Bank wealth management subsidiaries, as a key force in the asset management arena, bear the mission of helping residents preserve and grow their wealth. As residents' investment concepts evolve and asset allocation needs diversify, wealth management subsidiaries continue to strengthen their investment research foundations, enrich product offerings, and drive the upgrading of wealth management services. Under the new market landscape, how should wealth management subsidiaries shape their core competitiveness? In the era of digital intelligence, how can they leverage the AI wave to transform technological capabilities into business strength? In this edition, the conversation is with Xie Lingnan, Chairman of Nan Yin Wealth Management.
As a critical hub connecting social wealth with the real economy, Xie Lingnan points out that bank wealth management is still maintaining a sound and steady growth momentum. In his view, China's economic fundamentals continue to improve, the clustering effect of leading institutions in the wealth management industry is strengthening, and both asset quality and the standardization of investment management have improved significantly. However, he also believes that the risk tolerance of bank wealth management clients is generally low, and return targets must be pursued within an established risk budget framework. Wealth management companies should leap from traditional credit risk review to comprehensive risk management covering market risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, and other dimensions, providing a solid guarantee for residents' wealth security through systematic mechanisms. Facing the AI wave, he states that Nan Yin Wealth Management always adheres to a business-value-oriented approach, not chasing concepts, but driving AI to truly integrate into the entire chain of investment research, risk control, operations, and marketing. The company deeply embeds artificial intelligence into the full investment research process, committed to transforming individual experience into transferable organizational wisdom. At the same time, it connects internal multi-source data, establishes unified data standards and a data middle platform, and unlocks the value of data elements.
Bank Wealth Management Maintains Sound and Steady Growth, but Client Risk Tolerance Is Generally Low
2026 marks the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and the bank wealth management industry faces multiple transformations including the normalization of low interest rates and the deepening of net-value transformation. However, in Xie Lingnan's view, as a critical hub connecting social wealth with the real economy, bank wealth management is still maintaining a sound and steady growth momentum. Data shows that as of the end of June 2026, the outstanding scale of the bank wealth management market had reached approximately 33.66 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.75%. Regarding the current economic situation and market trends, he states that achieving high-quality development for wealth management companies requires focusing on the following four aspects. First, maintain strategic focus and respond to market changes with prudent operations. China's economic fundamentals continue to improve, the clustering effect of leading institutions in the wealth management industry is strengthening, and both asset quality and the standardization of investment management have improved significantly. Wealth management companies should always adhere to their positioning and fundamental character, put customer interests first, and create prudent inclusive wealth management products to meet the wealth preservation and growth needs of the broad mass of low-to-medium risk preference clients. Second, use investment research capabilities as the driving force to advance the construction of a multi-asset allocation system in an orderly manner. Currently, the 10-year government bond yield is at a low level, and the return space for pure fixed-income strategies continues to narrow. Seeking returns through multi-asset and multi-strategy approaches is an inevitable choice to meet clients' return expectations. While consolidating their fixed-income investment advantages, wealth management companies should enhance their investment capabilities across various asset classes, reducing product net value volatility through major asset allocation and phased position adjustments. Third, solidify the risk control bottom line and build a comprehensive risk management system covering the entire process. The risk tolerance of clients in the wealth management industry is generally low, and return targets must be pursued within an established risk budget framework. Wealth management companies should leap from traditional credit risk review to comprehensive risk management covering market risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, and other dimensions, providing a solid guarantee for residents' wealth security through systematic mechanisms. Fourth, deepen customer accompaniment and advance the transformation of service models from product sales to full-cycle services. On one hand, provide refined services based on customer risk preferences and fund attributes; on the other hand, proactively strengthen communication with investors during market volatility, guiding them to view short-term net value fluctuations rationally and gradually cultivating the concepts of long-term investment and value investment.
"Looking ahead, the opportunities for the wealth management industry will outweigh the challenges," Xie Lingnan states. Industry opportunities are mainly reflected at three levels. First, the window for residents' wealth reallocation continues to open. The central bank benchmark for deposit rates continues to decline, and the restructuring of residents' wealth has entered an accelerated phase. As high-interest time deposits mature successively, funds continue to flow into the asset management market, and the trend of residents' investment migrating from single savings to diversified financial asset allocation is expected to continue. Second, the demand for pension finance and inclusive finance remains robust. Under the trend of population aging, market demand for low-volatility prudent products continues to be released, and the construction of the third pillar of pensions will also bring long-term capital increments. Wealth management products have gradually become an important choice for more residents' asset allocation. As of the end of June 2026, the number of wealth management investors had reached 151 million, and the client base has achieved steady expansion. Third, the expansion of the capital market drives more diversified asset supply. The supply of various underlying assets such as science and innovation bonds, REITs, and green bonds continues to enrich. Areas including the development of new quality productive forces, technological innovation, and green transformation have opened up broad allocation space for wealth management funds.
