Insurance Firms Eye Funds in China

Top Chinese life insurer China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LFC, SEHK: 2628, and SHSE: 601628) launched its first investment-linked insurance product - China Life Yufeng Investment-linked Insurance - days ago.

It will mainly invest in blue chips and financial stocks in Mainland China, said Yu Yong, general management assistant for bancassurance division at China Life, adding the nascent product will not only focus on the secondary market, but also on the equity investments into the primary market or the new stocks.

This was regarded as a signal for an end of the recession of the nation's stock market as insurance companies have began buying shares in well-performed fund firms like China Asset Management Co., Ltd., AIG-Huatai Fund Management Co., Ltd. and Harvest Fund Management Co., Ltd.

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (SHSE: 601318), the domestic archrival of China Life, also began buy shares in the aforesaid fund firms.