Every reporter: Wang Haimin Every editor: Peng Shuiping
After the second phase of the public fund fee reform is implemented in the second half of 2024, the first complete annual ranking of brokerage commission for split accounts has recently been released.
Against the backdrop of a more than 40% growth in net income from brokerage business across the industry in 2025, influenced by the public fund fee reform, the total split account commission for all brokerages in 2025 is expected to reach 11.014 billion yuan, a slight increase of only 0.36% compared to 10.975 billion yuan in 2024. However, signs of an end to the declining trend in split account commissions have already emerged.
From the performance of A-shares this year, despite the impact of the Middle East situation, market trading remains active. Some brokerages expect that in the first quarter of 2026, the company's split account commission will reach a historical high.
In the face of challenges from AI and the continuous downward pressure on commission rates, more and more brokerage research institutes are actively exploring diversified business models of &#34;research +&#34;. At the same time, the trend of internationalization in research business is becoming increasingly evident.
<h2>2025 Split Account Commission Overall Stabilizes at Low Levels</h2>
Industry insiders believe that the fundamental reason for the slight growth in the scale of industry split account commissions in 2025 is the comprehensive implementation of the new regulations on public fund fees. Although the market transaction volume is expected to grow significantly in 2025, the overall split account commission of brokerages shows a characteristic of &#34;increment without revenue&#34; due to the sharply declining commission rates.
According to Choice data statistics, in 2025, the top 10 brokerages by split account commission income are: CITIC Securities, GF SEC, Guotai Haitong, Changjiang Securities, HTSC, Industrial Securities, CITIC JianTou, Shenwan Hongyuan, Guolian Minsheng, and Zhejiang Securities. Compared to the rankings for the whole of 2024, Guotai Haitong and HTSC have entered the top 5 in the industry.
With the official implementation of the &#34;Regulations on the Management of Securities Transaction Fees for Publicly Raised Securities Investment Funds&#34; (i.e., the new regulations for the second phase of public fund fee reform) in July 2024, the long-standing business model of exchanging fund sales for so-called &#34;market commissions&#34; has been explicitly prohibited, and the research capabilities of brokerages will become the core basis for commission distribution by fund companies.
In this context, recruiting talent remains an important way for small and medium-sized brokerages to seek breakthroughs. After significantly expanding their analyst teams, in 2025, Huayuan Securities' split account commission income soared from less than 20 million yuan in 2024 to 144 million yuan, an increase of 764.9%, and its ranking jumped to 24th place. Huafu Securities' split account commission income increased by 186.46% year-on-year to 220 million yuan, rising to 22nd place.
In addition, the strong recruitment efforts of research institutes at brokerages such as Guojin Securities and Dongfang Caifu Securities have also reflected in the growth of split account commissions. Among them, after continuously introducing several well-known analysts, Dongfang Caifu Securities achieved a split account commission income of 122 million yuan in 2025, a significant year-on-year increase of 67%, ranking 29th in the industry. However, before the implementation of the &#34;Regulations,&#34; Dongfang Caifu Securities, leveraging its strong fund sales capabilities and a high proportion of &#34;market commissions,&#34; saw its split account commission scale approach 400 million yuan in 2021, ranking 23rd in the industry
With the implementation of the &#34;Regulations,&#34; the total commission of Dongfang Caifu Securities in 2024 is only 73 million yuan, a decline of 78.8%, and its ranking has dropped from the top 20 in the industry to 35th place.
While the industry as a whole has stabilized after hitting bottom, some established institutions have experienced significant declines against the trend. For example, in 2025, Guotou Securities' commission income from sub-accounts fell by 48.97% year-on-year to 100 million yuan, and its industry ranking dropped from the top 5 a decade ago to 30th place. Other established research institutions, such as Everbright Securities, also saw significant declines last year.
It is worth mentioning that after several years of continuous decline, the sub-account commission market is expected to see a real recovery. In the first quarter of this year, although the A-share market experienced fluctuations, the trading volume in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets still achieved significant year-on-year growth. Some brokerages expect that in the first quarter of 2026, the company's sub-account commission will reach a historical high.
<h2>Focusing on Overseas Markets Becomes a New Industry Strategy</h2>
According to reporters' observations, although some small and medium-sized brokerages have rapidly risen in sub-account commission rankings in recent years, their strategies remain relatively traditional. For example, a medium-sized brokerage recently summarized that the strategy that led to rapid growth in sub-account commission income last year was &#34;high-end talent + precise sales,&#34; using star analysts to attract commissions while focusing on &#34;new quality productivity.&#34;
Although such traditional strategies can yield quick results, they often lack sustainability. On October 31 of last year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Asset Management Association of China simultaneously released the &#34;Guidelines for Performance Comparison Benchmarks of Publicly Raised Securities Investment Funds (Draft for Comments)&#34; (hereinafter referred to as the &#34;Guidelines&#34;) and the &#34;Operational Rules for Performance Comparison Benchmarks of Publicly Raised Securities Investment Funds (Draft for Comments)&#34; (hereinafter referred to as the &#34;Operational Rules&#34;). The introduction of the &#34;Guidelines&#34; and &#34;Operational Rules&#34; aims to prevent the long-standing issue of style drift in public funds from the source. For sell-side research, the implementation of the new regulations is expected to deeply reshape the traditional revenue model of brokerage research institutions.
