Seller's chief hopping: Industry competitors "level up" to snatch people and join the buyer's track.

Against the background of declining salaries and continued decrease in commission fees in the securities industry, sell-side chief analysts have been actively moving around. With a significant decrease in research personnel salaries, some research analysts in securities firms have an increased desire to leave. Among them, chief economists and star analysts with outstanding comprehensive abilities are more likely to find ideal job opportunities, so job-hopping is more frequent for them. In addition to moving to the buy-side, listed companies have also become an important choice for chief analysts to transition to. According to analysis by senior professionals in securities research institutes, there are not many research institutes currently offering high salaries, and more opportunities for "high salary handovers" are flowing to buy-side institutions and listed companies. However, compared to the above two paths, inter-industry transfers for chief analysts are still the mainstream. A journalist's analysis found that at least 19 chief economists or chief industry analysts have changed jobs since 2025, with 15 cases involving inter-industry transfers. It is worth noting that a new trend has emerged - some chief analysts are choosing to completely leave the finance industry and venture into various different fields.