According to Wind Information data, as of May 25, 2025, among the registered portfolio insurance asset management products, 1,388 products have disclosed their latest annualized yields (hereinafter referred to as “yields”). Among them, 1,222 products have achieved positive returns, accounting for 88%, 165 products have negative yields, and 1 product has a yield of 0.
Returns of Fixed-Income Products Are Relatively Stable
Insurance asset management products generally include debt investment plans, equity investment plans, portfolio products, and other products as stipulated by regulations. Among various insurance asset management products, currently only portfolio products disclose net value data and have become an important reference for the market to observe the investment capabilities of insurance asset management companies. According to regulatory requirements, during the operation of combined insurance asset management products, the net value disclosure frequency of closed-end products shall be no less than once a week, and the net value disclosure frequency of open-end products shall be no less than the product opening frequency.
According to Wind data statistics, as of May 25, 2025, 1,388 products have disclosed their latest yield rates.
By major category, the returns of fixed-income products are relatively stable. Among the 960 fixed-income products that disclosed their latest yields, 900 achieved positive returns, accounting for over 90%, 59 had negative yields, and 1 had a yield of 0. The average yield rate of fixed-income products is 2.76%, and the median is 2.34%.
Equity products performed well. A total of 240 equity products disclosed their latest yields, among which 180 products had positive yields and 60 products had negative yields. The average overall yield was 7.42% and the median was 5.57%.
Among the hybrid products, 188 products disclosed their latest yields, among which 143 products achieved positive returns and 45 products had negative yields. The average overall yield was 5.21% and the median was 3.38%.
Market Performance and Investment Insights
Zhou Jin, a partner in China’s financial industry management consulting at Pricewaterhousecoopers Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., told the Securities Daily that the investment side has benefited from the performance of the capital market. On the one hand, the stock market performed outstandingly in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, thereby boosting the investment return rate of equity products. On the other hand, the returns of fixed-income products are relatively stable. Meanwhile, the decline in bond interest rates has led to a floating profit in bond investment valuations, which is reflected in their investment returns, resulting in better performance of fixed-income asset management products.
Expanding Third-Party Business
Combined insurance asset management products, while demonstrating the investment capabilities of insurance asset management companies, have also become the key to whether they can attract third-party funds (including third-party insurance funds, bank funds, and other funds, etc.). In recent years, with the continuous increase in the scale of funds in the insurance industry, some insurance asset management institutions have begun to expand their third-party fund management business and take combination-type insurance asset management products as an important means to seek new expansion paths.
In recent years, the proportion of third-party funds in combined insurance asset management products has continued to increase. The “Report on the Development of China’s Insurance Asset Management Industry (2024)” released by the Insurance Asset Management Association of China shows that as of the end of 2023, the outstanding balance of combined insurance asset management products was 6.39 trillion yuan, accounting for 75% of the outstanding balance of insurance asset management products. From the perspective of the source of funds, the proportion of bank or wealth management funds has increased significantly, indicating the improvement of the marketization degree of insurance asset management products.
The reasons for this are related to factors such as the higher cost performance of combination-based insurance asset management products, the relatively high growth rate of third-party funds, and the expansion of funding sources.
Xu Yishan, the chief financial analyst of Founder Securities, said that under the background of diversified funds, third-party funds might be the next expansion path for insurance asset management. According to the latest public data, as of the end of 2023, the proportion of insurance funds within the system in the sources of funds for insurance asset management companies was 67.63%, a year-on-year decrease. The proportions of third-party insurance funds, bank funds, and pension funds were 6.68%, 14.92%, and 7.90% respectively, and there has been a further upward trend in recent years. It is expected that the growth trend of third-party funds will continue this year and may become the next competitive direction for insurance asset management.
Zhang Lingjia, president of Guangdong Kaili Capital Management Co., Ltd., told the Securities Daily that previously, insurance asset management mainly managed funds within insurance groups and the insurance industry. Due to the large scale of insurance funds, the growth rate of internal business of insurance asset management could only be driven by funds within the industry, so the industry was relatively closed. However, the stage of extensive growth of insurance funds through scale will eventually come to an end. For insurance asset management institutions to expand their sources of funds and develop third-party funds, they need to further adapt to market demands. He said that in the future, insurance asset management institutions need to complete the marketization of incentive mechanisms, management mechanisms, and assessment mechanisms.
Future Outlook
The “Review and Outlook on the Development of the Asset Management Industry in 2024” released by the Strategic Development Department of China Life Asset Management Co., Ltd. indicates that the insurance asset management industry still needs to focus on the following aspects:
Actively Respond to the New Dynamics of the Low-Interest-Rate Environment: Insurance asset management institutions need to adapt to the challenges posed by low interest rates and explore strategies to maintain and enhance returns in this environment.
Explore Differentiated Development Positioning: Insurance asset management institutions need to further clarify the boundaries of their business, strengthen the construction of product innovation and customer service capabilities, enhance the brand influence and market competitiveness of the institutions, and further expand third-party business.
Continuous Development of New Quality Productivity in Services: The industry will continue to explore the paths and channels for forming long-term and patient capital, improve the efficiency of capital allocation, and help investors share more of the dividends of the development of new quality productivity.
These insights highlight the ongoing evolution of the insurance asset management industry, emphasizing the need for innovation, market adaptation, and the expansion of third-party business to sustain growth and competitiveness.
Related Topics:
