Investment ceiling for insurers increased

The ceiling for insurance firms to invest in property and listed companies has been raised as the China Insurance Regulatory Commission moves to ease curbs on their investment options.

Insurers can now invest as much as 30 percent of their total assets by the end of the previous year into equities, the CIRC said yesterday. They were formerly allowed to invest up to 25 percent of assets in listed companies and 10 percent in private firms.

The insurers can now invest up to 30 percent of their assets into properties, up from 20 percent previously.

The CIRC has also raised the ceiling for other financial investments, including wealth-management products, asset-backed securities and trust products, to 20 percent. Overseas investment can now make up a maximum of 10 percent of total assets.

“We insist on market-oriented reforms for the use of insurance funds, and we are allowing more investment options and risk management products to market participants,” the regulator said in a statement.

The move is part of liberal investment measures the regulator has taken since last year to boost insurers’ profits amid slowing market demand and low investment returns.

There is no limit set on liquidity assets such as cash, money market funds and short-term government bonds, the CIRC said.

Last month, the CIRC allowed insurers to buy shares trading on Shenzhen’s ChiNext board for startups, and authorized qualified insurers to invest income from long-term policies in blue-chip shares.