The 2023 annual report and the first quarter report of 2024 of 42 A-share listed banks have been disclosed, and the changes in the ownership structure of each bank have emerged.

According to the flush data, as a whole, as of the first quarter of this year, the number of shareholders of 42 listed banks had declined to varying degrees compared with the end of last year (only the total number of A-share shareholders was counted for bank shares listed in "A+H"). At the same time, more than 70% of the banks' top ten circulating shareholders have increased their shareholding ratio compared with the end of last year, which means that the chips in the circulating market tend to be concentrated.

Social security funds favor Changshu Bank

According to the data, as of the first quarter of this year, the number of shareholders of A-share listed banks had declined collectively compared with the end of last year. Among them, the total number of shareholders of Bank of Chengdu declined the most. By the end of the first quarter of this year, the total number of shareholders of the Bank had dropped 18% to 47500 compared with the end of the previous year; At the same time, the number of shareholders of Bank of Nanjing, Bank of Jiangsu, Postal Savings Bank and Bank of Beijing also declined significantly, 17.89%, 16.47%, 12.55% and 12.50% respectively.

The decline in the number of shareholders also affects the concentration of chips. From the perspective of the shareholding ratio of the top ten shareholders of tradable shares, as of the first quarter of this year, the shareholding ratio of the top ten shareholders of tradable shares of more than 70% of listed banks has increased from the end of last year. Among them, Bank of Xi'an, Huaxia Bank and Bank of Chongqing saw the largest increase.

On the whole, the concentration of circulating chips in large commercial banks and joint-stock commercial banks is relatively high. Five of the top ten circulating shareholders hold more than 90% of shares, including China Construction Bank, CITIC Bank, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.

The National Social Security Fund is a "frequent visitor" to the list of top ten outstanding shareholders of bank shares, and its shareholding changes in bank shares deserve attention. The data shows that in the first quarter of this year, the social security fund held 9 bank shares, which were flat compared with the end of last year, including Bank of Suzhou, Bank of Wuxi, Bank of Changshu, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Ruifeng Bank, Postal Savings Bank, Bank of Chengdu, and Bank of Surong; The total number of shares held is 36.392 billion shares, a decrease of 7.1415 million shares compared with the end of 2023.

Specifically, the social security fund portfolio has long favored Changshu Bank. In the first quarter of this year, Changshu Bank ranked first among the nine bank stocks with heavy positions, both in terms of the number of seats occupied by the social security fund portfolio among the top ten outstanding shareholders and in terms of the total number of shares held.

In addition, in the first quarter of this year, Postal Savings Bank of China, Bank of Chengdu and Changshu Bank all increased their holdings in the social security fund portfolio by 5 million shares, 2.2789 million shares and 79600 shares respectively. Bank of Suzhou was reduced 8.5 million shares by the social security fund portfolio.

Tian Lihui, president of the Financial Development Research Institute of Nankai University, told the Securities Daily that as an important institutional investor, social security funds' investment decisions are usually based on in-depth market analysis and long-term investment planning. Banking shares have the advantages of high dividend yield, strong risk resistance, etc., which are in line with the investment characteristics of insurance funds seeking steady and long-term returns. The increase or decrease of holdings reflects the normal investment operation and strategic adjustment of institutional investors.

Several bank shares gained additional positions of insurance capital

Under the background of high dividend yield, banking shares are also the focus of insurance fund allocation. Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, insurance assets held 483 shares with a total of 79.416 billion shares. Including 16 bank shares such as Ping An Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Huaxia Bank and Minsheng Bank.

The reporter noticed that in the first quarter of this year, the number of bank shares held by insurance funds increased compared with the end of last year, and many bank shares were increased by insurance funds; At the same time, some insurance companies choose to reduce their bank shares. Specifically, insurance funds held 34.103 billion bank shares, an increase of 1.182 billion shares over the end of the previous year. Among them, Bank of Wuxi, Bank of Beijing, Zhejiang Merchants Bank and China Construction Bank gained additional positions in insurance capital.

Specifically, Great Wall Life increased its holdings of 46.4893 million shares in Wuxi Bank, from the third largest circulating shareholder to the second largest circulating shareholder; Xintai Life Insurance increased its holdings of 356 million shares in Bank of Beijing and 771 million shares in Zheshang Bank; Huaxia Life Insurance increased its stake in CCB by 171 million shares.

It is worth noting that in the first quarter of this year, Xintai Life Insurance Company and Huaxia Life Insurance Company were among the top ten outstanding shareholders of Zhejiang Merchants Bank and China Construction Bank due to their large increase in positions.

In addition, Sunshine Life Insurance, Harmonious Health Insurance and Xinhua Life Insurance reduced their holdings in Bank of Beijing, ICBC and Postal Savings Bank respectively. Pan Helin, a member of the Information and Communication Economy Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told reporters that the overall scale of this round of insurance capital increase was not large, and it was a normal trend following strategy. From the perspective of the target of shareholding increase, a growing joint-stock bank has become an important target of shareholding increase.