Yangtze Business Daily Report ● Reporter Pan Ruidong
Insurance giant New China Life continues to increase its stake in securities titan Guotai Junan (601211.SH, 02611.HK).
On the evening of 10/9, information disclosed by the China Insurance Association revealed that New China Life Insurance increased its holdings in Guotai Haitong H-shares by 995.96 million shares via centralized bidding on the secondary market on 9/29. Following this increase, New China Life Insurance and its concert parties now hold a total stake of 20.24% of Guotai Haitong's H-share capital, triggering a public disclosure requirement.
On 10/9 close, Guotai Haitong H-shares closed at 14.23 HKD/share, with New China Life's holding valued at 100.98 billion HKD, equivalent to 86.11 billion RMB.
On the same day, Guotai Haitong issued its 2026 semi-annual dividend distribution announcement. Based on the total share capital excluding shares held in the repurchase special securities account, the company will distribute a cash dividend of 3.0 yuan per 10 share to all shareholders (before tax), totaling 52.54 billion yuan. This amount represents a doubling compared to the same period last year.
Data shows that in the first half of 2026, Guotai Haitong's operating revenue reached 471.63 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 97.56%; net profit attributable to parents was 202.60 billion yuan, exceeding 200 billion yuan for the first time, up 28.74% year-over-year.
Insurance funds hold over 20% of Guotai Haitong H-shares, a rare occurrence.
Insurance capital continues to increase its stake in Guotai Haitong.
According to an announcement by New China Life Insurance Company disclosed to the China Insurance Association, the company increased its holdings in Guotai Haitong H-shares by 995.96 million shares via centralized bidding on the secondary market on 9/29. This represents approximately 0.28% of Guotai Haitong's total issued H-share capital. Following this increase, New China Life and its concert parties now hold a combined total of 7.096 billion H-shares in Guotai Haitong, raising their shareholding percentage to 20.24%.
According to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) disclosure of interests data, New China Life Insurance and its concert parties have steadily increased their holdings in Guotai Haitong H shares. Since surpassing 16% on 2026/5/15, they successively broke through 17% on 7/15, 18% on 9/3, 19% on 9/16, and finally 20% on 9/29. Over four months, the group crossed five consecutive round-number thresholds with a dense and steady accumulation pace.
Looking at the longer timeline, in 2019, New China Life Insurance became one of the major shareholders of CITIC Securities and secured a board seat. On 2024/11/28, New China Life increased its holdings in Haitong Securities' H-shares via centralized bidding on the secondary market by 400 million shares, raising its stake to 5.02% and triggering a disclosure requirement. This marks the first time since 2019/4, when China Life Insurance Group disclosed its stake in Shenwan Hongyuan's H-shares, that an insurance investor has publicly disclosed a position in a securities firm stock after more than five years.
During the merger and restructuring of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, New China Life Insurance increased its holdings in both companies' H shares. After the merger was completed, it maintained its board representation at the combined entity, with Chen Yijiang, President of New China Asset Management, currently serving as a director.
In accordance with relevant regulations, New China Life Insurance plans to include its investment in Guotai Haitong in equity asset management. As of the close on 10 month 9, Guotai Haitong's share price was 14.23 HKD per share. New China Life Insurance's holding value reached 100.98 billion HKD, equivalent to 86.11 billion RMB.
Analysts note that it is uncommon for an insurance investor to raise its stake in a top-tier broker's H-shares above 20%. Currently, among Guotai Haitong's shareholders, no other insurance companies are present besides New China Life. This increased holding makes New China Life the sole insurer with a stake exceeding 20% in the company's H-shares.
In fact, New China Life's allocation to equity assets has accelerated significantly since 2026. On 9 22, the company further increased its holdings of AVIC Engineering Holdings (H-share) by 1687.6 million shares on the secondary market, raising its stake to 5.17% and triggering a major shareholding disclosure. During its 8 earnings call, New China Life stated that it is actively responding to requirements for long-term capital inflows, continuously increasing allocations to high-dividend foundational assets, and adding positions in dividend-focused and new quality productive force equity assets amid the market adjustment in the first half of the year.
