A-shares continue to adjust, are bank wealth management funds also selling off? Industry insiders: controlling drawdowns and passively responding, maintaining a defensive posture in the short term

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Cailian Press, March 23 (Reporter Guo Zishuo) Recently, global risk aversion has increased, and A-share market volatility has intensified. Under continuous adjustments, the series of actions by bank wealth management funds are also seen by the market as one of the sources of selling pressure.

So, what is the actual situation? Cailian Press interviewed several city commercial banks, joint-stock banks, and state-owned bank wealth management subsidiaries and learned that overall, the liabilities side of wealth management is stable, but there have been movements on the asset side. Regarding the future, many institutions clearly state “waiting for the right side,” and will continue to maintain a defensive stance in the short term.

Limited growth in fixed income +, redemption pressure exists but is manageable

Several interviewed wealth management institutions told Cailian Press that current redemption pressure is generally manageable. A wealth management professional from a city commercial bank revealed that most of the products with high volatility are medium- to long-term locked-in products. Bonds are performing well with little fluctuation, and redemptions of cash management and short-term fixed income products are also controllable. Another city commercial bank wealth management professional also said, “Currently, redemption situations are still manageable.”

On the other hand, although within the year, wealth management funds have expanded their layout in products with options and “fixed income +” strategies, the proportion is not as high as imagined. A wealth management subsidiary of a large state-owned bank remains relatively calm, saying, “We are quite cautious about the layout of products with options, and overall redemption situations are stable.” A professional from a joint-stock bank also emphasized, “‘Fixed income +’ products do not constitute a large proportion of the total products, and redemption pressure is ‘manageable.’”

A person in charge of a joint-stock bank’s wealth management subsidiary told Cailian Press, “Overall, wealth management remains mainly low-volatility. This year’s growth mainly comes from ‘fixed income +,’ but the central risk assets in ‘fixed income +’ are significantly lower than those in funds, and the risk assets are more diversified and dispersed. The overall drawdown and volatility are also less than those of funds, so redemption pressure is currently not high.” He further pointed out that a sharp decline in overall risk assets is good for wealth management as a whole, “Clients’ risk appetite is shifting more towards defense and low volatility.”

Asset side: continue reducing positions and wait for the right-side signal

Although liabilities are generally stable, there have been actions on the asset side.

The aforementioned city commercial bank wealth management professional revealed that recent redemptions in “fixed income +” funds are not part of proactive strategic rebalancing but are a sensitive response to volatility. In other words, wealth management institutions are not bearish on the future and reducing positions in advance; rather, they are passively responding under net value decline pressure to control product drawdowns and avoid channel complaints.

Huachuang Fixed Income team pointed out that recently, due to stock market adjustments, last week “fixed income +” funds experienced continuous net redemptions, with redemption intensity on Friday reaching the largest since the second half of 2025. Tanfeng Fixed Income team also noted that over half of the “fixed income +” funds recorded their largest net value decline of the year last week, and the redemption fulfillment rate (compared to the performance benchmark) of “fixed income +” and mixed wealth management products also fell to a low this year.

From a product structure perspective, Tanfeng Fixed Income team analyzed that, considering that most “fixed income +” wealth management products are long-term closed-end products, the redemption pressure from liabilities is relatively controllable. However, under the pressure to stabilize net value, redemptions of “fixed income +” funds are also relatively high.

For future layout, all interviewed institutions remain cautious. “Wealth management will definitely continue to reduce positions and wait for the right-side signal,” said the aforementioned joint-stock bank professional. Waiting for clear right-side signals before entering the market is considered a more prudent choice. This means that before the market truly stabilizes, wealth management funds are likely to continue maintaining a defensive stance in the short term, safeguarding the fixed income base, and cautiously responding to options volatility.

(Cailian Press, Reporter Guo Zishuo)