6% to 18.4% compared to the end of 2024 [10]. 2. Liability Side: "Anti-Involution" Policy Effectiveness - The net new business value (NBV) for the first half of 2025 reached CNY 75.42 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30.5% [3][26]. - The NBV growth rates for various companies ranged from 14.0% to 58.4% [3]. - The cost of risk (COR) improved, leading to a significant increase in underwriting profits, with a year-on-year growth of 67.9% to CNY 24.87 billion [3]. 3. Asset Side: Investment Performance Variation - The total investment assets of seven listed insurance companies grew by 7.5% to CNY 21.9 trillion, accounting for 60.3% of the industry’s total insurance fund utilization [3]. - The net investment return rate for listed insurance companies ranged from 2.8% to 3.8%, showing a decline compared to the previous year [3]. 4. Investment Analysis Opinion - The report highlights the dual factors of liability costs and long-term interest rates, which have recently shown marginal improvement, suggesting a positive outlook for the insurance sector [3].