On September 14, Cailian News Agency (Reporter Xia Shuyuan) reported that by September 14, the premium income of the top five A-share insurance companies for the first eight months of the year was revealed. According to statistics from Cailian News Agency, the five listed insurance companies in A-shares achieved a total of 2.17 trillion yuan in original premium income in the first eight months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.

Specifically, all five companies have experienced positive growth in premium income. Among them, Ping An Insurance achieved a premium income of 620.706 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.64%, the highest among the five companies.

The other four companies, China Life Insurance, China Pacific Insurance, China Taiping Insurance, and New China Life Insurance, achieved premium income of 564.9 billion yuan, 515.678 billion yuan, 333.964 billion yuan, and 130.282 billion yuan respectively, with corresponding year-on-year growth rates of 5.9%, 5%, 4.1%, and 1.9%.

In terms of life insurance, Ping An Life Insurance, China Life Insurance, China Pacific Insurance, New China Life Insurance, and the People's Insurance achieved a total of 1.36 trillion yuan in original premium income, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%; in terms of property insurance, the People's Property Insurance, Ping An Property Insurance, and China Pacific Property Insurance achieved a total of 735.386 billion yuan in original premium income, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.

Many industry insiders have told Cailian News Agency that in the month of August driven by the "discontinued" effect, new life insurance policies were not sold less. Due to the market's anticipation of interest rate adjustments, leading companies also seized the opportunity to increase sales efforts in the switch between new and old products, and made a final push in the sales of long-term savings insurance and critical illness insurance products, while new products are also being launched one after another.

Industry insiders believe that in the long run, as the interest rates of bank deposits have been lowered multiple times and the listed interest rates of deposits have entered an era of "1%", combined with the disturbance of capital markets on bank wealth management and public fund products, savings-type insurance products with a targeted interest rate of 2.5% may still have a certain appeal.

In August, the premium of the top five life insurance companies surged, with New China Life Insurance and the People's Insurance achieving a year-on-year growth rate of over 90%.

By August 2024, the five major life insurance companies in A-shares had accumulated original premium income of 1.36 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%.

Specifically, the original premium income of the 5 companies is all showing positive growth. Among them, Ping An Life achieved original premium income of 384.629 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, ranking first in growth among the 5 companies.

China Life Insurance, the People's Insurance, New China Life Insurance, and China Pacific Insurance Life achieved original premium income of 564.9 billion yuan, 92.281 billion yuan, 130.282 billion yuan, and 191.729 billion yuan, with corresponding growth rates of 5.9%, 5.7%, 1.9%, and 1.5%, respectively.

Looking at the single month of August, the 5 companies collectively achieved an original premium income of 130.515 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 48%. Among them, New China Life Insurance and the People's Insurance achieved original premium income of 18.408 billion yuan and 7.749 billion yuan, with corresponding year-on-year growth rates of 122% and 95%.

Ping An Life, China Life Insurance, and China Pacific Insurance Life achieved original premium income of 41.826 billion yuan, 41.4 billion yuan, and 21.132 billion yuan, with corresponding year-on-year growth rates of 38%, 29%, and 53%, respectively.

Wang Yifeng, Chief Financial Analyst of Everbright Securities, stated that in early August of this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Notice on Improving the Pricing Mechanism of Life Insurance Products," mentioning that as of September 1, the maximum guaranteed interest rate for non-participating insurance products will be 2.5%; as of October 1, the maximum guaranteed interest rate for participating insurance products will be 2%; and the minimum guaranteed interest rate for universal insurance products will be 1.5%. In the short term, the switch in guaranteed interest rates is likely to trigger market behaviors such as "speculative buying and selling."

As the base from August of last year gradually decreases, the early release of demand will boost the performance of new policies in the third quarter. Moreover, due to the different rhythms of product switches, the maximum guaranteed interest rates for traditional insurance and participating insurance in September are both 2.5%. The "2.5% guaranteed + floating" income feature of participating insurance may become more attractive, and the proportion of new participating insurance policies in a single month is expected to increase.

