Wealth management business accounts for half of the market! Everbright Securities' revenue returns to over 10 billion, reaching a nearly four-year high

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21st Century Business Herald reporter Sun Yongle, Shanghai report

Everbright Securities returns to the “top-100-billion” revenue club!

On March 26 and 27, the second batch of 16 listed brokerages released their “scorecards” in quick succession. According to our reporter Sun Yongle of 21st Century Business Herald, as of March 27, 19 listed brokerages, including Oriental Fortune, Capital Securities, and Xiangcai Securities, have already released their 2025 annual reports, with the industry showing a high-growth trend.

Among them, Everbright Securities’ 2025 revenue returned to the 10-billion-yuan threshold and hit the highest level in nearly four years. Against the backdrop of accelerating industry wealth-management transformation, the company’s wealth-management-centered business driving logic has drawn significant market attention.

The annual report shows that Everbright Securities places wealth management at the strategic core. Relying on traditional advantages such as brokerage and margin financing and securities lending (two-margin), and coupled with a faster transition to a buy-side investment advisory model, the scale of its segments, customer base, and revenue contribution have all risen in parallel, becoming the core engine driving the company’s performance growth.

Meanwhile, in the first half of 2025, the company’s asset management, fund, and research business lines all saw leadership changes, and the performance of “Everbright-related” subsidiaries since the second half of the year has also become a focal point in the industry. Judging from performance, the company’s asset management business revenue has grown steadily, the fund business has remained profitable and stable, and positive operational feedback from the personnel adjustments has gradually begun to show.

Worth noting is that at the earnings briefing held on the afternoon of March 27, multiple investors asked questions about Everbright Securities’ share-price performance and valuation levels, and one investor even said directly, “How does the chairman view the long-term bottom-of-the-market secondary-market performance of the company’s stock price?”

Everbright Securities Chairman and Executive Director Zhao Ling responded, saying that secondary-market stock prices are affected by many factors, including the economic situation, industry trends, index fluctuations, preferences in the capital market for funds, the company’s operating conditions, and investor preferences, all of which can influence stock-price trends. The company has continuously strengthened operational management, improving shareholder returns by enhancing performance and distributing dividends to shareholders; it also continues to conduct market value management in a lawful and compliant manner, hoping to further enhance the capital market’s discovery and recognition of the company’s investment value so that the company’s stock price can more reasonably reflect its value.

By the close on March 27, Everbright Securities’ closing price was 15.26 yuan per share, up 0.46%. Total market capitalization reached 70.36 billion yuan. As of February 28, the number of the company’s shareholders was 170,897.

Return to the “top-100-billion” revenue club

In 2024, Everbright Securities’ performance fell sharply and exited the “top-100-billion” revenue club.

That year, the brokerage’s operating revenue was 9.598 billion yuan, down 4.32% year over year; net profit attributable to the parent was 3.06 billion yuan, down 28.39% year over year; but non-recurring profit and loss excluded (after deducting non-recurring items) net profit increased 60.66% year over year to 3.01 billion yuan.

At the time, Everbright Securities explained that, “The year-on-year decline in net profit attributable to the parent of 28.39% was mainly because, in the previous year, the company’s subsidiary Everbright Capital signed and executed a settlement agreement, resulting in the reversal of expected liabilities that formed a non-recurring profit or loss of 2.15 billion yuan.”

Back to today, looking at the full year of 2025, with Everbright Securities returning to the “top-100-billion” revenue club, what is the quality of its performance?

The annual report shows that for the full year, Everbright Securities achieved revenue of 10.852 billion yuan, up 13.06%, reaching a high point in nearly four years; net profit attributable to the parent was 3.724 billion yuan, up 21.77%. By the end of the fourth quarter, the company’s total assets were 318.114 billion yuan.

Everbright Securities’ total operating revenue from 2015 to 2025, image source: Tonghuashun iFinD

On dividends, Everbright Securities plans to distribute cash dividends of 1.307 billion yuan to all A-share and H-share shareholders. After deducting the cash dividends of 505 million yuan already distributed in the 2025 interim period, this round will distribute 802 million yuan, with a proposed dividend per share of 0.1740 yuan (including tax).

When discussing the reasons for the change in revenue, Everbright Securities analyzed that the growth in performance mainly benefited from improvements in credit, brokerage, and asset management business results, while the slowing growth rate of proprietary investment business constituted some drag on revenue.

The brokerage noted that, “In 2025, the company’s net interest income was 2.4 billion yuan, up 0.2 billion yuan year over year, an increase of 11%. This was mainly due to higher bond interest income and margin financing and securities lending interest income. Net fee and commission income was 5.7 billion yuan, up 1.1 billion yuan year over year, an increase of 23%, mainly driven by growth in brokerage business income and fee income from asset management and fund management businesses.”

