China Merchants Securities' market share has decreased by 1.25 percentage points over five years, with proprietary trading business falling significantly behind.

On the evening of March 27, 2026, China Merchants Securities released its 2025 annual report. For the full year, revenue came in at 24.97B, up 19.5%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 12.35 billion, up 18.9%. Both revenue and profit reached historical highs.

The market’s response was positive. On the day the annual report was released, the company’s stock price had already surged ahead; within four trading days, the cumulative gain was 3.89%.

Compared with other leading firms, however, this performance still lags far behind. As of April 3, there were 25 listed securities firms that had disclosed their 2025 annual reports. Among them, there were 9 firms with revenue exceeding 20B. Excluding the state of Guotai Junan merged within the past year, the remaining 8 leading securities firms combined for revenue of 275.5 billion, up 7.61% year over year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 113.8 billion, with a year-over-year increase of 33.5%.

Against that backdrop, China Merchants Securities’ revenue growth rate ranked among the top, but its net profit attributable to shareholders was much weaker than its peers, and the trend of “more revenue but not more profits” was evident.

Over the past five years, the “Matthew effect” among securities firms has been increasingly intensified. While China Merchants Securities has maintained a steady revenue ranking and sits firmly in ninth place in the industry, its market share has neither grown nor even held steady—it has declined. According to Wind and SAC data, from 2021 to 2025, China Merchants Securities’ revenue market share fell from 5.86% to 4.61%, and its net profit market share fell from 6.10% to 5.61%.

Its stock price also moved downward accordingly. By the close of April 3, the stock price was 15.55 yuan per share, corresponding to a market cap of 130.2 billion yuan. Compared with the past five-year high of 24.73 yuan, the stock price has dropped by 37%, and the market value has evaporated by nearly 77.0 billion yuan.

**　　From the perspective of business structure, brokerage and proprietary trading have long been the core components of China Merchants Securities’ profits; within that, the lack of elasticity in proprietary trading has been the main reason the company fell behind in this round of recovery.**

Between 2021 and 2025, the revenue proportions from China Merchants Securities’ brokerage and proprietary trading were 59%, 60%, 75%, and 75%, respectively. (Note: Brokerage business income = brokerage fee net income; Proprietary trading business income = investment net gains minus investment gains from associates and joint ventures plus net gains from fair value changes)

Over the past five years, China Merchants Securities’ brokerage business has closely tracked industry trends, with year-by-year growth rates roughly comparable to the industry average.

By contrast, its proprietary trading business shows a clearly lagging position. In 2021, China Merchants Securities’ investment return rate was 3.07%, ranking 28th among 42 listed securities firms. In 2022 to 2023, the company’s investment return rate was reduced to the 1.65% to 1.85% range, with its ranking staying within 20th to 30th. In 2024 to 2025, as the capital markets recovered, the investment return rate rebounded to the 2.55% to 2.60% range, but the ranking declined, dropping beyond the top 30. (Note: Investment return rate = proprietary trading business income / financial investment)

It is worth noting that in the scenario of a significant rebound in A-shares in 2025, the Shanghai Composite Index, the Shenzhen Component Index, and the ChiNext Index rose by 18.41%, 29.87%, and 49.57%, respectively, and securities firms’ proprietary trading businesses generally posted broad-based gains. According to Wind data, the 25 listed securities firms that had published annual reports combined for investment gains of 184.9 billion yuan, up 32.94% from the same period last year. In comparison, China Merchants Securities recorded investment gains of 9.79B yuan that year, with a year-over-year growth rate of only 2.70%, far weaker than the industry overall.

**　　The “earnings rigidity” demonstrated by China Merchants Securities’ proprietary trading business may stem from its relatively conservative and prudent investment strategy.**

Looking at the structure of China Merchants Securities’ trading financial assets, by the end of 2025 its total scale was about 270 billion yuan. Of this, bonds were about 166 billion yuan, accounting for about 60%; equity investments and funds combined were about 82 billion yuan, accounting for about 30%. This ratio is close to the lowest in the industry.

By comparison, the combined share of Citic Securities’ equity investments and funds is 34%, while that figure for CICC is 47%.

This causes China Merchants Securities’ investment return rate to lag far behind other leading securities firms. Among revenue TOP10 securities firms, China Merchants Securities’ investment return rate has long been ranked second-to-last and third-to-last, and its long-term performance has only been better than that of GF Securities.

It is precisely because China Merchants Securities has long adopted a strategy of clinging to a conservative mindset in operating its proprietary trading business that its proprietary trading positions have long been skewed toward debt and its structure has remained conservative. While other securities firms took off during the big 2025 uptrend, China Merchants Securities only managed a small jump in performance.

**　　China Merchants Securities’ cautious approach is also reflected in its international business, where its overseas market expansion has been slow and its pace of international transformation has lagged behind peers.**

In 2022, China Merchants Securities’ overseas business fell into losses. Although overseas business improved somewhat afterward, its growth slowed year by year. In 2025, overseas revenue grew by only 6.09% year over year to 8B yuan, and it has not yet recovered to the 2021 level (1.16B yuan).

From the perspective of proportions, the company’s overseas revenue share has hovered around the high single digits for years; in 2025 it was only 4.65%. Among the TOP10 securities firms, this figure ranks second-to-last, exceeded only by Shenwan Hongyuan.

It is undeniable that China Merchants Securities’ steady strategy has solidified a stable business base. Over the past five years, the rankings of the company’s other business segments have remained consistently steady. According to Wind’s SECI database, its brokerage business ranks fourth in other years, except for 2024 when it ranked sixth. From 2022 to 2024, its investment banking business was positioned around 12th in the industry; in 2025 it returned to seventh. For asset management, the company’s ranking has steadily improved in recent years from 16th to 10th.

However, China Merchants Securities’ hesitation in proprietary trading and international business may already be its biggest shortcoming for future development. If it does not achieve further breakthroughs in these two areas, China Merchants Securities may continue to fall behind in future competition within the securities sector.

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