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债市机构行为研究系列之五:保险买债特征全解析,保费、预定利率与买债节奏
1. Report Industry Investment Rating No relevant content provided. 2. Core Views of the Report - In the past three years, the re - allocation of insurance funds may have been an important factor in the flattening of the interest rate curve. When the supply of high - yield assets such as non - standard assets shrank, insurance funds favored ultra - long - term interest - rate bonds [5][28]. - The impact of the "premium开门红" on the bond market has weakened. Premium income is not the only factor determining the rhythm of insurance bond allocation. Insurance institutions often time their bond allocations, and high new premiums do not necessarily lead to high bond - allocation scales [5][34]. - After the reduction of the scheduled interest rate, the cost of new insurance liabilities will decrease, and the criteria for high - dividend assets to enter the pool may be lowered. Insurance may gradually focus on overseas income - generating assets [6][61]. - Due to the change in accounting standards and the pursuit of risk - return ratio and profit - smoothing mechanisms, insurance funds prefer high - dividend assets. Under the new accounting standards, most bonds are placed in the FVOCI account, and the trading attributes and the characteristic of realizing profits at the end of the quarter have been amplified [6][86]. - The "Solvency II" has higher requirements for the duration and transparency of insurance assets, but for most insurance institutions, the level of risk factors alone is difficult to affect the allocation preference of insurance funds [6][118]. - The net secondary - market purchases of treasury bonds, policy - bank bonds, local government bonds, and financial bonds (excluding policy - bank bonds) by insurance institutions are highly correlated with the actual changes in their holdings, which is worthy of tracking [6]. 3. Summary According to the Table of Contents 3.1 In recent years, insurance funds may have been an important factor in the flattening of the interest rate curve - Premiums are an important source of insurance funds. The long - term nature of insurance liabilities makes insurance funds prefer long - term assets. The proportion of life insurance premiums in total premiums has increased from 52% in 2022 to 56% in 2024 [25]. - When the supply of high - yield non - standard assets shrank, insurance funds re - allocated to ultra - long - term interest - rate bonds, resulting in the flattening of the interest rate curve. From 2022Q2 to 2025Q1, the proportion of non - standard assets in total insurance funds decreased from 26.9% to 19.3%, and the term spread between 30Y and 10Y treasury bonds changed from "mean - reversion" to "downward - trend" after 2020 [28]. 3.2 The impact of the "premium开门红" on the bond market has weakened, and currently, insurance asset allocation values the risk - return ratio more - In the past, due to the lack of long - term government bond issuance in January, insurance funds flowed into the secondary market in the early part of the year. However, in recent years, the supply of long - term government bonds in the primary market has increased, and the influence on the secondary market has weakened [34]. - Premium income is not the only factor determining the rhythm of insurance bond allocation. The reasons include sufficient primary - market supply, relatively high deposit returns, and the importance of timing bond allocation to increase returns in a low - interest - rate environment [41]. - Before the reduction of the scheduled interest rate, insurance institutions usually try to boost premiums but time their bond allocations. Although the reduction of the scheduled interest rate on August 31, 2025, was greater than expected, the "premium - boosting" phenomenon was not obvious, and the preference for bond market allocation weakened. After the reduction, the cost of new insurance liabilities decreased, and the attractiveness of 30Y treasury bonds and 20Y and above local government bonds increased when their YTM was higher than 2% [51][61]. - Insurance may focus on overseas fixed - income assets. The expansion of the scope of eligible investors for the Southbound Bond Connect is imminent, which may increase the proportion of overseas investment by insurance institutions and help improve investment returns [64]. 3.3 Stock - bond rebalancing and the switch between old and new accounting standards make high - dividend assets more popular - As the domestic long - term bond yield may remain low for a long time, insurance companies may seek high - yield fixed - income assets overseas and increase their allocation of equities [73]. - Under the new accounting standards, most bonds are placed in the FVOCI account, and the trading attributes and the characteristic of realizing profits at the end of the quarter have been amplified. Insurance institutions prefer to buy high - dividend assets and re - classify them into the FVOCI account to smooth profit fluctuations [86][97]. - High - dividend equity assets can support investment returns when bond yields are low. Their full - return index has performed better than ultra - long - term treasury bonds since 2019 [103]. 3.4 "Solvency II" has higher requirements for the duration and transparency of insurance assets - Since 2023, the solvency adequacy ratio of insurance institutions has been steadily increasing. As of 2025Q1, the comprehensive solvency adequacy ratio of Chinese insurance companies reached 204.5%, and the core solvency adequacy ratio reached 146.5% [110]. - "Solvency II" requires a higher degree of matching between asset and liability durations. If the asset duration is less than the liability duration, the minimum capital for interest - rate risk will increase rapidly under stress - testing scenarios [113]. - Holding assets such as trusts, real estate, and non - standard assets will increase the risk factor, raise the minimum risk capital, and lower the solvency adequacy ratio. However, for most insurance institutions, the level of risk factors alone is difficult to affect their asset - allocation preferences [118]. 3.5 Insurance focuses on primary - market subscriptions and supplements with secondary - market transactions 5.1 Which types of bonds in the cash - bond trading data of insurance institutions are worthy of high - frequency tracking - The net secondary - market purchases of treasury bonds, policy - bank bonds, local government bonds, and financial bonds (excluding policy - bank bonds) by insurance institutions are highly correlated with the actual changes in their holdings. In 2024, insurance institutions showed more obvious trading behaviors in the secondary market [119]. 5.2 Rules for insurance trading of treasury bonds - Insurance institutions tend to increase their net purchases of long - term treasury bonds at the end of the quarter and sell them at the beginning of the next quarter. Since 2023, their net purchases of 30Y treasury bonds have increased significantly [125]. - Although there are obvious rules for insurance institutions' trading of treasury bonds at the end of the quarter, it is difficult for a single type of investor to affect the bond - market trend [136]. 5.3 Insurance trading of local government bonds: The spread can be used as a leading indicator - The supply pressure of local government bonds affects the spread, which in turn affects the net secondary - market purchases of local government bonds by insurance institutions. The spread of local government bonds is an important indicator for judging the net - buying power of insurance institutions in the secondary market. When the spread increases by 5 - 6bp within a month, the net - buying scale of insurance institutions may increase significantly [138]. 5.4 Insurance trading strategy for Tier 2 and perpetual bonds - Since May 2024, insurance institutions have continuously sold medium - and long - term Tier 2 and perpetual bonds because these bonds cannot pass the cash - flow test and most are re - classified into the FVTPL account, which has a greater impact on current profits [152].