Industry insiders believe that the regulatory authorities are guiding medium - and long-term funds into the market, and with the gradual recovery of the capital market and economic expectations, the investment returns of the insurance industry are expected to improve. Recently, four A-share listed insurance companies disclosed their 2024 performance forecast announcements, all of which mentioned that the capital market will recover in 2024, and the company's investment income will achieve a significant year-on-year increase, thereby driving net profit growth. Recently, the State Administration for Financial Regulation disclosed the operating situation of the insurance industry in 2024. Data shows that in 2024, the insurance industry achieved a total of 5.7 trillion yuan in original insurance premium income and 2.3 trillion yuan in original insurance compensation expenses. Calculated on a comparable basis, they increased by 5.7% and 19.4% respectively compared to the previous year. At the same time, the total assets of the insurance industry continued to grow. As of the end of 2024, the total assets of the insurance industry were 35.91 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.86% compared to the end of 2023; Net assets amounted to 3.32 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.57% from the end of 2023. Looking ahead, industry insiders believe that driven by factors such as the integration of reporting and banking, dynamic adjustment of predetermined interest rates, and strong demand for insurance, the cost of insurance industry debt is expected to continue to optimize, and the debt side is expected to continue to grow steadily. At the same time, with the entry of medium and long-term funds into the market and the recovery of the equity market, the investment side of the insurance industry is also expected to improve. Looking at the steady growth of life insurance premiums by type, in 2024, life insurance companies achieved original insurance premium income of 4 trillion yuan and compensation expenses of 1.15 trillion yuan. Calculated on a comparable basis, they increased by 5.7% and 39.4% respectively compared to the previous year. Industry insiders believe that the steady growth of the life insurance industry in 2024 is mainly due to factors such as fluctuations in the capital market and lower bank deposit interest rates. The attractiveness of insurance products has increased, and customer demand for insurance savings is relatively strong, which in turn has driven steady growth in premiums for the whole year. In 2024, life insurance business accounted for the majority of the original insurance premium income in the life insurance business, achieving a total of 3.19 trillion yuan in original insurance premium income, an increase of 15.45% over the previous year; The health insurance business maintained steady growth, achieving original insurance premium income of 773.067 billion yuan, an increase of 6.15% over the previous year; The accident insurance business achieved original insurance premium income of 40.834 billion yuan, a decrease of 9.19% compared to the previous year. As of December 2024, the life insurance business and accident insurance business respectively achieved original insurance premium income of 152.906 billion yuan and 2.583 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.69% and 0.92%, respectively; The health insurance business achieved original insurance premium income of 47.432 billion yuan, although showing positive growth, the growth rate has slowed down. Liu Xinqi, Chief Non Banking Analyst at Guotai Junan Securities, believes that the negative growth in monthly life insurance premiums may be due to insurance companies shifting their business strategies towards a successful start in 2025. Due to the impact of new accident insurance regulations, customer demand for accident insurance remains relatively low. In addition, in 2024, personal insurance companies added 578.676 billion yuan in investment payments for policyholders (mainly for universal insurance business), a decrease of 2.84% compared to the previous year; The independent account for investment linked insurance added 16.759 billion yuan in fees, an increase of 19.64% compared to the previous year. Liu Xinqi believes that the decrease in new investment payments for policyholders compared to the previous year may be due to the impact of the lowering of the minimum guaranteed interest rate for universal insurance. Industry insiders believe that life insurance premium income is expected to continue to grow in 2025. Xu Yishan, Chief Analyst of Fangzheng Securities Finance, believes that the expected interest rate may be lowered again, and the increase in the value of new business will drive the continuous growth of new business value. The continuous promotion of DRG (payment grouping based on disease diagnosis) reform and the increasing demand for insurance products will support the annual premium growth in 2025. The growth rate of property insurance business slows down. In 2024, property insurance companies achieved original insurance premium income of 1.69 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.6% compared to the previous year on a comparable basis, but the growth rate has slowed down compared to the previous two years. In 2024, the compensation expenditure of property insurance companies was 1.15 trillion yuan, calculated on a comparable basis, an increase of 6.5% compared to the previous year. Specifically, the proportion of car insurance business exceeds 50%. In 2024, the car insurance business achieved original insurance premium income of 913.673 billion yuan, an increase of 5.35% compared to the previous year. The liability insurance, agricultural insurance, health insurance, and accident insurance businesses respectively achieved original insurance premium income of 