And, “Investment income and gains from fair value changes were 2.5 billion yuan, down 0.1 billion yuan year over year, a decrease of 5%, mainly due to fair value changes in some equity investment projects; other income was 0.2 billion yuan, up 0.1 billion yuan year over year, an increase of 68%, affected by government subsidies.”

By business segment, different from the traditional annual report disclosure structure adopted by most brokerages, Everbright Securities divides its businesses using six business clusters as the framework, and each segment shows clear divergence in revenue.

Among them, the wealth-management business cluster generated revenue of 6 billion yuan, accounting for 55% of total revenue, becoming the core engine for performance growth.

In parallel, the investment and trading, asset management, institutional clients, and corporate financing business clusters generated revenue of 1.3 billion yuan, 1.2 billion yuan, 1.1 billion yuan, and 0.9 billion yuan, with corresponding shares of 12%, 11%, 10%, and 8%.

In addition, the equity investment business cluster recorded a loss of 0.1 billion yuan in the current period, the only loss-making segment among the six business clusters.

Wealth management “carries the main burden”

Against the backdrop of the industry transformation intertwined with market opportunities, the brokerage business is entering a stock/volume-based competition stage for existing businesses, and wealth management has become a key direction to break through the bottleneck in profitability.

Overall, as a business cluster listed as an independent segment in the annual report, the wealth-management business cluster has become the core engine behind Everbright Securities’ high-growth performance. In 2025, the business cluster achieved revenue of 6 billion yuan, accounting for 55%.

The annual report shows that the company’s wealth-management business cluster mainly includes retail business, margin financing and securities lending business, stock pledge business, futures brokerage business, and overseas wealth management and brokerage business.

Among them, brokerage business remains the largest portion of wealth-management business revenue. In 2025, the company achieved brokerage business revenue of 3.983 billion yuan, up 33.14% year over year, accounting for 36.7% of operating revenue.

In terms of industry rankings, according to the latest data from the China Securities Association, as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, Everbright Securities’ net revenue from securities brokerage and net revenue from acting for securities trading rose by 1 position compared with the previous year. The market share of net revenue from acting for securities trading was basically the same as last year.

Behind this is a notable rebound in market trading activity, with a significant scale of new investor account openings and continued active leverage funds. Data show that in 2025, the average daily trading value of stocks and funds across the entire market was 1,981.4 billion yuan, up 67.2% year over year.

Customer scale and margin financing (two-margins) business: as of the end of 2025, Everbright Securities had a total of 7.165 million customers, up 11% from the end of the prior year. New account openings were 0.762 million, up 18% year over year. Customer total assets were 1.64 trillion yuan, up 20% from the end of the prior year. The company’s margin financing and securities lending balance reached 55.6 billion yuan, up 30% from the beginning of the year.

Industry insiders say that brokerages are currently accelerating their layout for wealth-management businesses from areas such as products, services, and digitization. Public-fund onboarding (public offering), differentiated strategies based on channel advantages, and fund investment advisory business are also key areas to drive efforts.

Everbright Securities also stated in its annual report that in 2025, the company actively promoted buy-side investment advisory services. Its core products represented by “All-E Invest,” “All-Star,” and “Golden Algorithm” provide high-quality services for clients’ on-exchange securities trading. Services to clients’ assets exceeded 100 billion yuan, and revenue rose 157% year over year.

“New commander” for asset management—results released

In the first half of 2025, Everbright Securities made important personnel adjustments in both asset management, fund, and research business.

In August 2025, due to a job position adjustment, 熊国兵 (Xiong Guobing), former chairman of Everbright Securities Asset Management, left office; Qiao Zhen began to act on behalf of the chairman’s duties, while also serving as the general manager.

Around the same time, Gao Ruidong, former director of the Everbright Securities Research Institute, Chief Economist, and General Manager of the Institutional Business Headquarters, stepped down. The day-to-day operations of the Research Institute were taken over by Deputy Director Wang Yifeng, Chief Analyst in the financial industry. The industry generally expected him to be promoted to director, but as of now no formal appointment has been made.

After leaving, however, Gao Ruidong did not leave the Everbright Securities system. He later joined Everbright-Prudential Fund, serving as Secretary of the Party General Branch and General Manager of the company.

In early March, a reporter from 21st Century Economic Herald learned that Qiao Zhen, general manager of Everbright Securities Asset Management, was officially appointed as chairman, ending the acting term that began in August 2025, and becoming the head of asset management at this brokerage.

Public information shows that Qiao Zhen graduated from the Department of Mathematics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and has worked at institutions such as China Merchants Bank headquarters and Huatai-Pinebridge Fund. In August 2012, only three months after Everbright Securities Asset Management was established, Qiao Zhen joined the company and has held roles including General Manager of the Products and Institutional Business Department, Assistant to the General Manager, and Deputy General Manager.

With a series of personnel changes, the performance of related “Everbright-related” subsidiaries since the second half of 2025 has also become a major focus in the market.

