In this spring, many attentive investors have noticed that familiar bank wealth management has become somewhat &#34;strange.&#34;
Once synonymous with &#34;buying with closed eyes and making steady profits,&#34; it has now been reported that several wealth management companies, including Huaxia, Pudong Development Bank, and China Merchants Bank, have products that are &#34;not established&#34;; even some products with the word &#34;stable&#34; in their names have seen net value declines exceeding the CSI 300 index in the first quarter.
Facing a massive market with a scale exceeding 30 trillion yuan and 140 million investors, it is necessary for us to sit down and re-understand the financial logic hidden behind the data that jumps daily in the App.
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<ol>
<li>What is bank wealth management? It is not the &#34;twin&#34; of deposits.</li>
</ol>
First, we need to clarify a fundamental concept: bank wealth management is essentially an asset management product, not savings.
In the past, due to the existence of 'rigid redemption,' many people regarded bank wealth management as 'higher interest deposits.' However, since the implementation of the 'new asset management regulations' in 2018 reshaped the industry's bottom line, especially since 2022 when wealth management fully entered the net value era, this 'misunderstanding' must be eliminated.
Its identity: Bank wealth management is essentially a trustee wealth management business. It can be self-operated products issued by wealth management subsidiaries or banks with issuance qualifications; it can also be products from other institutions purchased by banks as distribution channels. Banks professionally operate to invest funds in assets such as bonds, stocks, and non-standard debt, and settle with you based on actual performance.
Its compensation: Wealth management subsidiaries do not profit from price differences but charge management fees, custody fees, and sales service fees.
Its risk: Profit and loss are borne by the investor. Banks are only responsible for &#34;managing money,&#34; not for &#34;guaranteeing safety.&#34;
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A vivid analogy: Deposits are like lending your money to the bank, which gives you an IOU; even if it loses the money, it must repay you the principal and interest as agreed;
Wealth management, on the other hand, is like hiring the bank as a &#34;professional purchasing agent.&#34; It charges you a purchasing fee, and whether the purchased items (assets) are expensive or cheap, the risk is borne by you, the buyer.
<ol>
<li>Recent performance of wealth management: Why did the &#34;all-rounder&#34; stumble?</li>
</ol>
In the first quarter of 2026, the bank wealth management market delivered a concerning report card. According to Wind data, the number of products that announced fundraising failures reached 194, which is 60 times that of the same period in 2025.
Why has there been a situation where products cannot be issued and cannot make money? We can analyze it from three dimensions
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<ol>
<li>The cost of &#34;flour is more expensive than bread&#34; on the asset side</li>
</ol>
Currently, the yields of high-quality bond markets have generally fallen below 2.5%. During the operation of a wealth management product, a rigid cost of approximately 0.5% (including management fees, custody fees, and sales service fees, etc.) must be deducted.
This means that if the product only maintains a stable allocation of pure bond assets, after deducting costs, the final performance that investors receive may only be around 1.8%—2.0%. In a low-interest-rate environment, the attractiveness of such products is inevitably limited.
Therefore, in order to seek higher returns within the contractually agreed investment framework, some products will moderately increase allocations to equity or commodity assets based on strategy. However, during wide market fluctuations, these asset allocations aimed at &#34;enhancing returns&#34; often become sources of net value volatility.
<ol>
<li>&#34;Fixed Income +&#34; has turned into &#34;Fixed Income Minus&#34;</li>
</ol>
To enhance returns, many products that claim to be &#34;stable&#34; have resorted to allocating equity assets (stocks, derivatives) to achieve &#34;fixed income enhancement.&#34; However, since March of this year, the volatility in stocks and bonds has failed, causing many equity positions not only to fail to enhance returns but instead to become the culprits that undermine net value. Data shows that the average annualized return of equity wealth management products in the first quarter plummeted to -8.42%, with some products experiencing a quarterly drawdown of over 40%.
<ol>
<li>The &#34;return wave&#34; caused by homogenization</li>
</ol>
Most of the failed products on the market are closed-end fixed income types. Due to the underlying assets being entirely bonds and lacking differentiation, investors are faced with a simple yield comparison. Once the returns are worse than deposits or government bonds, investors will naturally &#34;vote with their feet.&#34;
