Ping An of China continues to buy H-shares of major state-owned banks, with its latest purchase of Agricultural Bank of China H-shares bringing its stake above 5% for the first time.
On January 10, a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange revealed that on January 7, Ping An of China purchased 31,678,000 shares of Agricultural Bank of China H-shares at an average price of HK$4.2216 per share. After this purchase, Ping An's total holding in Agricultural Bank of China H-shares increased from 4.95% to 5.05%.
Previously, Ping An Asset Management, a subsidiary of Ping An, disclosed on January 3 that it had bought 16,521,000 shares of Agricultural Bank of China H-shares. Following this purchase, Ping An Asset Management's holding in the bank increased from 4.97% to 5.03%.
According to data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, both Ping An of China and Ping An Asset Management have, for the first time, disclosed holdings in Agricultural Bank of China H-shares exceeding 5%.
Since last year, Ping An of China, Ping An Life, Ping An Asset Management, and other companies under the "Ping An Group" have purchased H-shares in several state-owned major banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Postal Savings Bank of China. At the start of this year, the "Ping An Group" added Agricultural Bank of China H-shares to its "buy" list and further increased its holdings in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China H-shares.
According to Hong Kong Stock Exchange data, on January 2, Ping An of China again increased its holdings of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China H-shares by approximately 150 million shares, raising its stake to 16.02%. Prior to this, Ping An Life and Ping An Asset Management had each disclosed an increase in their holdings of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China H-shares by 15% and 17.11%, respectively. Ping An Life also issued an announcement regarding its stake increase in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China H-shares.
Additionally, on December 18, 2024, Ping An of China increased its holdings in China Construction Bank H-shares by about 67.7 million shares, raising its stake from 4.97% to 5%. On December 27, 2024, Ping An also increased its holdings in Postal Savings Bank of China H-shares by approximately 15 million shares, increasing its stake from 4.92% to 5%. The latest data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange shows that as of January 10, Ping An has not made any further purchases of shares in these two banks.
Industry analysts believe that insurance funds are intensively increasing their holdings in bank stocks due to the demand for high-dividend assets to meet asset allocation needs. In recent years, the rapid expansion of insurance liabilities driven by the growth of endowment life insurance has led to a rise in demand for matching assets and investment returns. As a result, insurance funds are showing increasing interest in dividend-paying equity assets, with the number of times insurance funds have taken significant stakes in undervalued, high-dividend Hong Kong-listed stocks significantly increasing.