Guotai Haitong, which recently received a trading halt notice, is increasing its shareholder returns. On 10 month 9, the company announced its semi-annual dividend distribution plan for 2026. Based on the total share capital excluding shares held in the repurchase special account, it will distribute a cash dividend of 3.0 yuan per 10 shares (tax included) to all shareholders, totaling 5 billion yuan. This represents a doubling of the interim dividend from 2025 and sets a new record for interim dividends since the merger.
Proprietary revenue accounts for more than 50%
As the new industry leader, Guotai Haitong continues to unlock integration benefits.
The semi-annual report shows that Guotai Haitong achieved revenue of 471.63 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, a year-over-year increase of 97.56%. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 202.60 billion yuan, surpassing 200 billion yuan for the first time in the interim period, representing a year-over-year growth of 28.74%.
By business segment, proprietary trading is Guotai Haitong's largest revenue driver. Using the metric of investment income excluding gains from associates and joint ventures plus fair value changes, the company generated 238.51 billion yuan in proprietary trading revenue in the first half of 2026, a year-over-year increase of 155.03%. This accounted for 50.57% of total revenue, making it the top source of income. The growth was fueled by heightened activity in the A-share market and strong performance in technology-growth sectors. The company capitalized on key themes in tech industry investments, optimized its multi-asset and multi-strategy allocation framework, and drove dual momentum through both proprietary investing and client-driven businesses. Investment returns were particularly strong, while client-driven business scale expanded significantly.
In the brokerage business segment, net commission income amounted to 99.42 billion yuan, representing a year-over-year increase of 73.41%, driven primarily by heightened trading volumes in the A-share market. As of the reporting period end, the number of domestic clients reached 4089 million households, up 4.0% from the previous year-end, ranking first in the industry. Among them, the count of affluent and high-net-worth clients increased by 7.1% compared to the prior year-end. Assets under custody grew by 12.1% year-over-year. The company's share of equity and fund transaction volume rose to 9.15%, an increase of 0.59 percentage points from the previous year, also securing the top position in the industry.
In investment banking, the Matthew effect has intensified. Net fee income from investment banking reached 22.24 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 59.82%. In the first half of 2026, the company served as lead underwriter for 14 IPOs with total underwriting amounts of 106.83 billion yuan, up 122.70% year over year. The number of IPOs under review at period-end was 57, ranking first in the industry. Regarding bond financing, the company underwrote 1878 bonds totaling 6438 billion yuan, both ranking second in the industry. Among these, lead underwriting amounts for science and technology innovation bonds were 726 billion yuan, and for green bonds were 204 billion yuan. Public REITs issuance totaled 143 billion yuan, ranking first in the industry.
The asset management segment generated net fee income of 37.10 billion yuan, up 43.91% year over year. As of the reporting period end, Huatao Fund Management's assets under management totaled 9157.03 billion yuan, with public fund management at 8198.27 billion yuan; Harvest Fund Management's assets under management reached 6618.50 billion yuan, including bond ETFs at 1718 billion yuan, a 37.4% increase from the prior year-end, marking its 5th consecutive year as the industry leader; and Fullgoal Fund Management's assets under management surpassed 2.2 trillion yuan for the first time, with public funds at 14812.05 billion yuan, up 9.5% from the prior year-end. Combined, the three fund companies manage nearly 3.8 trillion yuan in assets.
In credit services, Guotai Junan's net interest income grew steadily, reaching 39.89 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-over-year increase of 25.17%. This growth was primarily driven by the continued recovery in the margin financing market. During the reporting period, margin financing and securities lending interest income totaled 57.77 billion yuan, up 50.95% year over year. As of the end of the reporting period, outstanding margin balances stood at 2961.11 billion yuan, representing a 20.3% increase from the previous year-end, with a market share of 9.80%, an improvement of 0.11 percentage points year over year, maintaining the industry's top position in two-financing business share. Net new margin customers increased by 4.84 hundred thousand, a 83.1% year-over-year rise, with a market share of 11.66%, up 1.53 percentage points compared to the prior year, highlighting accelerating synergies from integration.
Market data shows that in the first half of 2026, trading volume in A-shares continued to expand. The average daily transaction value of stocks and funds on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges reached 32119 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 101.9%. With market risk appetite steadily recovering, brokerage, margin financing, and proprietary trading—the three core business segments—saw synchronized benefits.