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<ol>
<li>Understanding Risk Control Codes: R1 to R5, how much risk can your heart handle?</li>
</ol>
When selecting wealth management products, there is usually a risk level label in the most prominent position. This is the &#34;safety contract&#34; between you and the wealth manager.
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Special reminder: Many &#34;failed&#34; products this year have appeared at R2 and R3 levels. This indicates that in extreme market environments, even medium to low-risk products can experience severe fluctuations due to the failure of underlying strategies.
<ol>
<li>Please keep the bank wealth management risk avoidance guide
As a financial editor, after reviewing a large amount of market data, Gu Lu Hui found that investors often feel &#34;hurt&#34; due to some &#34;preconceived&#34; misunderstandings about financial products. In today's fully net-value-oriented financial management, clarifying these cognitive misconceptions is more important than selecting the products themselves.</li>
</ol>
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Misunderstanding 1: The false promise of &#34;capital protection and guaranteed returns&#34;
This is the most serious misunderstanding. Current laws clearly state that banks promising capital protection or minimum returns are engaging in illegal behavior. If any client manager confidently tells you &#34;you definitely won't lose,&#34; please be alert immediately. In the era of net value, all returns are &#34;expected,&#34; and all risks are outlined in the prospectus.
Misunderstanding 2: Treating performance benchmarks as &#34;actual returns&#34;
Many product advertisements state &#34;performance benchmark 4.0%.&#34; Please remember, this is merely a &#34;goal&#34; for the financial product, neither a guaranteed return nor an expected return. It's like a wife cake without a wife; the performance benchmark does not represent the final amount you will receive.
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Misunderstanding 3: Ignoring the hidden costs of &#34;rigid fees&#34;
Many people only look at returns when purchasing financial products, ignoring the fees. In an era where the underlying asset yields only 2.5%, a 0.5% fee means the bank directly takes 20% of the output. When selecting products, it is advisable to compare management fees and sales service fees horizontally, as these are often hidden factors that determine your final returns.
Misunderstanding 4: Mismatched terms and liquidity blind spots
Many investors, in pursuit of slightly higher returns, buy products with a closed period of one year or even longer. As a result, during that year, if faced with market upheavals like those in the first quarter of this year, you can only watch helplessly as the net value declines without the ability to redeem. Remember: liquidity also comes at a price.
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Conclusion: In the new normal of financial management, what mindset do we need?
The spring of 2026 is a microcosm of the bank wealth management market. It tells us that the era of blindly buying financial products has completely ended.
Before you click &#34;confirm&#34; on the app, please take at least three minutes to ask yourself three questions:
Can I accept the possibility of losing money in the coming months?
Do I understand the &#34;ingredient list&#34; of this product (what the underlying assets are invested in)?
If this product fails to raise funds, do I have alternative &#34;substitute&#34; options (such as savings bonds, dividend insurance, reverse repurchase agreements)?

The core of finance is risk pricing. The &#34;de-mystification&#34; of bank wealth management is actually forcing each of us investors to become more mature and professional. In the era of low interest rates, the first step in protecting wealth is no longer blindly pursuing high returns, but rather understanding the risks and preserving the principal.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. Investment carries risks, and wealth management should be approached with caution

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In spring, the bank wealth management market experienced significant changes, with many investors finding that familiar wealth management products had become unreliable. Several wealth management companies announced that their products would "not be established," and some products labeled as "stable" saw a net value decline exceeding that of the CSI 300 index in the first quarter. Bank wealth management is essentially an asset management product, not savings, and the risks are borne by the investors. In the first quarter of 2026, there were as many as 194 products that announced fundraising failures in the market, reflecting the severe situation of the current wealth management market

A 30 trillion market, the wallets of 140 million people, has suddenly changed