Are brokers seriously selling insurance?

Our reporter Yu Hong

When you browse stock market quotes and make trades on a brokerage app, have you noticed that insurance products are quietly appearing alongside mutual funds and wealth management products? From million-dollar medical insurance to dividend insurance, from auto insurance to pet insurance—behind these seemingly simple new products, a cross-industry breakthrough led by brokerages is quietly unfolding.

Faced with declining traditional commission income, brokerages are eager to transform from “simple trading channels” to “comprehensive wealth managers.” Insurance products, with their unique protection features and long-term planning value, are increasingly becoming important tools for brokerages to extend their service chain and deepen full lifecycle customer service. They also serve as a key “piece” to fill gaps in the brokerage’s wealth management landscape.

The Insurance Section Emerges

Recently, our reporter observed that many brokerage apps have newly launched insurance sections, alongside “public offerings” and “wealth management” sections, offering investors a variety of insurance products. For example, CITIC Securities’ app features 20 insurance products for sale; GF Securities’ app has launched 8 insurance products; China Galaxy Securities’ app currently has 1 insurance product available. The insurance products sold on these apps mainly include life insurance, annuities, and health insurance.

A GF Securities client manager told our reporter that insurance products have a unique protective function, helping investors achieve goals like retirement planning and wealth transfer while their assets grow. This makes insurance a significant supplement to the traditional product lines focused on investment appreciation, and an important part of brokerages’ efforts to expand wealth management services.

According to our review, the insurance products currently sold on brokerage apps are mainly dividend insurance. For example, among the 20 insurance products sold on CITIC Securities’ app, 14 are explicitly labeled as “dividend type”; the 8 insurance products on GF Securities’ app are also all dividend insurance.

In response, Long Ge, Deputy Director of the Innovation and Risk Management Research Center at the University of International Business and Economics, told Securities Daily: “Dividend insurance aligns well with the investment attributes of brokerage clients. Brokerage clients tend to have higher risk appetites and pursue wealth growth, so dividend insurance, which combines protection and floating returns, suits their needs. Additionally, selling such complex products allows brokerages to better leverage their professional advantages in asset allocation, making dividend insurance the mainstream insurance product sold through brokerage channels.”

However, currently, the insurance sections on brokerage apps are still relatively niche, with only a few institutions, mostly large, well-established brokerages, offering these services. A person related to a listed brokerage told us: “Our app’s insurance section is still in trial operation, and related business processes and service standards are continuously being optimized.”

To better understand the situation, our reporter recently visited multiple brokerage branches in Beijing. Currently, only a few branches are engaged in insurance agency sales. A staff member at a leading brokerage branch said that although the company has obtained an insurance sales license, not all branches are qualified to operate in this area. Currently, only some branches have been approved to carry out related business, but in the future, more offline outlets may be authorized to do so.

Regarding the phenomenon of brokerages actively developing insurance agency sales, Wu Xiaowei, a global partner and head of insurance consulting at McKinsey China, told Securities Daily: “The core goal for brokerages to develop insurance agency sales is to better build a ‘customer financial service portal.’ Brokerages’ strengths lie in asset management, enabling them to integrate insurance, funds, and other financial products to provide comprehensive financial planning and asset allocation services from protection to investment. Developing insurance agency sales not only helps fill gaps in the business chain and optimize revenue structures but also significantly enhances customer stickiness, giving brokerages a competitive edge in the customer portal.”

From Licensing Breakthroughs to Trust Building

The opening of online insurance sections depends on breaking through licensing barriers. From the perspective of brokerages’ qualifications to sell insurance products, our review shows that 11 brokerages have obtained insurance intermediary licenses issued by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC). For example, Pacific Securities was approved for an insurance intermediary license as early as 2005; Ping An Securities, GF Securities, and others received theirs in 2013; CITIC Securities’ license was approved in 2022. All these licenses were issued between 2022 and 2024.

Looking at industry pioneers, in 2022, CITIC Securities officially launched its insurance agency sales business, becoming the first in the industry to be approved for an insurance intermediary license with a “legal person license and branch registration” pilot. Since then, several licensed brokerages have begun testing insurance agency sales at their offline branches, though on a limited scale.