At the same time, Xie Lingnan states that the wealth management industry also faces challenges that urgently need reflection and resolution, mainly reflected in three aspects. First, the double squeeze of low interest rates combined with asset scarcity. The central bank benchmark for deposit rates continues to decline, the supply of high-grade coupon assets is limited, and the reinvestment returns of wealth management products continue to come under pressure. In the first half of 2026, the average annualized return rate of wealth management products across the entire market has dropped to around 2.05%, while investors' psychological expectations for return levels adjust relatively slowly. Second, there is room for improvement in multi-asset investment. Wealth management companies, inheriting from the banking system, possess traditional advantages in credit bond investment and liquidity management, but their investment research accumulation in the multi-asset field is still shallow, and their strategy reserves remain insufficient when facing complex market environments. Third, investor accompaniment remains a long-term systematic project. The ingrained concept of "principal-guaranteed and return-guaranteed" in investors' minds has not yet dissipated, and during market volatility, product complaints and redemption pressures surge sharply. Wealth management companies need to shift from single product sales to full-lifecycle accompaniment services, strengthen post-investment accompaniment, and help clients view short-term fluctuations rationally.
Facing the aforementioned challenges, Xie Lingnan believes that the fundamental approach for wealth management companies still lies in anchoring on investment research capabilities, continuously extending the effective frontier of asset allocation, transforming industry pain points into opportunities to enhance professional capabilities, and simultaneously doing a good job in investor accompaniment, finding a more precise balance between serving the real economy and meeting residents' wealth management needs.
Emphasizing the Empowerment of Technological Innovation on Workflows, Leveraging Intelligent Tools to Improve Investment Research Quality
Product homogenization in wealth management is a common challenge facing the industry. Xie Lingnan points out that to achieve differentiated product development, bank wealth management companies need to build core competitiveness from the following directions. First, deeply understand one's own endowments and identify strategic positioning. Fixed-income products are the basic foundation of the wealth management business, committed to providing clients with relatively prudent products with returns higher than deposits. This is the fundamental character of wealth management companies born from the banking system and also the core foundation for wealth management companies serving the people. Second, use investment research capability building as the breakthrough point for product differentiation. Wealth management companies should focus on building the capabilities of investment research personnel, while opening communication channels among investment research personnel across various lines, so that macro strategy judgments and micro target selection form a synergy to provide clients with wealth management products that have return competitiveness. Third, emphasize the empowerment of technological innovation on workflows. Highly value the construction of intelligent investment research capabilities, leverage intelligent tools to improve investment research quality, and steadily advance the application of AI-related technologies in the investment research field.
Xie Lingnan states that for a long time, Nan Yin Wealth Management has adhered to a development path of sustained effort and steady progress, focusing on enhancing management capabilities and building core investment research competitiveness. First, adhere to a solid fixed-income investment foundation. Nan Yin Wealth Management inherits from the Bank of Nanjing system and has deep accumulation in credit bond investment and liquidity management. The company adheres to fixed-income products as the basic foundation, treating fixed-income investment as the development cornerstone of the wealth management business, which provides a solid "safety cushion" for expanding diversified asset allocation. Second, steadily advance multi-asset and multi-strategy layout. While consolidating fixed-income investment advantages, the company focuses on enriching "fixed-income plus" strategies, expanding into different asset classes and investment strategies, and orderly enhancing investment capabilities in areas such as equities, REITs, and commodities. Through major asset allocation to reduce volatility and enhance returns, it builds a complete product matrix suitable for clients with different risk tolerances. Third, highly value intelligent investment research and digital transformation. The company deeply embeds artificial intelligence into the full investment research process, committed to transforming individual experience into transferable organizational wisdom. At the same time, it connects internal multi-source data, establishes unified data standards and a data middle platform, and unlocks the value of data elements. In addition, it builds a penetrating, real-time risk control system, relying on big data and AI technology to achieve dynamic monitoring of underlying assets and early risk warnings.
