1Q26 Hong Kong Premiums: Another Record High Quarter

Research evidence excerpt

1Q26 Hong Kong Premiums: Another Record High Quarter

Update

July 26, 2026 08:32 PM GMT

Morgan Stanley Asia Limited+MHong Kong/China Insurance | Asia Pacific Rick Zhao

Equity Analyst

1Q26 Hong Kong Premiums: Rick.Zhao@morganstanley.comRichard Xu, CFA +852 2239-7033

Richard.Xu@morganstanley.com +852 2848-6729

Another Record High Quarter Chenqian Liu

Research Associate

Chenqian.Liu@morganstanley.com +852 3963-0359

1Q26 APE reached HK$60bn, up 17% yoy despite a moderate

slowdown from 38% in 2025. Single-pay premiums and average

ticket size grew much faster. We expect some moderation amid

regulatory tightening in the rest of the year.

Hong Kong/China Insurance

1Q26 growth remained strong despite regulatory tightening: Hong Kong recorded

Asia Pacific

annualized premium equivalents (APE) growth of 17% yoy to HK$59.7bn in 1Q26, Industry View Attractive

reaching a historical high over the past decade despite moderating from 21% yoy in

4Q25 and continued regulatory tightening, especially in the broker channel. The

number of mainland China visitors (MCV) to Hong Kong remained strong (up 19.8%

yoy in 1Q26 and 10.8% yoy in 2Q26). We believe cross-border insurance sales will

not be affected by tightening cross-border investments, and think HK could maintain

robust premium growth this year.

Broker channel mix dropped with slower growth after implementation of

referral fee cap and par product commission restructure: Broker channel market

share (on APE basis) dropped 5.9ppts qoq and 2.3ppts yoy to 25.8% in 1Q26 (the

lowest since 2Q23), with APE growth slowing to just 7% yoy vs. 33% yoy in 4Q25.

Agents and banca channel saw healthy APE growth of 12% and 17%. AIA continued

to see a strong broker channel at 42% yoy in 1Q26, with market share up 2.5ppts