137.156 billion yuan, 148.373 billion yuan, 204.252 billion yuan, and 53.378 billion yuan, an increase of 8.13%, 3.78%, 16.60%, and 4.84% compared to the previous year. Liu Xinqi analyzed that the stable increase in car ownership in 2024 is the main reason for the stable growth of car insurance premiums. Meanwhile, the demand for non auto insurance continues to grow, with the growth of health insurance and liability insurance being the main driving factors. By December 2024, the auto insurance, health insurance, and accident insurance businesses will achieve original insurance premium income of 95.602 billion yuan, 7.908 billion yuan, and 4.292 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth of 6.89%, 7.58%, and 11.28%; The original insurance premium income for liability insurance and agricultural insurance business decreased by 1.78% and 64.96% respectively year-on-year. Xu Yishan stated that the steady growth rate of car insurance premiums is mainly due to the gradual elimination of the base effect after the merger of reporting and banking, the year-on-year increase in new car sales, and the accelerated pace of underwriting, which have maintained a high level of car insurance premium growth. The main reason for the decline in the growth rate of non auto insurance premiums is the adjustment of agricultural insurance accounting standards, and the growth rate of health insurance and liability insurance premiums has also fallen, dragging down the growth rate of non auto insurance premiums. The issue of underwriting losses in new energy vehicle insurance has received much attention in recent years. According to relevant data, in 2024, China's new energy vehicle insurance premium income was 140.9 billion yuan, with a underwriting loss of 5.7 billion yuan. Recently, four ministries jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Reform, Strengthening Supervision, and Promoting High Quality Development of New Energy Vehicle Insurance", which puts forward requirements for the development of new energy vehicle insurance from the aspects of reasonably reducing the maintenance and use costs of new energy vehicles, innovating and optimizing the supply of new energy vehicle insurance, and improving the management level of new energy vehicle insurance. Sun Ting, Chief Analyst of Non bank Finance at Dongwu Securities, believes that with the increasing penetration rate of new energy vehicles and the high-quality development of the auto insurance industry, the proportion of new energy auto insurance premiums will continue to increase in the future. At the same time, the problem of underwriting profitability will gradually ease, and the comprehensive cost ratio is expected to improve. Looking ahead to 2025, industry insiders believe that with the joint promotion of policy support, market demand, and other factors, the insurance industry is expected to maintain steady growth, and the debt and investment sides are expected to improve significantly. From the perspective of liabilities, the State Administration for Financial Regulation issued a notice in January 2025 on establishing a mechanism for linking and dynamically adjusting predetermined interest rates with market interest rates, requiring the establishment of a mechanism for linking and dynamically adjusting predetermined interest rates with market interest rates, guiding companies to strengthen asset liability linkage, and scientifically and prudently pricing. Industry insiders believe that the liability cost of the insurance industry is expected to decrease. Wang Yifeng, Chief Analyst of Financial Industry at Everbright Securities, believes that under the background of the predetermined interest rate switch, the insurance industry may face certain pressure in terms of sales at the beginning of the year. However, with the comprehensive deepening of the integration of reporting and banking and the continuous optimization of product structure, the further increase in value ratio is expected to promote the maintenance of positive growth in the value of new business; At the same time, the dynamic adjustment mechanism of the predetermined interest rate has been implemented, which is beneficial for the industry to improve its asset liability management level and prevent the risk of interest rate spread losses in the long run. In terms of property insurance business, Wang Yifeng believes that in 2025, with the continuation and wider scope of the car trade in subsidy policy, coupled with the rolling release of domestic trade in demand, new car sales are expected to continue to be boosted, driving the growth rate of car insurance premiums to continue to improve; Non auto insurance business is expected to maintain a good level of growth under policy promotion and gradual economic recovery. On the asset side, industry insiders believe that the regulatory authorities are guiding medium - and long-term funds into the market, and with the gradual recovery of the capital market and economic expectations, the investment returns of the insurance industry are expected to improve. Recently, four A-share listed insurance companies disclosed their 2024 performance forecast announcements, all of which mentioned that the capital market will recover in 2024, and the company's investment income will achieve a significant year-on-year increase, thereby driving net profit growth. Liu Xinqi believes that with the implementation plan for promoting the entry of medium and long-term funds into the market, measures such as optimizing the assessment system from top to bottom and diversifying the entry methods will effectively break through the barriers to the entry of medium and long-term funds into the market, bringing more incremental funds to the equity market. The expected improvement in the equity market will benefit the investment side of insurance companies. (New Society)