Rare Move! Insurance Giant Heavily Increases Holdings, Triggers Disclosure Requirements Twice for "Peer" Stocks! What’s Happening?

　　A reporter found on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) website that Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. purchased 9.5 million shares of China Life Insurance (H-shares) at HK$22.4072 per share on August 12, totaling approximately HK$213 million. As a result, its stake in China Life reached 375 million shares, accounting for 5.04% of the total—triggering a mandatory disclosure under HKEX rules.

　　A private equity manager in Shanghai who invests in Hong Kong stocks told Fund君 that Ping An’s continuous increase in holdings of China Life, leading to the disclosure requirement, reflects its optimism about insurance stocks. Insurance companies (especially life insurers) have a unique valuation system—market capitalization relative to their embedded value (EV). The core of EV measures the total future value that a company’s existing business can create for shareholders under ongoing operations. "Due to market concerns, the embedded value of insurers is currently deeply discounted. However, in reality, actuaries at insurance companies should have a deeper understanding of EV than the general public. Their insights into insurance stocks are more profound, which is why they are willing to invest."

　　According to HKEX disclosures, on August 11, Ping An bought 1.7414 million shares of China Pacific Insurance (H-shares) at HK$32.0655 per share, totaling about HK$55.8389 million, increasing its stake to 5.04%. On August 12, Ping An Life further raised its holdings by purchasing 3.662 million shares at HK$33.2932 per share, expanding its stake to 5.10%.

　　In recent years, insurance institutions have frequently triggered disclosure requirements for listed companies, but it is rare for them to do so for peer insurers. The last time an insurer triggered such a requirement for another insurer was six years ago, in 2019, when China Life increased its stake in China Pacific Insurance (H-shares), crossing the disclosure threshold.

　　Ge Yuxiang, Chief Non-Bank Financial Analyst at Zhongtai Securities, stated that Ping An’s move sends an important signal—insurance capital, as long-term funds, is also paying attention to insurance stocks, which fall under the "dividend" category. At the same time, the current valuation of insurance stocks fully reflects the pressures on both the asset and liability sides of the industry. Insurers triggering disclosures for peers indicate their confidence in the industry’s fundamentals bottoming out and improving.