Securities firms' asset management public offering transformation will be completed this year. How will various securities firms fare in terms of business performance?

As the annual reports of securities firms for 2024 are gradually disclosed, the performance of securities firms' asset management business is also coming to light. In 2024, the asset management business of securities firms showed a positive development trend under the dual driving force of "public offering + private placement". Based on data released by the China Securities Association and the China Fund Industry Association, as well as analysis of securities firms' annual reports, four major highlights of the asset management business in 2024 have emerged. Firstly, data from the China Securities Association shows that by the end of last year, the total scale of asset management business in the securities industry was 9.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. Among them, the total scale of actively managed products represented by public funds and collective asset management was 4.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 44.1%. Secondly, the scale of private placement asset management of securities firms ended years of contraction, achieving a bottoming out rebound. According to statistics from the China Securities Investment Fund Industry Association, by the end of 2024, the scale of private placement asset management products of securities firms and their asset management subsidiaries reached 5.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 3% compared to the end of the previous year. Thirdly, despite the increase in entrusted assets under management, overall income has decreased, possibly due to the decline in management fees for public equity products and the increase in the proportion of fixed income products. Fourthly, leading securities firms are strengthening their research teams and venturing into areas like equities and quantitative strategies; while medium and small securities firms are focusing on niche areas such as fixed income+ and convertible bonds, or expanding space through asset securitization products like ABS and REITs. 12 asset management firms saw positive income growth, with medium and small securities firms breaking through with differentiated competition Based on the data performance of 25 listed securities firms' asset management businesses, the total entrusted asset management scale of the 25 listed securities firms was 5.68 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.77%. The total income of the asset management business of the 25 securities firms was 37.791 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.02%. Among them, 12 securities firms saw an increase in income from asset management business, while 13 securities firms saw varying degrees of decline. Specifically, the top ten securities firms in terms of net income from asset management business in 2024 were CITIC SEC (10.506 billion yuan), GF SEC (6.885 billion yuan), Huatai (4.146 billion yuan), Guotai Haitong (3.893 billion yuan), Zhongtai (2.07 billion yuan), China Securities Co., Ltd. (1.18 billion yuan), Orient (1.343 billion yuan), CICC (1.209 billion yuan), and Capital (887 million yuan). In terms of the change in income from asset management business of each securities firm, the top five securities firms in terms of net income growth from asset management business in 2024 were Nanjing (110.94%), Capital (75.48%),GLMS SEC (48.99%), Dongxing (35.53%), and Founder (1.92%). Why are the two medium-sized securities firms the fastest growing? On the one hand, some medium and small securities firms have significantly outperformed leading institutions in terms of performance growth due to their small base in the previous period. On the other hand, some medium and small securities firms are focusing on niche areas such as fixed income+ and convertible bonds, or achieving differentiated competition through asset securitization products like ABS and REITs. In terms of business layout, Nanjing is actively exploring a differentiated development path, strengthening core team building, improving investment management capabilities, enriching product types around customer demand, creating competitive special products, enhancing cooperation, channel construction, and product sales capabilities, and continuously growing business scale and contribution. Capital is deepening cooperation with multiple banks, Internet sales institutions, sales channels, and customer coverage continue to expand, and at the same time, doing channel customization, institution customization, and corporate customer customization to meet the risk preferences of different customers. In terms of income decline, Central China saw the largest decline of 49.73%, while Hongta saw a decline of 40.23%; only these three securities firms' income from asset management business declined by more than 40% in the annual report. Orient and Cinda saw a decrease in net income by more than 30% compared to the same period last year. In terms of revenue contribution, 7 securities firms had asset management revenues exceeding 10%, with Capital having the highest asset management revenue contribution at 36.69%. This was followed by GF SEC (25.31%), GLMS SEC (24.61%), Zhongtai (19.01%), CITIC SEC (16.47%), Huaan (12.12%), and Huatai (10%). Entrusted management scale increased by nearly 30%, industry concentration further increased Data from Wind shows that the total entrusted asset management scale of the 25 listed securities firms was 56,772.35 billion yuan (excluding the entrusted management scale of asset management subsidiaries), an increase of 2.77% compared to the same period last year. The top five securities firms accounted for approximately 65.77% of the total share, an increase of 3.7% from 2023, indicating a further increase in concentration. Among them, CITIC SEC ranked first with a management scale of 15.4 trillion yuan, an 11.09% increase from 13.9 trillion yuan last year; Guotai Haitong ranked second with a management scale of 588.43 billion yuan, an 8.35% increase; Huatai ranked third, with an entrusted asset management scale of 556.267 billion yuan, a 16.98% increase. In terms of growth, 12 securities firms achieved growth among those that disclosed their entrusted asset scale, while 8 saw a decline from the previous year. Among them, Central China saw the largest increase, with a entrusted management scale of 5.271 billion yuan by the end of 2024, an increase of 43.9%. The top five securities firms with growth in scale also included GF SEC (23.87%), GLMS SEC (21.52%), Huatai (16.98%), and CITIC SEC (11.09%). In terms of product structure, securities firms' asset management products are transitioning to active management, with the collective asset management plan of many securities firms growing rapidly, with growth exceeding that of single asset management plans. According to data from the China Securities Fund Industry Association, 2In February 2014, the collective asset management scale of securities private equity management plans exceeded 2.67 trillion yuan for the first time, surpassing single plans and leading until the end of the year. The gap gradually widened, demonstrating the improvement of securities management's active management capabilities.Among them, the three securities firms with the largest entrusted management scale of collective asset management plans all achieved year-on-year growth. Specifically, CITIC SEC, Guotai-Haitong, and CICC had collective asset management plan scales of 343.243 billion yuan, 239.324 billion yuan, and 166.733 billion yuan in 2024, respectively, representing a growth of 15.30%, 9.14%, and 20.09% compared to the same period last year. This article is reprinted from "Cailianshe", GMTEight Editor: Jiang Yuanhua.