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

Financial Times Reporter | Feng Lijun

Since the beginning of this year, insurance companies’ equity investments have been rapidly increasing.

According to incomplete public information compiled by Financial Times reporters, since 2026, eight new equity investment funds have been established by insurance companies, involving TaiKang Life, Great Wall Life, TaDa Life, and others. From November to December 2025, at least seven new equity investment funds were launched with the involvement of insurance funds, 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 is about ‘exchanging time for space’—sacrificing liquidity to gain higher returns and more stable financial statements in the future,” Professor Wang Guojun from the Insurance School at the University of International Business and Economics told Financial Times. “As long as the low-interest-rate environment persists, insurance companies will continue to increase their investments in this area to survive and profit.”

Frequent establishment of equity investment funds by insurance companies

Since the beginning of this year, several insurance companies have participated in setting up 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 the seven partners listed 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., Zhongmei United Metropolitan Life 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 established on February 26 and March 5, respectively, both focusing on equity investments. Tianyancha shows that the former’s partners are Zhongbao Investment Co., Ltd. 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, based on 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 also established, with all partners being Zhongbao Investment and its subsidiaries.

Furthermore, Guangdong Hu’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 this year, involving insurers such as Hu’an Property & Casualty, TaDa Life, China Life, and PICC.

Financial Times reporter compilation and chart

Among them, the Huizhi Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai) Private Equity Fund, participated in by China Life, 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.

The Financial Times found that the establishment of equity investment funds by insurance companies has significantly accelerated since late 2025. In November and December 2025, seven funds including Jiaxing Pingji Equity Investment Partnership and Zhongbao Zhiyong Rui (Jiaxing) Equity Investment Partnership were formed, involving insurance institutions such as Ping An Capital, PICC Asset Management, PICC, and China Life (Ping An Capital and PICC 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 supported by policy measures.

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

“The government encourages insurance, as ‘long-term capital,’ to support technological innovation and the real economy, providing many green lights and incentives,” Wang Guojun told Financial Times.

“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 rates, participating in private equity can improve investment returns, optimize asset structure, and match the duration with life insurance liabilities. It also reduces the impact on current profits in accounting treatment.

Wang Changtai analyzed, “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 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 large amounts of investable capital. In the context of asset scarcity, they are seeking new avenues, and private equity investments can boost returns,” Wang Guojun shared a similar view. “Life insurers have long durations, which align well with the long cycles of private equity investments, typically 5 to 10 years.”

However, there are risks involved in insurance companies’ participation in private equity investments.

Some industry insiders point out that the underlying assets of private equity funds, once penetrated, are more complex and non-standardized compared to fixed income products, increasing the difficulty of due diligence, valuation, and post-investment management. Moreover, private equity projects, especially private equity funds, tend to have poor liquidity, posing new challenges for liquidity management.

“Private equity investments usually have long lock-up periods, require long capital occupation, and have uncertain exit paths and timing, resulting in overall weak liquidity. In contrast, secondary market investments are more liquid, allowing quick rebalancing and stop-loss actions,” Wang Changtai told Financial Times. Meanwhile, the valuation updates for private equity assets are relatively infrequent, often having minimal short-term impact on the book value.

Wang Dufu, Secretary of the Party Committee 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 in private equity funds will further evolve and optimize. For example, using secondary market transactions 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 to seek the best balance between pursuing excess returns, risk diversification, and maintaining liquidity.