From January to October, the growth rate of original insurance premiums in the insurance industry slowed down, mainly due to the shift in life insurance rates.
According to Zhichong Finance APP, China Galaxy Securities released a research report stating that in October 2024, the insurance industry achieved original insurance premium income of 282.805 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.08%, with the growth rate narrowing by 2.58 percentage points compared to the previous period. In the life insurance sector, life insurance business realized premium income of 168.298 billion yuan, a decline of 0.23% year-on-year. Among these, the life insurance business achieved premium income of 109.688 billion yuan, a decline of 3.73% year-on-year. On the asset side, driven by policy combinations, the equity market has shown marginal recovery, significantly improving the investment yield of insurance companies. As of Q3 2024, benefited from the marginal improvement in the equity market by the end of September, the fund utilization structure of insurance capital continued to adjust, increasing the allocation of equity assets.
China Galaxy Securities' main points are as follows:
The growth rate of original insurance premiums in the insurance industry slowed down, mainly due to the shift in life insurance rates.
From January to October, the insurance industry achieved original premium income of 5077.34 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.41%, with the growth rate narrowing by 0.33 percentage points compared to the previous value (January to September: +12.74%). In the life insurance sector, from January to October, the insurance industry achieved life insurance premium income of 3878.364 billion yuan, an increase of 14.74% year-on-year, with the growth rate narrowing by 0.79 percentage points compared to the previous value (January to September: +15.52%). Among these, life insurance premium income reached 2923.575 billion yuan, an increase of 17.35% year-on-year, with the growth rate narrowing by 1.01 percentage points compared to the previous value (January to September: +18.36%); health insurance premium income reached 873.862 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.46%, with the growth rate narrowing by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous value (January to September: +8.56%); accidental insurance premium income reached 80.927 billion yuan, a decline of 2.72% year-on-year, with the drop narrowing by 1 percentage point compared to the previous value (January to September: -3.73%).
In the property insurance sector, from January to October, the insurance industry achieved property insurance premium income of 1198.976 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.49%, with the growth rate expanding by 1.33 percentage points compared to the previous value (January to September: +4.16%). Among these, car insurance premium income reached 737.609 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.84%, with the growth rate expanding by 1.52 percentage points compared to the previous value (January to September: +3.32%); non-car insurance premium income reached 461.367 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.54%, with the growth rate expanding by 1.07 percentage points compared to the previous value (January to September: +5.47%).
In October, property insurance showed strong performance, with significant year-on-year growth in car and non-car insurance premiums.
In October 2024, the insurance industry achieved original insurance premium income of 282.805 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.08%, with growth narrowing by 2.58 percentage points compared to the previous month. In the area of life insurance, personal insurance business generated premium income of 168.298 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.23%. Among these, life insurance achieved premium income of 109.688 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.73%; health insurance generated premium income of 51.344 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%, with growth expanding by 1.58 percentage points from the previous month; accident insurance generated premium income of 7.266 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.79%.
In terms of property insurance, the property insurance business achieved premium income of 114.506 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20%, with growth expanding by 15.43 percentage points compared to the previous month. Among these, auto insurance generated premiums of 83.056 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.63%, with growth expanding by 14.15 percentage points from the previous month; non-auto insurance generated premiums of 31.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.75%, with growth expanding by 19.02 percentage points from the previous month.
Benefiting from a marginal recovery in the market, the allocation ratio of equity assets has been increased.
As of the end of October 2024, the total assets of the insurance industry reached 35.02 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.05% from the end of last month, and a growth of 16.9% compared to the end of last year; net assets reached 3.11 trillion yuan, a decrease of 3.37% from the end of last month, and an increase of 13.59% from the end of last year.
As of Q3 2024, the balance of fund utilization in the insurance industry was 32.15 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.06%; among which, life insurance companies had a fund utilization balance of 28.94 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.93%; property insurance companies had a fund utilization balance of 2.14 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.74%. Benefiting from the marginal improvement in the equity market at the end of September, the structure of insurance fund utilization continued to adjust, increasing allocation to equity assets. As of Q3 2024, the allocation ratio of fixed income assets (bank deposits + bonds) was 55.47%, an increase of 0.66 percentage points compared to the previous quarter; the allocation ratio of equity assets (stocks and funds) was 20.35%, an increase of 0.21 percentage points compared to the previous quarter; and the allocation ratio of other assets was 24.18%, a decrease of 0.87 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.
Investment suggestions: On the liability side, the reduction in deposit rates enhances the advantages of savings-type products, and while the growth rate of life insurance premiums slows down in the short term, the overall trend remains positive. Policy factors such as trade-ins are favorable for a rebound in the passenger vehicle sales market, which in turn benefits the sustained growth of property insurance premiums. It is recommended to pay attention to symbols such as china life insurance (601628.SH), new china life insurance (601336.SH), ping an insurance (601318.SH), china pacific insurance (02601), and the people's insurance (601319.SH).
Risk warning: Risks of macroeconomic performance being below expectations, risks of long-term interest rates decreasing, and risks of fluctuations in the equity market.