In the medium term, after the full implementation of new products, the two rounds of demand anticipation caused by the operation of product switches since 2023 may create certain disturbances to subsequent sales.

In the long run, as the bank deposit interest rates have been lowered multiple times, the current 1Y/2Y/3Y/5Y deposit listed rates for the five major banks have entered the era of "1%", plus banking wealth management and public fund products are easily affected by the capital market disturbances. A savings-type insurance product with a scheduled interest rate of 2.5% may still have certain attractiveness.

In addition, the dynamic adjustment mechanism for scheduled interest rates will significantly benefit insurance companies in adjusting their liability costs in a timely manner according to market changes, which will contribute to the long-term improvement of the industry's asset-liability management capabilities and effectively mitigate interest rate spread risks.

The premium of property insurance of the three major insurance companies maintained steady growth in the first eight months, with China Pacific Property Insurance leading the way with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.7%.

From January to August 2024, the business of the "old three" property insurance companies saw steady growth, with a total original premium income of 735.386 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.

Among them, China Pacific Property Insurance achieved a premium income of 142.235 billion yuan, leading the way with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.7%; PICC Property and Casualty Insurance and Ping An Property Insurance achieved premium incomes of 382.151 billion yuan and 211 billion yuan, with corresponding year-on-year growth rates of 4.3% and 5.3%.

In terms of insurance types, from January to August, China Pacific Property Insurance accumulated a premium income of 186.469 billion yuan for auto insurance, an increase of 3% year-on-year; and a premium income of 195.682 billion yuan for non-auto insurance, an increase of 5.7% year-on-year.

In detail, from January to August, China Pacific Property Insurance achieved a premium income of 26.855 billion yuan for liability insurance, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%; a premium income of 838.61 million yuan for health insurance, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%; a premium income of 50.308 billion yuan for agricultural insurance, a year-on-year increase of 1.7%; a premium income of 12.734 billion yuan for corporate property insurance, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%; and a premium income of 3.71 billion yuan for credit insurance, a year-on-year decrease of 8.3%.

Zhou Yingjie, the chief analyst of Huafu Securities Research Institute, stated that from China Pacific Property Insurance's perspective, its property insurance premium income maintains steady growth, with auto insurance premiums remaining at a low level of positive growth, and non-auto insurance growth rate surpassing auto insurance. They expect that with the formal introduction of the second round of the policy details for replacing old cars with new ones, auto insurance premiums will continue to grow positively.

Zhang Lei, CEO of Cheche Technology, told Caixin reporters that the growth rate of auto insurance business is generally falling due to the impact of the integration of motor insurance and traffic violation fine payment, and the expense ratio has decreased significantly. Currently, new energy vehicle insurance is becoming a new growth pole in the auto insurance market.

From the perspective of large insurance companies, the scale of new energy vehicle insurance is rapidly expanding. For example, in the first half of this year, PICC Property and Casualty Co., Ltd. saw the number of new energy vehicles underwritten increase by 59.3% year-on-year; CPIC Property and Casualty Co., Ltd. witnessed a 41.7% year-on-year growth in premiums for new energy vehicle insurance, optimizing the operation mode of new energy vehicle insurance, and reducing the cost ratio of new energy vehicle insurance policies through refined management with new models. Although the overall new energy vehicle insurance operation of large insurance companies is not yet profitable, the comprehensive cost ratio continues to decline.

In Zhang Lei's view, in the future, vehicle manufacturers will play an increasingly important role in the auto insurance market, and will become the primary "gateway" for auto insurance. Currently, the scale of the auto insurance market in China is about 800 billion yuan, with about one-third of the market share controlled by 4S stores, and the contribution of vehicle manufacturers is minimal. He predicts, "With the growth of new energy vehicles, in the next five years, vehicle manufacturers will gradually replace 4S stores as the primary sales channel for insurance, contributing at least 20% to 30% of the market share, while the market share of 4S stores will decrease to below 20%."