"Facing the AI wave, we always adhere to a business-value-oriented approach, not chasing concepts, but driving AI to truly integrate into the entire chain of investment research, risk control, operations, and marketing," Xie Lingnan states. In terms of specific practices, in the investment research field, AI has been applied to investment research workflows, building scenarios such as intelligent data analysis, research report generation, public opinion summarization, market interpretation, and return attribution, improving research efficiency and information processing capabilities. An intelligent script system has been established, covering multi-scenario applications such as market interpretation, return attribution explanations, and customer sentiment soothing. In the risk control field, intelligent Q&A on regulations enables rapid retrieval, summarization, and application of regulatory content, enhancing the proactivity and efficiency of risk compliance management. A compliance review assistant for sales and promotional materials has been built to implement risk control and compliance requirements for external promotional materials. In the operations field, intelligent transformation continues around information disclosure, document comparison, data cleaning, and data auditing, building multiple AI verification assistants such as trade confirmation slips and outsourced investment reconciliation statements, reducing repetitive work and improving operational quality and accuracy. In the marketing field, an AI marketing service assistant oriented toward frontline staff is being accelerated, gradually covering high-frequency scenarios such as product Q&A, selling point generation, marketing material retrieval, and volatility attribution. Xie Lingnan points out that through the above applications, technological capabilities can be truly transformed into investment research insight, risk control capability, operational support capability, and customer service capability, continuously enhancing the company's core competitiveness.
How to Precisely Match Investors' Wealth Management Needs? Building a Trinity Systematic Project
From the perspective of a bank wealth management company, through what paths can investors' diverse wealth management needs be precisely matched? In this regard, Xie Lingnan believes that precisely matching investors' diverse wealth management needs is essentially a trinity systematic project of "client identification at the sales end, positioning at the product end, and delivery at the investment end." At the sales end, using channels as a bridge, moving from "casting a wide net" to "deep insight." Wealth management companies can collaborate with distribution institutions to conduct in-depth customer demand analysis and refined classification before sales, achieving a "one thousand people, one thousand faces" marketing model. During sales, build a wealth manager empowerment system, through face-to-face meetings with investment managers and standardized investment advisory scripts, helping wealth managers sell suitable products to suitable clients. After sales, establish a proactive response mechanism for net value fluctuations, proactively generating market interpretations and accompaniment scripts during market volatility or product net value fluctuations, reaching clients at the first opportunity, replacing silent absence with proactive accompaniment. At the product end, using demand as the anchor, moving from "what I have" to "what you need." Establish a product creation closed loop of "demand analysis—product positioning—risk-return characteristic固化," where each product must clearly define the client tier it serves, the applicable scenarios, and the anchored risk-return range, forming clear product characteristic guidelines to guide investment behavior. At the investment end, using products as the guiding principle, moving from "experience-driven" to "industrialized" and "systematized." Build a consistency transmission chain of "product positioning—asset allocation—strategy implementation," treating the product's risk-return characteristics as rigid constraints, with all investment decisions operating within this framework. Through standardized processes and modular strategies, achieve replicable and traceable prudent output.
On this basis, Xie Lingnan states that guided by customer needs, Nan Yin Wealth Management has systematically restructured its product system, forming a three-tier architecture of "duration as the skeleton, functions layered, and features filling gaps." The first tier: using duration as the skeleton to build a gradient product system. With duration as the first-tier classification label, covering daily open-ended to over 3-year terms, allowing clients to match their own fund usage plans at a glance. Then, progressively clarify investment types, operation modes, and risk characteristics, forming a clear path from duration to risk level to strategy selection. The second tier: layering by function to form three distinctive product lines. On the basis of duration stratification, vertically classify by functional positioning. Cash management products focus on high liquidity needs, meeting daily fund turnover and short-term idle fund management. Fixed-income products focus on liquidity and safety, providing clients with prudent fund investment options during market turbulence. Fixed-income plus targets return enhancement flexibility, through diversified strategies such as convertible bonds, secondary bond funds, equities, and gold, providing clients who can tolerate certain fluctuations with opportunities for enhanced returns. Currently, the company has built four fixed-income plus brands—Wen Xing, Cai Fu Niu, An Yuan, and Zhi Yuan—forming a full-coverage, differentiated fixed-income plus product matrix through a layered equity position system. The third tier: filling gaps with features to precisely respond to the needs of segmented client groups. In response to the high proportion of elderly clients, innovatively launched multiple dividend-type products, through staggered dividend timing design, committed to achieving monthly product dividends under the premise of meeting return targets. In response to the strong demand for deposit-like products among clients against the backdrop of declining deposit rates, launched the An Xin series of products valued using the amortized cost method.
