With the release of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co.Ltd(601601) premium data, the premium transcripts of the five major A-share insurance companies in 2021 have been disclosed. According to the data, in 2021, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company Of China Ltd(601318) , China Life Insurance Company Limited(601628) , The People’S Insurance Company (Group) Of China Limited(601319) , China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co.Ltd(601601) , New China Life Insurance Company Ltd(601336) five insurance companies achieved a total premium income of 2487523 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.03%.
China Securities Journal reporter noted that in 2022, foreign-funded institutions frequently sweep out insurance stocks. Industry insiders said that the impact of the covid-19 pneumonia epidemic is gradually weakening. It is expected that the growth rate of consumption will accelerate and the demand for insurance will gradually pick up. At present, insurance stocks have a high defensive attribute.
the growth of life insurance business was stable
In terms of total premium, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company Of China Ltd(601318) still ranks first. In 2021, the premium income reached 760.333 billion yuan, China Life Insurance Company Limited(601628) (620 billion yuan) and The People’S Insurance Company (Group) Of China Limited(601319) (581.047 billion yuan) also exceeded 500 billion yuan, ranking second and third. The premium income of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co.Ltd(601601) and New China Life Insurance Company Ltd(601336) in 2021 is 362.673 billion yuan and 163.47 billion yuan respectively. If calculated according to the year-on-year growth rate, except Ping An Insurance (Group) Company Of China Ltd(601318) , the other four insurance companies maintained positive growth, of which The People’S Insurance Company (Group) Of China Limited(601319) led by a year-on-year growth rate of 3.67%, and New China Life Insurance Company Ltd(601336) ranked second, with a year-on-year growth rate of 2.48%.
Life insurance is the largest business of insurance companies. In 2021, the life insurance business of the five listed insurance companies increased except Ping An Life. Among them, New China Life Insurance Company Ltd(601336) , China Life Insurance Company Limited(601628) , PICC Life Insurance and CPIC life insurance increased by 2.5%, 1.2%, 0.7% and 0.6% respectively in 2021.
Looking forward to the first quarter of this year, Haitong Securities Company Limited(600837) analyst sun Ting said that the “good start” in 2022 was generally delayed, and new life insurance orders with a high base may still face negative growth in the next quarter. At present, the main products of the “good start” in 2022 are still savings products with high yield. Insurance companies have also further raised the upper limit of the insurance age and extended the insurance age. It is expected that on the basis of the high base in 2021, the “good start” growth rate of insurance enterprises in 2022 will face pressure. After March, due to the significant decline in the base in the same period of last year, it is expected that the premium growth rate may improve to a certain extent. Tianfeng Securities Co.Ltd(601162) the research report points out that the long-term space of insurance demand is still optimistic about the data inflection point on the liability side, which is expected to occur in March 2022.
recovery of auto insurance premium income
After the comprehensive reform of auto insurance for more than a year, the auto insurance premium income of head insurance enterprises finally showed a warming trend.
The data show that the premium income of PICC P & C’s auto insurance business in 2021 was 255.275 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%; The premium income of Ping An Property Insurance and auto insurance business was 188.838 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%; CPIC’s auto insurance business income was 91.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4%.
Although the annual data of 2021 still showed a year-on-year decline, looking at the data of December and the fourth quarter of 2021 alone, the premium income of automobile insurance of head insurance companies has stabilized. In December 2021, the auto insurance premium of PICC Property Insurance increased by 10.3% year-on-year; In the fourth quarter of 2021, the premium income of Ping An Property Insurance and CPIC property insurance increased by 8.7% and 8.3% respectively year-on-year.
Sun Ting said that auto insurance premiums have returned to the path of positive growth. On the one hand, the comprehensive reform of automobile insurance has been completed for one year, and the downward trend of average automobile premium has gradually stabilized. On the other hand, the comprehensive reform of auto insurance has led to a decline in the comparable base, and the future auto insurance premium is expected to usher in a trend upward. Orient Securities Company Limited(600958) the research report points out that the deterministic trend of auto insurance growth has been consolidated and is expected to usher in scale improvement in the future.
It is worth mentioning that the health insurance business of head insurance enterprises is also developing rapidly. From the disclosed data, the growth rate of premium income of the two health insurance professional companies still maintained high growth. Among them, PICC Health achieved a premium income of 35.816 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 11.03%; Ping An Health Insurance realized a premium income of 11.233 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.34%. In addition, Zhongan insurance, an insurance company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, also disclosed that the original premium income in 2021 was 20.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22%, and the company’s health insurance premium income accounted for a relatively high proportion.
northbound funds frequently buy
On January 20, insurance stocks strengthened across the board. As of the close, the wind insurance index rose by 3.27%, of which New China Life Insurance Company Ltd(601336) closed up by 4.51%, and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company Of China Ltd(601318) and China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co.Ltd(601601) also rose by more than 3%.
In 2022, except for China Life Insurance Company Limited(601628) , the stock prices of the other four insurance companies have stabilized and rebounded. The cumulative increase of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company Of China Ltd(601318) and China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co.Ltd(601601) exceeded 5%, and New China Life Insurance Company Ltd(601336) was 4.24% and The People’S Insurance Company (Group) Of China Limited(601319) was 1.91%. Looking back on the whole year of 2021, the stock prices of the five major A-share insurance companies did not perform satisfactorily, with a cumulative decline of double digits.
Behind the good start of insurance stocks, foreign institutions have made “great contributions”. In 2022, foreign investors frequently “sweep away” insurance stocks.
According to the data, as of January 19, the shareholding of foreign capital in Ping An Insurance (Group) Company Of China Ltd(601318) , China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co.Ltd(601601) , The People’S Insurance Company (Group) Of China Limited(601319) , China Life Insurance Company Limited(601628) , New China Life Insurance Company Ltd(601336) increased by 2.72%, 4.03%, 21.17%, 5.46% and 7.41% respectively compared with the closing on December 31, 2021.
It is worth mentioning that northbound funds bought 12.576 billion yuan of A-Shares on January 20, a new high since December 9 last year. Among them, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company Of China Ltd(601318) received a net purchase of 1.353 billion yuan. Institutional people believe that the current valuation and expectation of the insurance sector are at historical lows, with defensive attributes.