The annual report shows that Everbright Securities’ asset management business revenue increased steadily. In 2025, revenue was 0.9 billion yuan, up 14.0%. As of the end of 2025, the company’s entrusted asset management scale was 273.28 billion yuan, down 12.2% year over year.

Everbright-Prudential Fund’s operating situation is also coming into view: in 2025, revenue was 402 million yuan, and net profit was 57 million yuan. As of the end of 2025, Everbright-Prudential Asset Management’s total scale was 134.954 billion yuan.

In the research and investment research business, Everbright Securities’ annual report did not disclose performance separately. The company said that as of the end of December 2025, it tracked 732 A-share listed companies and 198 overseas listed companies for research, and its market influence has been increasing. Based on research institute’s split-commission income in the first half of the year, the industry ranking of Everbright Securities Research Institute is around 30.

Equity investment business incurs losses

However, Everbright Securities’ investment industry business, proprietary investment, and equity investment segments have still been operating under pressure, which has created some drag on the company’s overall 2025 performance.

First, due to the slower pace of A-share IPOs, Everbright Securities’ investment banking business revenue in 2025 was 0.775 billion yuan, down 5.81% year over year.

Of that, the equity underwriting business underwriting scale increased 69.3% year over year to 1.71 billion yuan, ranking 32nd in the industry. It completed 2 IPO projects and raised 0.8 billion yuan; it handled 3 refinancing projects with an underwriting scale of 0.9 billion yuan. As of March 26, 2026, the company’s IPO pipeline projects reached 7, ranking 17th. These include 2 Main Board projects, 4 projects on the Beijing Stock Exchange, and 1 Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) project.

In the bond business, the company’s bond underwriting scale has remained among the leading positions in the industry. In 2025, the underwriting scale was 415.5 billion yuan, down 4.9% year over year, ranking 11th in the industry.

Second, proprietary business growth has slowed somewhat. In 2025, the brokerage’s investment income (including fair value) was 2.35 billion yuan, down 5.8% year over year. Among them, adjusted investment net earnings (including fair value, exchange gains/losses, and other comprehensive gains) in the fourth quarter alone were 0.51 billion yuan, down 60.4% year over year.

Third, due to the continued impact of Everbright Capital, Everbright Securities’ equity investment business cluster recorded a loss of 0.137 billion yuan in 2025, compared with 0.11 billion yuan in operating revenue in 2024, which corresponds to a year-over-year reduction of 224%. The company’s equity investment business revenue also incurred losses of 0.115 billion yuan in 2023.

The annual report shows that Everbright Securities’ equity investment business cluster includes private fund investment and financing business and alternative investment business. Among them, the company mainly conducts private fund investment and financing business through wholly-owned subsidiary Everbright Capital and Everbright Development.

Everbright Capital is precisely the subsidiary mentioned above that created drag on the company’s net profit for 2024. In that year, the subsidiary, after signing and executing the settlement agreement, reversed expected liabilities, forming a non-recurring profit or loss of 2.15 billion yuan.

In response, Everbright Securities mentioned in its annual report that in 2025, Everbright Capital, in accordance with regulatory requirements, continued to carry out rectification and standardization for direct investment projects and existing funds, strengthened post-investment management for existing investment projects, and proceeded prudently with risk resolution and mitigation.

In addition, the divergence between the company’s improving fundamentals and the performance of its stock price in the secondary market has also attracted widespread attention from investors.

At the 2025 annual performance briefing, multiple investors asked questions about Everbright Securities’ stock performance and valuation level. One investor directly said, “How does the chairman view the long-term underperformance of the company’s stock price in the secondary market?”

Apart from the chairman’s response mentioned above, Everbright Securities also replied that it will actively study the legal and regulatory requirements and relevant systems for stock buybacks according to market and industry trends and the company’s actual situation. The company will continue to strengthen operational management to promote stable and healthy development, and work to improve performance and shareholder returns. It will also conduct market value management in a lawful and compliant manner, comprehensively using methods such as operational improvement, cash dividend distributions, investor relations management, and information disclosure to enhance the company’s investment value.

Looking ahead to 2026, Everbright Securities stated in its annual report that it will anchor its strategic goal of “building a first-class service-oriented investment bank in China,” with two drivers: internal-expansion growth and external-expansion development. It will implement three roles—“a service provider for direct financing,” “a gatekeeper for the capital market,” and “a manager of social wealth.” With the aim of ensuring the political nature and people-centered nature of financial work, the company will push党建文化 leadership to be more powerful, keep its core responsibilities and main businesses more focused, and make functional roles play out more effectively. It will pursue a more stable operating philosophy, a more intensive development model, and more pronounced social effects; improve corporate governance further, strengthen risk-control compliance further, enhance technology coordination further, continuously improve operating efficiency, and make steady progress in industry rankings.

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