In this regard, the non-bank team of CITIC Securities believes that after the new regulations are implemented, the performance evaluation for funds will shift from relative performance rankings to excess returns compared to benchmarks, which will encourage fund managers to reduce trading frequency and focus on long-term investments, directly leading to a decrease in the turnover rate of public funds. Over the past five years, the annual average turnover rate of actively managed equity funds has been 388%, with a median turnover rate of 321%. Under the new regulations, it is expected to align more closely with mature markets (for example, the turnover rate of actively managed equity funds in the U.S. from 1984 to 2024 is about 60%), which in the short term will put pressure on sell-side research income that relies on trading commissions from sub-accounts. In the future, the growth of sell-side income will need to rely more on the recovery of the market to drive an overall increase in actively managed assets, thereby offsetting the impact of the decline in turnover rates through scale effects. At the same time, the new regulations require investment styles to strictly align with benchmarks, which will compel fund managers to deepen their understanding of benchmark constituent stocks and their respective industries, shifting their demands for sell-side research from chasing hot topics and focusing on speed of information to requiring more forward-looking, in-depth, and verifiable industry trend assessments and company value analyses.
Meanwhile, as fund managers focus on industries and companies related to benchmarks, their evaluation criteria for sell-side research will place greater emphasis on the accuracy, depth, and logical rigor of the research, rather than merely the frequency of roadshows or the speed of service responses
This means that sell-side institutions capable of providing solid fundamental research, deeply understanding the long-term development logic of specific industries, and accurately assessing companies' core competitive advantages will stand out.
Additionally, the impact of AI on sell-side research is becoming increasingly evident. Currently, several mainstream large models both domestically and internationally have adapted to securities investment research functions, and some basic research tasks will gradually be replaced by AI. According to the 2025 annual reports, AI tools are rapidly being integrated into the investment research operations of major brokerages.
In the face of challenges from AI and the ongoing pressure of declining commission rates, more and more brokerage research institutes are actively exploring diversified business models of &#34;research +&#34;, updating their research strategies, and building differentiated advantages in hot areas such as wealth management, proprietary trading, investment banking, and think tanks. Among these, overseas markets have become a new focus for the industry.
In the past, the income of domestic brokerage research institutes mainly came from domestic institutions, but in recent years, the internationalization of research business has become increasingly evident.
For example, with the continuous strengthening of coverage in overseas markets, various roadshows and research reports organized and published by domestic brokerages targeting overseas star-listed companies have become more common. Several leading and medium-sized brokerages have also newly established research teams abroad, focusing on creating research brands that serve overseas institutions.
At the same time, last year, some leading brokerages saw significant growth in data related to their overseas research business. For instance, GF Securities' 2025 annual report shows that last year, the company's overseas research coverage and client service capabilities continued to enhance, with client service volume increasing by 257%.
From the wording of some brokerages' annual reports, it is clear that they are placing equal emphasis on research business in both overseas and domestic markets. CITIC Securities pointed out in its annual report that in 2026, the company will continue to deepen the integration of domestic and overseas research and enhance its global brand influence as dual cores, further optimizing the global research service network, achieving comprehensive synergy in resource allocation, service standards, and business processes, expanding the global customer service coverage radius, and consolidating and enhancing global market share. CITIC Construction Investment stated that in 2026, it will increase investment in international research, continuously improve the global research and service system, and provide higher-quality global comprehensive research services to domestic and overseas clients. China International Capital Corporation highlighted the internationalization of its research team and its influence among international investors in its annual report.
Daily Economic News

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After the second phase of the public fund fee reform in 2025, brokerage commission from split accounts slightly increased to 11.014 billion yuan, indicating signs of stabilization. Despite the growth in market transaction volume, the decline in commission rates has led to no significant increase in overall revenue. Leading brokerages such as CITIC Securities and GF SEC continue to lead, while Guotai Haitong and HTSC have newly entered the top five. Research capability has become the key to commission distribution, with small and medium-sized brokerages seeking breakthroughs by expanding their analyst teams

腾讯新闻 - 财经

Yinhua CSI All Share Investment Banking & Brokerage ETF

GF SEC

E Fund CSI 300 Financials (ex Banks) ETF

GF SECURITIES

GTHT

E Fund CSI Hongkong Bond Investment Theme ETF

HTSC

Hwabao WP CSI All Share Investment Banking & Brokerage ETF

Guotai Haitong

CITIC SEC

CITIC Securities Co., Ltd.

Guotai CSI All Share Investment Banking & Brokerage ETF

Commission for warehouse distribution will bottom out and stabilize in 2025: Public fund fee reform reconstructs the sell-side ecosystem, with research capability and globalization becoming the key competitive factors