Recently, many brokerages have been actively building online platforms for their insurance sections. Experts say that shifting from scattered, small-scale offline sales to accelerating the development of online insurance sections aims to make insurance agency sales more systematic, scaled, and standardized, laying a foundation for deeper future operations. More importantly, these initiatives are supported by policy. In July 2025, the China Securities Industry Association issued the “Implementation Opinions on Strengthening Self-Discipline Management and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Securities Industry,” which mentions steadily promoting more compliant and risk-controlled brokerages to obtain licenses for bank wealth management and insurance product sales.

“Brokerages are increasing investment in insurance agency sales for multiple strategic reasons,” Long Ge told us. “First, policies require brokerages to strengthen their role in helping residents with asset allocation and promote wealth management transformation. Second, the demand and potential for wealth management services are huge, attracting brokerages to seize growth opportunities. Third, brokerage performance is closely linked to capital market conditions, with revenues often fluctuating significantly with market cycles. In this context, brokerages are actively promoting diversified revenue structures, and income from insurance agency sales, which is less correlated with market fluctuations, can help stabilize earnings.”

Overall, the insurance sections on brokerage apps will detail product information, including product descriptions, coverage details, suitability classifications, product features, case studies, and related agreements. Brokerages are also enhancing advisory services—for example, Ping An Securities’ app has set up dedicated live broadcast rooms to introduce “insurance selection guides.”

But do investors “buy into” this emerging insurance purchase channel on brokerage platforms? Our conversations with multiple investors and client managers reveal that, compared to direct sales by insurance companies and bank agency channels, online insurance sales via brokerages rely more on existing clients and are less effective at attracting new customers. The key factors influencing whether investors choose to buy insurance products on brokerage platforms are service quality and trust in the brokerage.

“Ultimately, service is king. First, whether the brokerage’s investment advisors (or client managers) can clearly explain the advantages and mechanisms of insurance products to clients; second, how well the advisors integrate insurance into overall client asset plans, addressing pain points and meeting needs; third, the long-term service quality and whether a deep trust relationship has been established,” a wealth management professional at a brokerage told us.

Accelerating the Reconstruction of the Wealth Management Ecosystem

The “cross-industry” push into insurance agency sales by brokerages is not just about adding new services but is a sign of their efforts to accelerate the expansion of their wealth management landscape and deepen the transformation from brokerage to comprehensive wealth managers.

Currently, brokerage commission rates are continuously declining. By 2025, the average A-share commission rate in Shanghai has fallen below 0.02%, a significant drop from the previous year. Meanwhile, the new era demands brokerages to better serve as professional “managers” of social wealth.

Chen Yinhua, director of the Western Financial Research Institute, told Securities Daily: “Insurance products can diversify brokerages’ mainly equity-based product structures, forming asset allocation portfolios that include high-risk high-return, low-risk steady income, and protection-oriented options, covering investors with different risk preferences. Moreover, insurance agency sales require brokerages to deeply understand clients’ family structures, financial situations, and risk preferences, promoting the upgrade of investment advisors to ‘comprehensive wealth planners’ with capabilities in asset allocation, risk management, and tax planning. Relying on integrated ‘investment + protection’ solutions, brokerages can shift their service role from ‘single transactions’ to ‘lifetime wealth companionship.’”

However, competing in the fiercely contested insurance agency market is no easy task for brokerages. Long Ge believes that while expanding insurance agency sales will add an important channel for insurance product distribution, brokerages, as latecomers, do not yet hold a dominant market position and must continue exploring.

A non-banking financial industry analyst in North China commented: “At this early stage, brokerages face challenges in product development, staffing, assessment mechanisms, and channel deployment. But in the future, insurance agency sales are expected to effectively enrich clients’ asset allocation options, improving client retention and overall revenue.”

“For brokerages entering this field, ensuring compliance is paramount,” said Zou Ye, a partner at Beijing Zhude Law Firm and member of the Legal and Compliance Committee of the China Banking and Insurance Asset Management Association. “Brokerages need to obtain insurance sales licenses and register their practitioners as insurance intermediaries. Since insurance products differ significantly from funds and other asset management products, practitioners must deepen their understanding of complex insurance products, adjust sales strategies, and carefully manage sales rules and customer needs.”

Looking ahead, Wu Xiaowei stated that insurance agency sales have considerable growth potential and could become an important revenue driver for brokerages. The key to success lies in providing more professional asset allocation services than banks and other channels. Only then can the “new puzzle piece” of insurance agency sales truly integrate into the wealth management landscape and help brokerages transition from “simple trading channels” to “comprehensive wealth managers.”