AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a” (Excellent) from “a-” (Excellent) of Ping An Health Insurance Company of China, Ltd. (Ping An Health) (China). Concurrently, AM Best has revised the outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) to stable from positive.

The ratings reflect Ping An Health’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also reflect the implicit and explicit support that Ping An Health receives from its two major shareholders, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (Ping An Group) and Discovery Limited, with respect to capital and financial support, business development, investment and risk management.

The rating upgrades reflect Ping An Health’s robust operating performance, supported by its proven track record of consistently strong underwriting profitability and steady investment income. Since its business transformation in 2016-2017, when it shifted focus to individual medical insurance led by its flagship product, E Sheng Bao (ESB), a high-limit high-deductible medical reimbursement product, the company has maintained higher-than-industry top line growth. In addition, Ping An Health’s profitability also has outpaced its domestic health insurance peers. It delivered an average return on equity (ROE) of over 20% from 2019 to 2021 and maintained a double-digit ROE following a material capital injection in 2022, which almost doubled its capital and surplus (C&S). Despite the intensifying market competition and ongoing national medical reforms in the domestic medical insurance segment, the company successfully controlled upward pressure in its loss ratio while improving its operating efficiency to achieve strong underwriting profits. The company’s investment result also improved in recent years with the stabilisation of the domestic capital market and its increased allocation into fixed-income type assets. Prospectively, while the top line growth rate may be more subdued, AM Best expects Ping An Health to continue delivering superior profitability from underwriting performance and investment results.

In 2024, the company’s C&S further improved to RMB 10.3 billion (USD 1.4 billion) through partial profit retention. Based on its business plan, AM Best expects Ping An Health’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), will remain at the strongest level over the short to intermediate term. Other supporting factors include the healthy regulatory solvency position, and the diversified and liquid investment portfolio predominantly comprising fixed-income type assets.

Ping An Health remains to be the second-largest specialised health insurer in mainland China, with a market share of 2.5% in 2024 in terms of gross premium written in domestic health insurance. It leverages the strong agency network of its life insurance affiliate in Ping An Group to acquire business. In recent years, the company also is diversifying its product portfolio by actively expanding into non-ESB product offerings and developing niche products tailored to specific population segments, such as juvenile and population with sub-standard health conditions.

Negative rating actions could occur if Ping An Health’s risk-adjusted capitalisation weakens such that it no longer supports the current balance sheet strength assessment, for example, due to higher-than-expected investment risks that materially deviate from the company’s risk appetite. Negative rating actions also could occur if the company exhibits a significant deterioration in its operating performance, such as having an ongoing underwriting loss from its concentrated individual health product or major reserve strengthening from long-term health products. Albeit unlikely over the short to intermediate term, positive rating actions could occur if the company continues to improve its balance sheet strength fundamentals from self-sustaining internal capital generation through positive operating performance.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

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