Unitree Robotics (688836.SH), dubbed the first humanoid robotics stock on A-shares, made a spectacular market debut on the STAR Market on August 19. The stock opened at 1,100 yuan per share, a massive 629.44% premium over its IPO price of 150.80 yuan, before closing at 845 yuan per share — a first-day gain of 460.34% that gave the company a total market value of 341.8 billion yuan. Based on the closing price, investors who secured one lot of 500 shares saw paper gains of as much as 347,100 yuan, making it one of the most profitable new listings of the year.

Behind this capital feast, insurance funds have emerged as the most significant institutional beneficiaries. According to the preliminary offline allocation results disclosed by Unitree, 37 insurance institutions were collectively allocated approximately 6.83 million shares, accounting for 30.15% of the total offline issuance, with allocation amounts nearing 1.03 billion yuan. Based on the closing price, the combined paper gains for these 37 insurers reached 4.741 billion yuan in a single day. Among them, Taikang Asset Management secured 1.82 million shares for 274 million yuan, ranking first among insurance institutions in the IPO subscription race, with one-day paper gains reaching as high as 1.263 billion yuan. China Life Pension and Ping An Pension recorded paper gains of approximately 649 million yuan and 584 million yuan, respectively.

From ChangXin Memory to PinZhun Laser and now Unitree Robotics, multiple hard-tech new listings in 2026 have seen deep participation from insurance funds, yielding substantial paper profits. This reflects a major shift in insurance capital allocation logic: insurers that once favored high-dividend blue-chip stake-building are now rapidly pivoting toward a "hard-tech IPO subscription plus equity investment" approach. Tian Lihui, a finance professor at Nankai University, noted that in a low-interest-rate era, fixed-income returns can no longer cover liability costs, making hard tech the optimal solution for insurers to combat interest rate spread losses and lock in long-term yields. He predicted this is not a transient surge but a structural trend spanning the next five to ten years.

37 Insurers Rush into Unitree; Taikang Asset's Paper Gains Exceed 1.2 Billion Yuan

Unitree's IPO subscription has been one of the most crowded capital events of 2026. The online subscription attracted 9.7846 million investor accounts, surpassing the previous record of 9.4288 million set by ChangXin Memory and making it the most-subscribed stock on the STAR Market. The online lottery rate was a mere 0.0181%, making it even harder to secure shares than ChangXin Memory and setting a new historical low for the STAR Market.

In the offline placement segment, insurance institutions have become a dominant force. According to the preliminary placement details disclosed on August 11, 37 insurance institutions received allocations totaling 6.829735 million shares, representing 30.15% of the final offline issuance, with allocation amounts reaching 1.03 billion yuan. Based on the closing price, the combined first-day paper gains for these 37 institutions amounted to 4.741 billion yuan. The institutional composition includes 21 insurance asset management companies, 5 pension insurance companies, 9 life insurance companies, 1 property insurance company, and 1 insurance group holding company. The 21 asset management companies were collectively allocated 4.1122 million shares worth 620 million yuan, accounting for 60.21% of total insurance allocation amounts, while the 5 pension companies received 2.5034 million shares worth 378 million yuan, representing 36.65%.

On an individual basis, Taikang Asset Management led all insurers with 642 allocation accounts, securing 1.82 million shares for 274 million yuan — 26.6% of the total insurance allocation. China Life Pension and Ping An Pension received allocations of 141 million yuan and 127 million yuan, respectively. Based on the closing price, Taikang Asset's single-day paper gains reached approximately 1.263 billion yuan, while China Life Pension gained around 649 million yuan and Ping An Pension around 584 million yuan.

Notably, insurers' engagement with Unitree extends far beyond offline IPO subscription. Prior to the listing, more than 30 insurance institutions had already taken early positions as limited partners in private equity funds. Nanjing Jingwei Chuang Sanhao Investment Partnership holds approximately 1.193% of Unitree's shares, with its LPs including Taikang Changhang Equity Investment Fund, AIA Life, and Sino-US United MetLife Insurance holding stakes of 24.59%, 19.672%, and 9.836%, respectively. Additionally, insurance capital from Ruize Life, New China Life, and Zijin Insurance appears in fund channels such as Jinshi Growth Equity Investment. Insurers are leveraging private equity funds to establish pre-IPO positions, forming a linkage model of "primary market LP allocation plus secondary market IPO subscription."

