Eight new funds launched as insurance companies accelerate their private equity investment strategies

Insurance Asset Management News Reporter | Feng Lijun

Since the beginning of this year, insurance companies have been actively involved in equity investments.

According to incomplete public information compiled by Insurance Asset Management News Reporter, since 2026, eight new equity investment funds have been established by insurance companies, involving TaiKang Life, Great Wall Life, DaJia Life, and others. From November to December 2025, at least seven newly founded equity investment funds have appeared with insurance funds behind them, showing a clear acceleration compared to previous actions.

“Buying stocks/bonds can be compared to ‘buying groceries at the supermarket,’ while private equity investments are like ‘farming on a farm.’ Insurance companies doing private equity investments are using ‘time to exchange for space’—sacrificing liquidity to gain higher future returns and more stable financial statements,” Professor Wang Guojun of the Insurance School at the University of International Business and Economics told Insurance Asset Management News. “As long as the low-interest-rate environment persists, insurance companies will continue to increase their investments in this area for survival and profit.”

Frequent Establishment of Equity Investment Funds by Insurance Companies

Since the beginning of this year, many insurance companies have participated in establishing equity investment funds.

Tianjin Lanqin Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) was established in early February 2026. The general partner is Gao Heping (Beijing) Enterprise Management Service Co., Ltd., with a capital contribution of 8.601 billion yuan. Its scope includes private equity fund activities such as equity investment, investment management, and asset management.

Among its partners are seven insurance companies: TaiKang Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Great Wall Life Insurance Co., Ltd., AIA Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Zhonghong Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Zhongyi Life Insurance Co., Ltd., China United TaiMetLife Insurance Co., Ltd., and TaiKang Pension Insurance Co., Ltd.

Additionally, Zhongbao Investment Zhixing An (Jiaxing) Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Zhongbao Investment Yide (Suzhou) Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) were respectively established on February 26 and March 5, both focusing on equity investments. Tianyancha shows that the former’s partners are Zhongbao Investment Co., Ltd. (hereafter Zhongbao Investment) and Yong’an Property & Casualty Insurance; the latter’s partners are Zhongbao Investment and Zhonghui Life, with capital contributions of 1.4156% and 98.5844%, respectively.

According to Zhongbao Investment’s official website, under the “State Council’s plan for establishing China Insurance Investment Funds,” Zhongbao Investment acts as the general partner responsible for fund establishment, fundraising, and management. It was founded in December 2015. Zhongbao Investment has 46 shareholders, including 27 insurance companies, 15 insurance asset management firms, and 4 social capital investors.

Recently, on March 13, Zhongbao Investment Rongxin Ying (Jiaxing) Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) was established, with all partners being Zhongbao Investment and its subsidiaries.

Furthermore, within this year, Guangdong Hua’an HuiXing Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), Tianjin Chuji Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), Beijing Chengda Digital Intelligence Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), and Huizhi Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai) Private Equity Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) were also established, involving insurers such as Hua’an Property & Casualty, DaJia Life, China Life, and PICC.

Insurance News Reporter’s compiled chart

Among these, China Life participated in establishing the Huizhi Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai) Private Equity Fund, which will focus on technological innovation and industrial upgrading opportunities in the Yangtze River Delta region, investing in growth-stage equity assets mainly in the fields of artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and biomedicine.

Insurance News Reporter found that the establishment of equity investment funds by insurance companies has shown a clear acceleration trend since late 2025. In November and December 2025, seven funds including Jiaxing Pingji Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Zhongbao Investment Zhisen Rui (Jiaxing) Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) were founded, involving insurance institutions such as Ping An Capital, Taibao Asset Management, PICC, and China Life (Ping An Capital and Taibao Asset Management are insurance asset management firms).

Risks and Opportunities Coexist

The recent acceleration of insurance companies’ participation in establishing equity investment funds reflects their enthusiasm for equity investments and is also driven by policy support.

In 2025, policies such as the “Notice on Adjusting the Regulatory Ratio of Insurance Funds’ Equity Assets” were issued, signaling encouragement for insurance funds to participate in equity investments.

“The government encourages insurance—long-term capital—to support technological innovation and the real economy, providing many green lights and incentives,” Wang Guojun told Insurance Asset Management News.

“Regulators continue to guide long-term funds into the market, especially encouraging life insurance funds to increase their allocation to equity assets to support stable capital market operation, serve the real economy, and promote technological innovation,” said Wang Changtai, Senior Director of Insurance Ratings at Fitch Ratings Asia-Pacific.

On the other hand, against the backdrop of declining interest rate centers, participating in private equity investments allows insurance companies to improve investment returns, optimize asset structures, and match the duration of their long-term liabilities, reducing the impact on current profits in accounting.

Wang Changtai analyzed to Insurance Asset Management News, “The persistent low-interest-rate environment compresses the yield growth space of traditional fixed-income assets. Some Chinese life insurers plan to increase their allocation to equity and private equity assets through establishing equity funds to optimize asset return structures and better match long-term liabilities.”

“With abundant funds, rapid market development, and good investment returns last year, insurance companies have accumulated a large amount of investable capital. In the context of asset scarcity, they are seeking new avenues, and private equity investments can boost investment returns,” Wang Guojun shared a similar view, stating, “The long duration of life insurance funds aligns well with the long cycles of private equity investments, typically lasting 5 to 10 years.”

However, participation in private equity investments also involves certain risks.

An industry insider pointed out that the underlying assets of equity funds, once penetrated, are more complex and non-standardized compared to fixed-income products, increasing the difficulty for investment institutions in due diligence, valuation, judgment, and post-investment management. Additionally, private equity projects, especially private equity funds, have poor liquidity, posing new challenges for liquidity management of insurance funds.

“Private equity investments usually have long lock-up periods and require long capital occupation, with uncertain exit paths and timing, resulting in overall weak liquidity. In contrast, secondary market investments are more liquid, facilitating quick rebalancing and stop-loss measures,” Wang Changtai told Insurance Asset Management News. Meanwhile, the valuation updates for private equity assets are relatively infrequent, so their impact on short-term accounting fluctuations is usually small.

Wang Dufu, Party Secretary and Chairman of ICBC-AXA Life, recently wrote that as single growth-oriented investment strategies can no longer meet the complex needs of insurance funds, participation strategies in private equity funds will further iterate and optimize. For example, using secondary market transactions of private equity to optimize portfolios, maintain liquidity, and seize discounted investment opportunities.

Wang Dufu believes that with the acceleration of Chinese companies’ globalization and the enhancement of insurance institutions’ global asset allocation capabilities, cross-border private equity investments will become a long-term, continuously deepening innovative direction. In the future, insurance private equity will more skillfully employ a combination of “primary investments + S-funds (private equity secondary market funds) + cross-border allocation + ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) integration” strategies, seeking the best balance between pursuing excess returns, risk diversification, and maintaining liquidity.