Insurance stocks listed in Hong Kong staged a collective rebound. As of press time, NCI (01336) surged 5.24% to HK$49.06; CHINA LIFE (02628) climbed 3.43% to HK$22.32; CPIC (02601) advanced 1.88% to HK$31.4; and PING AN (02318) rose 1.72% to HK$53.35.
On the news front, the National Financial Regulatory Administration recently issued "Guidance on Promoting High-Quality Development of Health Insurance," outlining the overall direction and phased objectives for health insurance development in the coming period. The guidance specifically mentioned supporting insurance companies with favorable regulatory ratings to engage in dividend-type long-term health insurance business.
Soochow Securities noted that in 2003, the former China Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a directive halting dividend-type critical illness insurance products, after which such products could only be designed as traditional insurance. The firm believes that against the backdrop of consecutive predetermined interest rate cuts, the orderly return of dividend-type health insurance to the market will help enhance product attractiveness and further stimulate the growth potential of the health insurance market.
Notably, according to industry sources, bancassurance customer managers reported that insurance products experienced a sales surge before the predetermined interest rate cut for personal insurance at the end of August. After the rate reduction, product sales inevitably faced some impact. However, bucking the trend, dividend-type products became consumers' preferred choice due to their smaller rate reduction of only 0.25%.
Multiple insurance industry professionals indicated that following the predetermined interest rate cut, dividend-type products saw only a 25 basis point reduction, further narrowing the gap with the predetermined interest rate ceiling for traditional personal insurance products to just 25 basis points. Combined with the flexibility of floating returns, these products' relative competitive advantages have been further enhanced.