Insurance firms have asked regulators to give them the go-ahead to invest a greater proportion of capital in the domestic stock markets, the South China Morning Post reported. A number of companies have told the China Insurance Regulatory Commission they want to see an increase to between 7% and 15%, up from the current level of 5%. At the moment they are restricted to investing mostly in bonds and bank deposits – 57% and 37% respectively. As of February 28, insurers controlled US$199.7 billion in capital – a figure that has quadrupled inside five years. Firms are hoping to capitalize on the bull market to seek a higher return than the combined 3.6% of last year.
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