- China Life Pension and China Life P&C Insurance will each invest 2 billion yuan in a 20% stake in a new 20 billion-yuan fund
- The vehicle will target existing and new assets in semiconductors, biomedicine and AI
Two China Life Insurance Group units will invest a combined 4 billion yuan ($600 million) in a new Shanghai private-equity fund targeting the city’s three key industries, underscoring insurers’ growing role in funding technology assets.
China Life Pension and China Life Property & Casualty Insurance will each commit 2 billion yuan to the Shanghai Preferred Projects Equity Investment Fund, giving the two units a combined 20% stake in the fund’s planned 20 billion-yuan size, China Life said in an announcement on September 24.
The fund, managed by Shanghai SSCI Leading Private Equity Fund Management (上海国投先导私募基金管理有限公司), will invest in existing and new assets in integrated circuits, biomedicine and AI.
Insurers deepen tech bets
The fund will combine two investment strategies, with no more than 70% of its capital earmarked for secondary fund transactions, or S deals, and at least 30% for direct investments. The allocation can be adjusted depending on market conditions.
S transactions allow existing limited partners to sell their fund interests before the end of a fund’s life, providing an exit route for earlier investors while allowing long-term capital such as insurers to take over their positions.
The fund will have a maximum life of 15 years. Its four-year investment period can be extended by one year, while its seven-year exit period can be extended by up to three years.
Shanghai SSCI Leading Private Equity Fund Management was established in May 2024 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment Co. It also manages Shanghai’s three industrial master funds.
Shanghai announced a 100 billion-yuan program for the three industries in July 2024.
S deals meet direct investment
By the end of June 2026, the funds had approved a cumulative 56.59 billion yuan in investments, covering areas including semiconductor equipment and materials, AI computing and training data, and innovative drugs.
China Life has increasingly used both S transactions and fund investments to gain exposure to technology assets.
In 2023, China Life Asset Management launched an approximately 11.8 billion-yuan private-equity investment plan that acquired secondary interests in the Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (上海集成电路产业投资基金).
Setting a precedent
The deal gave the insurer exposure to 18 semiconductor companies and marked the first time an insurance equity investment plan acquired an S interest through an exchange-listed transaction.
In January, China Life committed 4 billion yuan to the Huizhi Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai) Private Equity Fund (汇智长三角（上海）私募基金), while an AI fund of funds managed by Shanghai SSCI Leading committed another 500 million yuan.
China Life entities have disclosed five technology-focused fund investments so far this year, with combined committed or proposed commitments exceeding 20 billion yuan.
Header image credit: Towfiqu barbhuiya/Unsplash