Tian Lihui explained that entering as an LP in the primary market secures valuation discounts and information advantages, while the secondary market yields liquidity premiums and first-day listing gains through strategic placement and offline subscription. This dual-channel approach captures returns across the full lifecycle of hard-tech ventures from incubation to monetization — something single-market allocation cannot achieve. He believes this model could become the mainstream approach for insurers investing in hard tech, though it requires improved post-investment management, concentration limits, and exit mechanisms; otherwise, patient capital risks becoming trapped capital.

Stake-Building Cools, IPO Subscription Heats Up as Insurers Accelerate Hard-Tech Allocation

Unitree is not an isolated case. Just one day earlier, PinZhun Laser — the year's most expensive new listing — debuted on the STAR Market with a closing gain of 516.44%, joining the ranks of A-share stocks priced above 1,000 yuan, with one-lot paper gains of 482,600 yuan. Insurance institutions were collectively allocated 1.0114 million shares, posting first-day gains of 976 million yuan. Taikang Asset again ranked first among insurers with 329,000 shares and gains of approximately 320 million yuan, while China Life Pension and Ping An Pension also reaped substantial returns. When ChangXin Memory went public earlier, six insurance institutions held a combined 2.385 billion shares, with paper gains surpassing 100 billion yuan on its debut day. Behind the IPOs of other domestic hard-tech firms like MXHX and Moore Threads, active insurance capital participation is evident — insurance funds are becoming one of the most important institutional investors in STAR Market hard-tech listings.

Meanwhile, the once-familiar wave of high-dividend stake-building by insurers is cooling dramatically. The data on stake-building activity tells a clear story. According to disclosures from the China Insurance Association's official website, as of August 19, only 3 insurers had completed 6 stake-building events in 2026 — a sharp decline from the 20-plus stake-building moves during the same period last year, and far below the 30-plus recorded in all of 2025.

Regulatory data confirms the broader trend of accelerating insurance capital entering the market. The National Financial Regulatory Administration reported that as of the end of Q2, insurance funds under management totaled 40.82 trillion yuan, up 3.5% quarter-over-quarter. Combined stock investment balances for life and property insurance reached 4.1 trillion yuan, with 365.9 billion yuan added in 2026 alone — including 263.4 billion yuan added in Q2 alone. Equity positions continue to climb, with incremental capital visibly flowing into the hard-tech sector.

Leading institutions are setting the pace. Since the start of 2026, Taikang Life has participated as a cornerstone investor in 19 tech company IPOs, with total subscription amounts reaching 2.596 billion Hong Kong dollars. In July of this year, Taikang Investment completed the filing of the Taikang Jiafeng Fund of Funds and the Taikang Jiafeng Industrial Integration Fund, with a combined scale of 4 billion yuan focused on hard tech and healthcare, establishing an investment framework that coordinates fund-of-funds, direct investment, and IPO subscription. Yang Fan, general manager of Beijing PaiPaiPai Insurance Agency, observed that the significant reduction in stake-building activity this year does not mean high-dividend assets have been fully abandoned, nor should it be read as insurers making a wholesale pivot to hard tech. In 2025, insurers made substantial allocations to high-dividend assets in banking, energy, and utilities; some quality targets have reached high holding levels, naturally narrowing the room for new stake-building. Meanwhile, in a low-interest-rate environment, the return potential of relying solely on dividend assets has also diminished, prompting insurers to increase allocations to growth assets. This shift more closely resembles a rebalancing of portfolio structure rather than a fundamental overhaul of traditional investment frameworks.

Yang Fan believes insurers will likely continue using high-dividend, low-volatility assets as their long-term base holdings while adding allocations to tech growth and new productive forces, enhancing long-term returns through a combination of "stable core holdings plus growth assets." Stake-building will also become more cautious and selective. Looking ahead, insurers are expected to keep increasing their hard-tech allocations — but not by simply chasing hot themes. Greater emphasis will be placed on technological moats, business models, and long-term profitability, positioning hard tech as an important incremental direction within equity investment.