Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (601318.SH) has unveiled its 2026 interim results. During the first half of the year, the company posted total operating revenue of RMB 575.138 billion, marking a 15.0% year-on-year increase. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company reached RMB 92.585 billion, up 36.1% year-on-year, while operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company climbed 8.3% to RMB 84.196 billion. An interim dividend of RMB 0.98 per share is expected to be distributed, representing a 3.2% increase year-on-year. Notably, in the AI application arena, Ping An's average daily token consumption surpassed 120 billion in June 2026, a significant leap from the 300 billion average daily tokens recorded in December 2025.

At the company's 2026 interim results conference held today, Ping An's management fielded questions from reporters on a range of topics, including share price performance, equity investments, AI initiatives, and the taxation of overseas policy income.

Investment Strategy: High-Dividend Stocks as Core Holdings with Growth Stock Allocation

The first half of this year witnessed considerable volatility in the capital markets, with rotation across sectors of varying styles—a true test for all institutional investors. Despite this, Ping An's total investment return and comprehensive investment return metrics remained steady, a testament to its balanced asset allocation strategy. As of June 30, 2026, Ping An's insurance funds investment portfolio stood at RMB 6.61 trillion, up 1.9% from the beginning of the year. Over the past decade, the average net investment yield was 4.8%, with an average comprehensive investment yield of 4.9%.

Regarding investment approach, Guo Xiaotao, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Ping An, highlighted that the company adheres to six matching principles: duration matching, yield matching, liquidity matching, capital matching, account matching, and regulatory compliance matching. Under this framework, Ping An's current asset allocation comprises over 70% in fixed income, approximately 20% in equity assets, and around 7% in alternative investments. Guo noted that Ping An remains optimistic about the resilience of China's economy in the long term, viewing the capital markets as a barometer of economic development and expressing confidence in their healthy and stable growth. Based on trend analysis, the company uses high-dividend stocks as a solid core holding while allocating to growth stocks, with a long-term positive outlook on sectors closely tied to China's economy, including technology, AI, high-end manufacturing, innovative drugs, and energy resources. In the technology sector specifically, Ping An is pursuing diversified布局 through coordinated primary and secondary capital market activities, investing in quality tech stocks in the secondary market while collaborating with PE firms and top-tier managers in the primary market. By positioning early, the company integrates industrial and financial capital, and for mature, stable projects in later stages, Ping An is prepared to invest boldly.

Share Price: Major Banks' Target Valuations Over 50% Above Current Levels

Addressing investor concerns about the share price, Fu Xin, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ping An, stated at the results meeting that market value management is a key priority for the management team and is their foremost task. The capital markets environment in the first half of this year was complex and volatile, and the company's share price has fluctuated in line with the broader industry amid rotation between financial and high-growth technology sectors. "Based on valuations from several major banks, the current share price significantly undervalues Ping An's true worth. Institutions such as Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citi, and HSBC have target valuations for Ping An that are more than 50% higher than current levels," Fu Xin said.

Furthermore, Fu Xin suggested that evaluating the investment value of a listed company requires examining three dimensions: first, the industry—the life insurance sector is in a golden development phase with immense future potential and robust demand for differentiated eldercare services; second, the company—Ping An's "integrated finance plus healthcare and eldercare" strategy is clear, with diversified profit sources and sustainable dividends providing a strong foundation for competitive advantages; third, value—the company believes that sustained, stable profit growth and continuous shareholder returns will ultimately be reflected in the share price, as "gold will always shine."

Taxation on Overseas Policy Income: Negligible Impact on Ping An

On the topic of taxation on overseas policy dividends, Xie Yonglin, General Manager and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Ping An, responded at the meeting that on August 7, officials from the State Taxation Administration stated that, in accordance with China's Individual Income Tax Law, Chinese tax residents are obligated to fulfill tax obligations on global income, with overseas insurance returns also falling under taxable income. He emphasized that this is not a new policy and that the market should not overinterpret it, noting that the policy has not been extended to domestic insurance returns. Xie also pointed out that Ping An holds an extremely limited number of overseas policies, meaning the impact on the company is virtually negligible.

AI: Ping An's Edge Lies in Data and Scenarios

Ping An is currently advancing its "AI in All" strategy, with average daily token consumption soaring from 30 billion in December 2025 to over 120 billion in June 2026, as intelligent agents become deeply embedded across various business scenarios. Discussing AI applications, Guo Xiaotao noted at today's meeting that AI success depends on four key elements: data, algorithms, computing power, and scenarios. "Ping An's strength lies in data and scenarios. The company's technology and AI efforts are not pursued for their own sake, but to leverage vertical domain data advantages in different business scenarios to empower operations—this is Ping An's core logic." He outlined that Ping An's primary AI development direction focuses on five areas, transitioning from digitalization to intelligent operations, intelligent management, intelligent business, intelligent service, and intelligent marketing. Regarding AI investment, Ping An has accumulated substantial experience during the shift from digitalization to intelligence, understanding which scenarios can leverage data to generate customer value. The company also possesses multiple extensive databases that form the core foundation for value creation across different scenarios today. "Over the past few years, we have completed AI infrastructure construction. Now is the stage where AI empowers scenarios and creates value," Guo Xiaotao concluded.