Ping An Life Insurance has officially launched its "High Talent Program," aiming to cultivate a top-tier team of insurance, health, and retirement advisors through a professional and specialized training system. The program focuses on developing individuals who can serve as financial consultants, family doctors, and retirement planners.

This initiative is considered an upgraded version of the "Insurance, Health, and Retirement Consultant" training plan introduced by Ping An Life one year ago. As the top-level design of Ping An Life's talent strategy, the "High Talent Program" targets elites with bachelor's degrees or higher, aged between 28 and 55, and with previous annual incomes exceeding 400,000 yuan. The goal is to build an elite team capable of serving high-net-worth clients and conveying the comprehensive value of Ping An Group.

Following the peak of 9.123 million domestic insurance agents in 2019 and a subsequent decline in 2020, the industry recognized that the previous model of rapid expansion through individual agents was unsustainable as demographic dividends faded. During the high-growth period, insurers primarily focused on business scale, paying insufficient attention to agent quality, business standards, and value. Issues such as inflated headcounts, high proportions of self-purchased policies, and frequent arbitrage emerged.

Since 2020, the industry has entered a phase of transformation, shifting from quantity-driven to quality-driven growth. Major insurers have rolled out various agent "quality improvement" plans. Here is an overview of such initiatives by leading life insurers and their outcomes.

Ping An Life has fully upgraded its "Insurance, Health, and Retirement Consultant" program with the introduction of the "High Talent Program." In 2025, Ping An Life launched the industry's first ecosystem-based agent transformation model integrating finance, health, and retirement.

The program redefines agents' roles beyond mere product sales, positioning them as financial consultants, retirement planners, and family doctors. By leveraging Ping An Group's medical resources, retirement communities, and financial products, it offers lifelong solutions covering financial security, risk protection, and home-based services.

Ping An has established a three-tier talent pyramid: "High Talent" for elite individuals serving high-net-worth clients; "Quality Talent" as the main force for performance growth; and "Specialized Talent" covering a broad range of practitioners to ensure comprehensive life insurance services.

Over the past year, the proportion of outstanding agents has risen to 49%, including over 32,000 from top-tier universities. Nearly 10,000 agents have been promoted, with the youngest regional director aged 34 and the fastest promotion to department manager taking just seven months. Approximately 4,000 agents achieved annual incomes exceeding one million yuan, with average monthly earnings of 9,800 yuan. The team served nearly 100 million customers and provided nearly one trillion yuan in insurance coverage.

CPIC Life's "Long Voyage Action," initiated in early 2021, is a long-term transformation strategy shifting from scale-driven to value-driven growth. It aims to build a professional, specialized, and digitalized agent team and create an "insurance + health and retirement" ecosystem.

The action plan consists of three phases: 2021-2023 focused on channel transformation with a new core law; 2024-2025 emphasized ecosystem and service upgrades, including retirement communities and health services; and since 2026, it has entered a phase of comprehensive high-quality development, transitioning into an integrated financial and health services group.

CPIC Life's new core law has shifted agents from sales-oriented to professional service-oriented roles. Through standardized recruitment and scientific screening, newcomer quality has improved. In the first half of 2025, core agents achieved average monthly first-year premiums of 72,900 yuan, a 12.7% year-on-year increase, with 39,000 new hires, up 19.8%. The integration of policies with retirement communities boosted sales conversion rates, and health services achieved a 65% penetration rate, enhancing customer loyalty.

New China Life's "XIN Generation Plan," launched in July 2024, aims to transform the sales team from product sellers to lifetime planners for clients. The plan focuses on five upgrades: system, service, training, resources, and management.

The goal is to build a high-quality, professional, and service-oriented financial team, with targets including becoming a "10,000 IDA life insurer." In the first half of 2025, the company added nearly 20,000 agents, a 182% year-on-year increase, with significant growth in highly educated and high-performing individuals. First-year premiums for long-term insurance reached 14.506 billion yuan, up 70.8% year-on-year, indicating optimized business structure.

Taikang Life's HWP (Health Wealth Planner) program, launched in 2018, trains agents to become ecosystem connectors integrating insurance, health, and wealth management. The program aims to develop复合型 talent serving as insurance, health, and financial advisors.

By the second half of 2025, the HWP program emphasized ecosystem synergy and system upgrades. Taikang's "city retirement community" strategy links retirement communities with local service centers. HWP agents are trained to offer integrated home, community, and institutional retirement services.

In 2025, Taikang had 33,000 HWP agents, with 83% under age 45 and increasing proportions from top-tier universities. Sales of retirement community-linked products exceeded 300,000 policies, contributing over 60% to new business value.

Dajia Insurance's independent agent model features a flat profit-sharing structure, professional certifications, and partnership-based agencies. The model has achieved an 85% compound annual growth rate over five years, far exceeding the industry average of 7%. The team maintains around 10,000 agents, with 770 MDRT members, ranking among the top ten domestic life insurers.

Overall, leading insurers are shifting from quantity-driven to quality-driven strategies, raising entry barriers and focusing on high-caliber talent. Training programs empower agents to become risk managers and wealth planners, while ecosystem integration enhances service differentiation. Technology and AI are further enabling agents to improve efficiency and customer engagement.

Challenges remain, including adapting traditional agents to digital tools and integrating dispersed ecosystem resources. Commission deferral mechanisms, while promoting long-term service, may affect income stability and increase attrition. Insurers must balance incentive policies to ensure both service quality and agent retention.

The agent reform is expected to deepen, driving the industry toward greater professionalism, intelligence, and ecosystem integration.