Brokerage firms' commission income from client onboarding exceeds 11 billion yuan in 2025

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Our reporter: Zhou Shangyu

On April 1st, the 2025 securities firm sub-account commission income rankings were officially announced. Wind Information data shows that in 2025, securities firms collectively achieved a total sub-account commission of 11.01B yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.25%. After years of continuous adjustment, the sell-side research business shows signs of stabilization, with industry resilience strengthening.

Jiang Han, senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank (Beijing) Information Consulting Co., Ltd., told Securities Daily: “The research business of securities firms is accelerating its shift away from reliance on a single commission income, moving toward providing customized think tank services for government decision-making, industrial planning, and high-net-worth clients. This structural transformation requires the research business to return to its roots, using solid fundamental analysis capabilities as a new pricing anchor, driving the industry into a new stage of high-quality development.”

Improvement in sub-account commission income

In 2025, with the rebound of the capital market, the scale of public funds experienced a restorative growth, and increased market activity directly boosted the improvement of securities firms’ sub-account commission income, ending a period of continuous adjustment and achieving stabilization and rebound.

Specifically, leading securities firms continued to consolidate their research advantages. CITIC Securities ranked first with 750 million yuan in sub-account commissions, followed by Guotai Haitong with 668 million yuan; GF Securities, Changjiang Securities, and Huatai Securities ranked third to fifth, with commissions exceeding 500 million yuan, at 660 million, 558 million, and 546 million yuan respectively; Industrial Securities, CITIC Construction Investment, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, Guolian Minsheng, and Zheshang Securities followed, with commissions all over 390 million yuan.

The top twenty securities firms’ combined sub-account commissions totaled 8.15B yuan, accounting for 74% of the overall market, with each firm’s sub-account commission surpassing 200 million yuan. Among them, CITIC Securities’ commission share ratio reached 6.81%; Guotai Haitong’s was 6.06%; GF Securities and Changjiang Securities also had commission share ratios above 5%. Against the backdrop of overall industry transformation, differentiated competition has become key to breaking through. In 2025, Industrial Securities, Guolian Minsheng, and Zheshang Securities entered the top ten through differentiated strategies.

Although the industry is still in a period of transformation and adjustment, many securities firms have achieved revenue growth through upgraded research capabilities and optimized service systems. For example, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, Huatai Securities, and Industrial Securities all saw year-on-year growth in their sub-account commissions, with increases of 37.37%, 19.59%, and 21.86%, significantly outperforming the industry average.

Regarding their excellent performance, a relevant person from Shenwan Hongyuan Securities Research (hereinafter referred to as “Shenwan Hongyuan Research”) told Securities Daily: “In recent years, facing numerous opportunities and challenges, Shenwan Hongyuan Research has actively leveraged shareholder advantages, breaking through against market volatility and industry changes, with core indicators continuously improving. Through the ‘Yiwang Qiyuan’ integrated platform for institutional client services, we have promoted digital upgrades in services, strengthened cross-department collaboration, and used the company’s strength to serve core clients, achieving steady growth in key indicators such as trading market share and service revenue. Our transformation business’s revenue-generating ability continues to improve, demonstrating strong market competitiveness and adaptability.”

It is worth noting that some small- and medium-sized securities firms have experienced explosive growth, such as Huafu Securities, whose sub-account commissions increased by 186.46% year-on-year to 220 million yuan, ranking 22nd in the industry; Huayuan Securities, with a 764.9% YoY increase to 144 million yuan, ranked 24th.

Results of business transformation become evident

The rebound in sub-account commissions is the result of securities research institutes actively adapting to market changes, accelerating business transformation, and deepening their research fundamentals.

On one hand, leading securities firms rely on platform advantages to continuously build systemic competitiveness. For example, Huatai Securities’ research business actively develops research services such as strategic research, institutional research, and wealth management research, promoting a transformation in research models, maintaining an international orientation, focusing on top-tier institutional clients, and strengthening full-service chain offerings.

On the other hand, small- and medium-sized firms adhere to a differentiated, boutique development path, concentrating resources on their strengths. Guolian Minsheng Research has completed comprehensive integration and capability upgrades, continuously improving its product system, enhancing professional and personalized services for internal and external clients, and strengthening links between investment, research, and investment banking. Industrial Securities’ research continues to empower its wealth management strategic transformation, leveraging major event commentary mechanisms for coordinated communication, and the “Investment Banking + Research” model helps many high-quality companies go public.

Digital transformation has become a common choice in the industry, with financial technology injecting new momentum into research quality and efficiency. In 2025, many securities firms increased their fintech investments, using AI, big data, and other technologies to improve research efficiency. China Merchants Securities built an “AI Research Institute,” exploring generative AI applications in financial statement interpretation, research report writing, and researcher assistants. Huatai Securities optimized and upgraded its digital platform, continuously advancing intelligent research, improving intelligent writing frameworks, and building AI research assistants. Guolian Minsheng enhanced its digital platform, systematically accumulating data resources, improving intelligent operations, and expanding the coverage and depth of research outputs.

Additionally, leading securities firms are not only consolidating their domestic research advantages but also accelerating their global expansion. For example, Huatai Securities is actively expanding its international business, enriching its overseas research product lines, and continuously improving its overseas research product matrix and outreach channels.

Looking ahead to 2026, the transformation direction of securities research institutes will become clearer. A relevant person from Shenwan Hongyuan Research stated that they will continue to focus on core research, enriching the breadth and depth of research, and striving to return research to its fundamentals; actively collaborate with institutional lines to provide clients with integrated “research + business” financial services, promoting the cross-business value of research and precisely serving clients’ investment decisions.