Insurance Capital Mobilizes Aggressively, Nearly HKD 1 Billion Allocated To Hong Kong Cornerstone Placements As 310 A‑Share Firms Undergo Intensive Due Diligence

In a market environment characterized by low interest rates and scarce assets, insurance capital has markedly increased its allocation to equities. Since the start of 2026, insurers have become frequent participants in Hong Kong IPO cornerstone placements, taking part in seven such deals with aggregate subscriptions approaching HKD 1 billion and covering sectors from emerging technology to leading consumer names. Concurrently, insurers have conducted on‑site research on 310 A‑share listed companies, signaling a sustained and tangible commitment of capital to the market.

Insurance Funds Step Up Cornerstone Roles In Hong Kong IPOs
Cornerstone investors serve as long‑term institutional anchors in Hong Kong listings and often indicate market sentiment. Recently, insurance funds have emerged as a principal force among cornerstone backers, targeting new consumption and hard‑technology sectors and thereby mapping a clear long‑term allocation strategy while generating attractive returns. A representative case is the listing of Hunan Mingming Henmang Commercial Chain Co., Ltd. (“Mingming Henmang”), which raised HKD 3.336 billion at an issue price of HKD 236.6 per share on the HKEX Main Board under the code 1768. The offering attracted eight leading cornerstone investors, including Tencent, Temasek and Taikang Insurance Group, with total cornerstone subscriptions amounting to USD 195 million. Tencent and Temasek each subscribed USD 45 million, BlackRock USD 35 million, Fidelity USD 30 million, and Taikang Insurance Group, Bosera International, E Fund and Greenwoods each subscribed USD 10 million. Mingming Henmang’s debut produced substantial gains for cornerstone investors: on January 28, the stock opened sharply higher, reached an intraday peak gain of 88.08 percent, saw market capitalization briefly exceed HKD 900 billion, and closed up 69.09 percent.

Taikang Insurance Group has been at the forefront of this insurer‑led push into Hong Kong, participating as a cornerstone investor in multiple IPOs including Biren Technology, Zhipu, Rebo Bio, MINIMAX and GigaDevice, with single‑deal subscriptions ranging from HKD 78 million to HKD 233 million and covering AI, semiconductors and biopharma. Other insurers have coordinated their allocations in step: Ping An Life participated in Biren Technology’s placement, Xinhua Asset (Hong Kong) subscribed to GigaDevice, and Dajia Life acquired 742,300 shares of OmniVision Group for approximately HKD 78 million. These institutional commitments reflect rigorous internal due diligence processes and a preference for larger, well‑governed issuers with reasonable valuations.

Institutional State Funds And Strategic Positioning
State‑backed funds and industrial mother funds have also played a visible role in seeding strategic emerging industries and shaping market confidence. For example, the Chongqing Industrial Investment Mother Fund appeared as a cornerstone investor when Seres Group listed H‑shares in November 2025, and Jiangxi Guokong Private Equity Fund Management joined the cornerstone roster for Shanghai Longqi Technology in January 2026. Since 2025, seven insurance institutions—including Taikang Insurance Group, China Post Life, Dajia Life, Ping An Life, Xinhua Asset, China Pacific Asset and China Pacific Asset Management (Hong Kong)—have acted as cornerstone investors in 20 Hong Kong IPOs, with total subscriptions of HKD 4.679 billion, a pattern that coincided with a buoyant Hong Kong market and delivered notable returns.

Strategic Rationale And Outlook For Insurer Allocations
Market participants explain that insurers’ growing presence in Hong Kong IPO cornerstone allocations is driven by a dual objective of optimizing asset allocation and capturing value recovery. Insurance capital, with its long duration and scale and its mandate to pursue absolute returns, finds Hong Kong equities attractive at historically low valuations because of their safety margins and dividend potential. Cornerstone investments enable insurers to secure high‑quality positions at the source, benefit from A‑H valuation dynamics and diversify RMB asset allocations, thereby supporting long‑term portfolio appreciation and dynamic asset‑liability matching. Observers expect this trend to intensify as expectations of U.S. rate cuts improve global liquidity conditions, mainland policy guidance channels long‑term capital into equities, and the Hong Kong IPO market gradually recovers, increasing the supply of quality new‑economy and high‑dividend assets.

Intensive Research Activity Across A‑Share Universe
Insurance capital has also been active within the A‑share market. Third‑quarter 2025 data show insurers appearing among the top ten shareholders of 713 A‑share companies, with 203 new entries and 185 increases, reflecting active portfolio rebalancing. In early 2026, insurers executed a notable stake increase when China Pacific Asset raised its holding in Shanghai Airport to 5 percent via block trades, triggering a disclosure threshold; the funds were managed on behalf of Taiping Life insurance capital. Over a little more than one month, insurers conducted due diligence on 310 A‑share companies, broadening their focus beyond traditional technology and pharmaceutical sectors to include consumer names ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Prepared‑food leader Qianwei Central Kitchen exemplifies the type of consumer target attracting insurer interest. The company’s shares have risen 16 percent year‑to‑date after it expanded distribution into major new‑retail channels such as Hema, Walmart and Yonghui, contributing to revenue stabilization and a return to quarterly growth. Qianwei Central Kitchen reported total revenue of RMB 1.378 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, up 1 percent year‑on‑year, and third‑quarter revenue of RMB 492 million, up 4.27 percent. Analysts note that standardization in the prepared‑food industry will deepen upstream‑downstream collaboration and favor leading players with scale, fresh‑locking technology and nationwide capacity, positioning companies such as Anjoy Foods, Qianwei Central Kitchen and Weizhixiang to benefit.

Jiangsu Bank emerged as the most‑researched A‑share target in January, drawing visits from 23 insurance institutions that examined not only operating performance but also dividend policy and share‑increase plans. Analysts argue that in a persistent low‑rate environment, insurers’ increased equity allocations are a logical response to align asset and liability management. With yields on traditional fixed‑income assets under pressure, high‑dividend, stable cash‑flow equities can enhance investment returns and meet liability‑side needs for fixed income. Continued regulatory encouragement for long‑term capital to enter markets and efforts to institutionalize insurers’ role as patient, long‑term investors further strengthen the case for expanded equity exposure. Over the next three to five years, if long‑term interest‑rate levels remain under downward pressure, insurers are likely to maintain active reallocation into equities—particularly dividend‑rich assets—both to stabilize capital markets and to mitigate their own interest‑rate spread pressures.