Treating Channel Development as One of the Company's Core Development Strategies, Continuously and Steadily Expanding Channel Coverage
In recent years, Nan Yin Wealth Management's channel expansion has achieved remarkable results, with the number of contracted distribution institutions continuing to grow, and its client base has covered most provinces across the country. At the current stage, Xie Lingnan states: "We always treat channel development as one of the company's core development strategies, highly value nationwide channel layout and ecosystem building, and have adhered to steady and solid progress over the years, continuously and steadily advancing the construction of various channels." He further states that as of now, Nan Yin Wealth Management has signed cooperation agreements with more than 150 distribution institutions, with a cooperation network covering state-owned commercial banks, national joint-stock commercial banks, internet banks, and various regional city and rural commercial banks, among other types of financial institutions. Partner service outlets have covered most provinces across the country, basically building a broad-coverage, multi-level distribution cooperation system.
Currently, the work of reducing existing proprietary wealth management at banking institutions is being carried out in an orderly manner in accordance with regulatory requirements. Under the backdrop of industry transformation, commercial banks' demand for distribution business cooperation with wealth management companies continues to rise, and both the depth and breadth of cooperation between the two sides are continuously expanding. From the perspective of industry transformation direction, Xie Lingnan points out that Nan Yin Wealth Management will continue to push forward channel development, continuously deepen nationwide channel layout, and on the basis of firmly stabilizing the parent bank's distribution foundation, continuously increase efforts to expand external channels and continuously improve the refined management level of external channels. On one hand, it will continue to steadily expand channel coverage. By continuously deepening business cooperation with national large banks such as state-owned banks and joint-stock banks, leveraging the nationwide service networks of large banks to reach a broader client base, further amplifying the national visibility and market influence of the Nan Yin Wealth Management brand. At the same time, by deepening cooperation with small and medium-sized banks across various regions, it promotes service sinking to better reach and serve the broad urban and rural resident groups. On the other hand, it will continuously improve the quality and efficiency of channel operations. Closely integrating the product shelf positioning of different distribution channels with the differentiated product needs of corresponding client groups, it will export high-quality, abundant, and suitable wealth management product matrices to each cooperating distribution institution. At the same time, it will actively cooperate with distribution channels in customer management work, through building an accompaniment-style customer service system covering the entire process of pre-sales, during-sales, and after-sales, helping distribution institutions do a good job in customer service and jointly improving the product holding experience of the broad wealth management clients.
Additionally, regarding residents' asset allocation, Xie Lingnan points out that "fixed-income plus" wealth management has unique value in the current market environment, mainly reflected in providing a feasible path for return advancement in the low-interest-rate era. "Against the backdrop of continuously declining deposit rates, residents' asset allocation is undergoing a profound transformation from physical assets to financial assets, and from single savings to diversified investment," Xie Lingnan states. Bank wealth management clients generally have low risk preferences and typically cannot withstand the large fluctuations of mixed and equity-type products. "Fixed-income plus" wealth management provides basic returns and portfolio stability through a bond base position, while enhancing return flexibility through diversified asset allocation under the premise of controlling drawdowns, precisely meeting residents' allocation needs of "more flexible than pure bonds, more prudent than equities." To align with residents' psychology of wealth preservation and growth, and to undertake residents' wealth reallocation needs, Nan Yin Wealth Management focuses on advancing the construction of its "fixed-income plus" product system, using fixed-income products as the basic foundation for product system differentiation, precisely quantifying the risk budget and target returns of different product series, and through the investment end, on the basis of adhering to investment discipline, orderly expanding the investment radius in areas such as equities, REITs, and commodities. Through major asset allocation, it enhances returns and meets the product investment needs of clients with different risk tolerances.
Overall, in Xie Lingnan's view, it is necessary to use low-volatility assets to protect the return bottom line, use diversified tools to broaden return sources, and use strict investment discipline to ensure the stability of product operations. Not pursuing the flamboyance of returns, but pursuing a sustainable and prudent scorecard within clients' risk budgets—this is practicing the business essence of "entrusted by others, managing wealth on their behalf," and also an inevitable requirement of pursuing the path of "steady progress over the long term."