Live Performance Meeting | Ping An of China Guo Xiaotao: The core investment approach this year is "finding certainty in uncertainty"

Every reporter｜Pan Ting Every editor｜Huang Bowen

On March 27, Ping An held its 2025 performance briefing, where the management team addressed hot issues of market concern.

“Looking back at 2025, amid changing and complex opportunities and challenges, Ping An delivered a report of steady growth.” Ping An’s Vice President Fu Xin described the company’s operational performance in 2025 as “steady growth” during the performance report at the briefing.

Discussing performance: Over 90 billion yuan in unrealized gains not included in current profits

Fu Xin stated, “Under the current accounting classification, Ping An has over 90 billion yuan in unrealized gains that are not included in current profits, but they have significantly strengthened our balance sheet, laying a very solid foundation for future development, sustainable profit release, and steady dividends.”

Data shows that 57% of Ping An’s stocks are classified as FVTOCI (measured at fair value with changes recognized in other comprehensive income), contributing pre-tax unrealized gains exceeding 90 billion yuan, which do not count towards profits and directly enhance net assets.

In 2025, Ping An achieved an operating profit of 134.415 billion yuan attributable to shareholders of the parent company, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company, after excluding non-recurring items, was 143.773 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.5%; operating revenue was 1,050.506 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%. By the end of 2025, the equity attributable to shareholders of the parent company broke the 1 trillion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 1,000.419 billion yuan, an increase of 7.7% from the beginning of the year.

Discussing dividends: Total dividend payout over the past decade exceeds 370 billion yuan

“Over the past several consecutive years, our dividend payouts have been increasing, with a total dividend payout exceeding 370 billion yuan over the last decade,” Fu Xin stated. “Such a level of dividend payout and our dividend yield are worth continuous attention from all investors and shareholders, whether in A-shares or H-shares.”

Data shows that based on steady performance, in 2025, Ping An plans to distribute an annual dividend of 2.70 yuan per share, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%, with a total cash dividend amounting to 48.891 billion yuan, marking 14 consecutive years of increase.

Discussing investments: Seeking certainty amid uncertainty

“Ping An is a long-term capital, patient capital, so during our investment process, short-term fluctuations are not important to us; what matters more is how to navigate through cycles, providing long-term, stable, and sustainable returns for our clients and shareholders. This is a very important thought and principle,” said Guo Xiaotao, Co-CEO of Ping An.

Regarding investment strategy, Guo Xiaotao introduced, “Our investments must be closely aligned with the liability side, so we emphasize ‘five matches’, which are duration matching, cost matching, product matching, economic cycle matching, and regulatory requirement matching. The ‘five matches’ are important guiding principles for our asset allocation.”

“Our core investment thought this year is ‘seeking certainty amid uncertainty’,” Guo Xiaotao pointed out. For long-term, patient capital like Ping An, the most important aspect of investment is to be fully aligned with the direction of national economic development.

Guo Xiaotao also mentioned that gold is an important asset class in the overall asset allocation, and Ping An began allocating a certain amount of gold investments at the beginning of 2025. “In such a macro environment, the investment returns brought by gold have also met our expected results.”

Data shows that in 2025, Ping An’s insurance fund investment portfolio achieved a comprehensive investment return rate of 6.3%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points year-on-year. Additionally, Ping An’s average net investment return rate over the past 10 years was 4.8%, and the average comprehensive investment return rate over the past 10 years was 4.9%, exceeding the long-term investment return assumptions of intrinsic value.

Discussing comprehensive finance: “Nine to One”

“AI is a major trend in global technological development. For Ping An Group, we have always been at the forefront of the industry in technology investment and innovation. AI is not a choice for us, but a question we must answer, and our commitment to AI and technology investment remains steadfast,” Guo Xiaotao stated at the briefing.

He introduced that Ping An has a significant technology platform upgrade this year — comprehensive finance “Nine to One”, which aims to create a comprehensive solution of “one customer, multiple accounts, various products, one-stop service,” integrating all offline apps into a single large entry or platform to achieve integration of group traffic, entry, customer service experience, and data.

It is understood that Ping An’s comprehensive finance model has unique advantages. The four major product categories of protection, assets, credit, and services meet the comprehensive needs of customers. Data shows that among Ping An customers, the retention rate of those holding three or more product types reaches 99%, significantly enhancing customer loyalty; service products improve customer stickiness, with a retention rate of 93% for customers entitled to healthcare and elderly care ecosystem service rights in 2025.

Discussing stock performance: Evaluating from industry, company, and valuation perspectives

“Recently, due to fluctuations in the capital market, including some geopolitical volatility, it is believed that not only Ping An but also many other companies and the entire market’s stock price fluctuations will be exacerbated. We have also paid attention to related information on the investment side,” Fu Xin stated.

Regarding Ping An’s stock performance, Fu Xin indicated that it should be evaluated from three perspectives.

First, look at the industry. The life insurance sector that Ping An operates in has entered a golden development period, and the comprehensive finance and healthcare sectors are also the most important areas and directions for industry development. The industry in which Ping An operates lays the foundation for the company’s sustainable growth over the next 3 to 5 years and 5 to 10 years.

Second, look at the company. From the performance of Ping An, the company’s development is very stable, with operating profit and forward-looking indicators of future profits, including NBEV (New Business Embedded Value), CSM (Contractual Service Margin), etc., all reflecting very good operational and managerial status of the company.

“From the company’s perspective, Ping An is also a high-value company with stable operations, continuous improvement and optimization, and good quality,” Fu Xin remarked.

Third, look at the valuation. “Gold always shines. In the past two years, the market and investors have recognized Ping An very much, and the valuation is still at a low level. I believe that as more investors recognize it, the gold will shine brighter,” Fu Xin concluded.

Cover image source: Zhang Yi