Ping An, China Life yield highest Q4 2025 total returns among APAC insurers

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. and China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. provided the highest total returns among the 20 largest insurance companies by market capitalization in Asia during the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.

Ping An topped the charts, generating total returns of 26.2%. The Chinese insurance giant's operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company grew 7.2% year over year to 116.26 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2025. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rose 11.5% to 132.86 billion yuan. Life and health's new business value increased 46.2% year over year to 35.72 billion yuan.

The company is confident in its medium- to long-term business growth and will adhere to prudent operations to ensure business stability, a company representative said on an October 2025 earnings call, adding that Ping An attaches great importance to investor returns.

China Life came in a close second to Ping An with total returns of 25.4%. The company reported net profit attributable to equity holders of the company of 167.80 billion yuan for the first nine months of 2025, up 60.5% from the same period in 2024.

China Life's established brand and extensive distribution network underpin its robust competitive position, S&P Global Ratings analyst WenWen Chen wrote in a report. This advantage should support the insurer's continued diversification of distribution channels and its shift toward policies with a floating return, contributing to sustained value generation, Chen added.

Chen expects growth momentum from bancassurance to offset the gradual recovery of China Life's agency channel, particularly amid tightening regulatory oversight on commission and continued subdued demand for protection-type policies.

At the other end, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. recorded a negative return of 7.2% for the fourth quarter of 2025. The company has lowered its full-year net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2026 to 910 billion yen, down 13.8% from the previous fiscal year. Ordinary profit for the fiscal year ending March 2026 was lowered to 1.230 trillion yen, down 15.8% from the previous year.

In the first half of fiscal 2025, Tokio Marine was negatively impacted by exchange rates between foreign currencies, lower profit from its Asian life insurance business, and higher advertisement expense for its direct insurance business, S&P Global Ratings analyst Toshiko Sekine wrote in a report. However, Sekine believes that the group's performance remains within Ratings' assumptions, given the ongoing profit improvement in the domestic insurance business and continued solid insurance underwriting overseas.

– Create custom stock market charts using the Chart Builder on S&P Capital IQ Pro. – Use a template that presents financial highlights and various peer comparisons for insurers. – Explore more insurance industry coverage.

New No. 1

Ping An leapfrogged China Life as the largest Asia-Pacific insurance company in the fourth quarter of 2025 after its market cap grew 22.8% from the prior quarter to $166.59 billion, outpacing its rival's 18.0% sequential growth rate that lifted China Life's market cap to $161.64 billion.

AIA Group Ltd. was third after its market cap grew 7.1% to $107.67 billion quarter over quarter, followed by Tokio Marine with market cap of $69.92 billion. Life Insurance Corp. of India rounded out the top five with market cap of $60.18 billion.

China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd. jumped to sixth from eighth after its market cap increased 17.4% to $53.57 billion.