Year of the Horse Bank Wealth Management: Stability Comes First

This article is reprinted from Huashang Daily

Fixed income dominates, thresholds are lowering

Bank wealth management in the Year of the Horse focuses on stability

By 2026, around the Spring Festival, the bank wealth management market shows a structural trend: new products are mainly fixed income, accounting for over 97%; products starting at 1 yuan make up more than 60%, with a clear trend toward low-threshold, inclusive offerings. Industry insiders say that against the backdrop of residents becoming more conservative in risk appetite and wealth management needs returning to stability, bank wealth management is positioning itself as “steady and inclusive,” becoming a core choice for asset allocation among the public.

New products mainly focus on fixed income

Accounting for over 97%

From a product structure perspective, fixed income products firmly hold the dominant market position. Data shows that among recently launched wealth management products, fixed income accounts for over 97%, almost becoming the market’s absolute mainstay. A wealth manager at a state-owned bank stated that this phenomenon reflects a shift in residents’ wealth management needs from “pursuing high returns” to “preserving principal and steady growth.” During periods of increased capital market volatility and gentle decline in interest rates, wealth management products based on standardized fixed income assets such as bonds, deposits, and interbank certificates of deposit, with their low volatility, stable net value, and controllable risks, meet the core demands of ordinary families, middle-aged and elderly groups, and conservative investors. Meanwhile, regulators are guiding wealth management businesses to return to their asset management roots, focusing on low-risk, inclusive wealth management services, further encouraging institutions to prioritize fixed income products in issuance.

Alongside a stable structure, the wealth management market is also accelerating its shift toward low-threshold, inclusive offerings. Data shows that over 60% of new products can be purchased starting at 1 yuan, with more than half removing traditional high-threshold restrictions, offering zero or extremely low entry barriers for the general public. Previously, bank wealth management products typically required subscriptions of 10,000 or 50,000 yuan, excluding many small investors. Now, with designs allowing purchases from 1 yuan and incremental increases of 0.01 yuan, even year-end bonuses, New Year’s money, and daily change can participate in wealth management, significantly lowering the investment entry barrier.

Low-threshold, stable wealth management

Becoming the market’s mainstream choice

Industry insiders say that most products supporting online redemption and flexible operation, starting at 1 yuan, are deeply integrated with mobile banking and internet wealth channels, making it convenient for young and lower-tier market users to participate. In terms of operation mode, mainstream products mainly have medium to short holding periods, balancing liquidity and returns. During peak times like the Spring Festival for consumption and fund preparation, low-threshold, stable wealth management products can meet the needs of asset appreciation for idle funds without putting pressure on daily cash flow, making them a preferred choice for holiday wealth management.

Many industry professionals believe that the dominance of fixed income and the lowering of thresholds are inevitable results of the deepening transformation of bank wealth management toward net value products. After breaking the “guaranteed principal” model, wealth management firms prefer to issue fixed income products with controllable volatility, easy to understand, and broad appeal, reducing customer experience pressure caused by net value fluctuations; lowering subscription thresholds also helps expand funding sources, disperse concentration risk, and improve product stability. Meanwhile, with declining deposit rates and the trend of residents “moving deposits,” low-threshold, stable wealth management has become an important vehicle for channeling residents’ savings, helping the wealth management market maintain steady growth.

Stability and inclusiveness

May be the main theme of bank wealth management in the Year of the Horse

For investors, how should they seize investment opportunities in the current market environment? Industry insiders suggest: prioritize fixed income and medium-low risk products that match your risk appetite, avoid blindly chasing high returns; use tools starting at 1 yuan to diversify and stagger investments, smoothing out volatility and improving capital efficiency; pay attention to product fee rates, redemption rules, and performance benchmarks, and prioritize products with favorable fees, transparent operations, and reasonable holding periods.

Regarding the trend of bank wealth management in the Year of the Horse, many industry experts believe that stability and inclusiveness will remain the main themes. Driven by the upgrading of residents’ wealth needs and industry standardization, fixed income products will continue to optimize returns and volatility control, while low-threshold models will further popularize. Bank wealth management is expected to serve a broader range of investors with a more accessible, stable, and inclusive approach, becoming a “ballast stone” for the public’s wealth preservation and appreciation. Huashang Daily Dafeng News Reporter Li Bin