At the 2026 interim results conference held on August 21, Xie Yonglin, General Manager and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Ping An, summarized the company's first-half performance in three phrases: "solid overall results, growth shifting toward higher value, and value creation through services." Xie noted that management is satisfied with both the half-year results and the series of reform initiatives, adding that the second half will continue to revolve around the board-approved "sixteen-character policy": high-value growth, service innovation, technology leadership, and legal compliance, to further consolidate the business foundation and drive development.
Xie explained that in the first half, Ping An achieved positive growth across eight core financial metrics, including attributable operating profit, revenue, net profit attributable to shareholders, net assets attributable to shareholders, shareholder returns, comprehensive investment yield, new business value, and property-casualty combined ratio. Beyond these headline figures, Xie highlighted several encouraging trends: the multi-channel development in life insurance is showing clear results, with bancassurance, community financial services, and other channels now contributing nearly 40% of new business value, a scenario that was unimaginable three years ago. He also pointed to a significant rise in the share of participating products, improved per-agent productivity and income, a further 0.1 percentage point reduction in the property-casualty combined ratio, and sustained profitability in new energy vehicle insurance, all of which underscore the steady growth of the core business.
On the service front, Xie introduced Ping An's efforts to build sustainable competitiveness through differentiated offerings, including the AI super-entrance under the "Comprehensive Financial 99-to-1" plan and a global emergency rescue service system, both of which have earned strong market recognition.
The interim report shows that in the first half of 2026, new business value for the life and health insurance segment reached RMB 24.847 billion, up 11.2% year-on-year. Per-agent new business value in the agency channel grew 14.1%, while the bancassurance channel saw an 18.0% increase.
Commenting on the life insurance results, Guo Xiaotao, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Ping An, stated that the low-interest-rate environment is expected to persist, narrowing spreads across the financial industry and pushing it into a stock-phase, yet the life insurance sector is entering a golden period of development. "In a low-rate environment, life insurance products are capable of providing long-term, sustained, and stable guaranteed returns, which is why we remain bullish on the industry over the long term," Guo explained.
Guo outlined four strategic pillars for Ping An's life insurance business: balanced channels, balanced products, differentiated services, and AI empowerment. On the channel side, the agency and bancassurance channels continue to contribute to new business value growth, while the community grid channel is beginning to show momentum, with plans to incubate part-time agents and online channels in the future. On products, the company is shifting from traditional to participating products, while aligning with three categories: protection, savings, and pension, optimizing duration and policy terms to improve the new business value margin. On services, differentiated offerings in healthcare, wellness, and elderly care are being continuously upgraded, such as the Home 2.0 service focusing on seven "signature services." On AI empowerment, smart marketing tools are helping agents enhance productivity. Based on these four strategies, Guo expressed strong confidence in the continued growth of new business value for the full year and the next two to three years.
Turning to investments, Guo addressed the recent appearance of insurance capital among the shareholders of several hot IPO tech companies, confirming that Ping An has participated in investments in high-profile AI projects. He attributed this to the company's long-term bullish view on the technology sector, coupled with a diversified approach that links primary and secondary market strategies. In the secondary market, Ping An directly invests in quality technology and AI targets; in the primary market, it partners with top private equity managers to position early, effectively combining industrial and financial capital to invest in mature and stable projects in the mid-to-late stages.
On the broader capital markets, Guo said: "Ping An holds a long-term positive outlook on the resilience of China's economic development. The capital market is a barometer of the economy, and we remain optimistic about its long-term healthy and stable growth."
According to the interim report, Ping An's insurance fund investment portfolio reached RMB 6.61 trillion by the end of June, up 1.9% from the beginning of the year. The non-annualized comprehensive investment yield was 2.1%, down 1.0 percentage point year-on-year. Over the past decade, the average net investment yield stood at 4.8%, with an average comprehensive yield of 4.9%. Ping An attributed the weaker first-half investment performance primarily to high-dividend and low-volatility equity assets underperforming compared to the same period last year.
Guo acknowledged that market volatility and sector rotation in the first half posed a challenge for all institutional investors. In such conditions, Ping An's returns remained relatively stable, thanks to a balanced asset allocation strategy: maintaining high-dividend stocks as a core position while actively allocating to growth stocks. This balanced approach, he said, enables the company to navigate through cycles amid significant market fluctuations. "Within growth stocks, we are particularly bullish on the technology sector," Guo noted, adding that Ping An believes technology AI, high-end manufacturing, innovative pharmaceuticals, energy, and resources sectors are closely tied to China's economic development and will be monitored over the long term.
Guo emphasized that Ping An does not view investments in isolation but adheres to a framework of "six matches": duration, yield, liquidity, capital, regulatory, and, newly added, account matching. The introduction of account matching stems from the liability side having fully shifted toward participating products, which have different investment requirements compared to traditional and universal accounts, necessitating alignment based on account characteristics. In terms of major asset allocation, fixed-income assets currently account for over 70% of Ping An's portfolio, equity assets around 20%, and alternative assets approximately 7%.