Retail AUM exceeds 16 trillion, insurance agency sales exceed 1 trillion, what new development plans is China Merchants Bank plotting?

China Merchants Bank's annual Wealth Partners Forum has once again delivered significant information.

On August 7th, China Merchants Bank held the "Wealth Starts Anew, Bay Area Thrives Together - 2025 Wealth Partners Forum" in Shenzhen. Leading funds, wealth management, insurance, private equity, and trust institutions gathered in the Greater Bay Area to discuss the high-quality development of large wealth management.

During the forum, China Merchants Bank President Wang Liang stated that China's wealth asset management has entered a new stage of globalization. The bank aims to fully leverage the geographical advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the role of Hong Kong as a "super connector" and "super value creator" to actively integrate into the global wealth asset management market and serve clients in preserving and increasing their wealth. China Merchants Bank will also support all partners and work together to promote the high-quality development of large wealth management.

China Merchants Bank also announced at the meeting that its retail customer AUM has exceeded 16 trillion yuan, and the total scale of retail insurance distribution has surpassed 1 trillion yuan. The release of these two figures marks a further consolidation of China Merchants Bank's leading position in the retail banking sector.

Retail Customer AUM Exceeds 16 Trillion

Information presented at the meeting indicated that China Merchants Bank manages a total retail customer asset (AUM) scale exceeding 16 trillion yuan, making it the first joint-stock bank in the industry to surpass this milestone.

Since proposing the retail AUM management concept in 2007, China Merchants Bank took a full 9 years to reach the first 5 trillion yuan, shortened the time to 5 years for the second, and surpassed the third 5 trillion yuan in just over 3 years, highlighting the accelerating pace of wealth management development.

Additionally, since the beginning of this year, with the continuous warming of the equity market, China Merchants Bank's retail AUM has experienced rapid growth, reaching a historical high by the end of the second quarter.

Total Scale of Insurance Distribution Exceeds 1 Trillion

At the same time, China Merchants Bank announced that its total scale of retail insurance distribution has surpassed 1 trillion yuan.

This milestone further consolidates the bank's leading position in the retail banking sector and marks significant achievements in upgrading wealth management. China Merchants Bank stated that it will continue to set a new benchmark for bank-insurance services, providing clients with comprehensive, full-cycle, and multi-dimensional risk protection and wealth management solutions.

It is reported that China Merchants Bank currently has over 200 million individual customers, with a custody scale exceeding 24 trillion yuan and an asset management scale of nearly 4.5 trillion yuan. In the wealth and asset management market, the bank has accumulated a certain amount of "long slope thick snow."

Grasping the "Five Major Trends"

In his speech, Wang Liang also proposed five trend judgments regarding the new trends, changes, and opportunities in China's large wealth management industry:

First, in the context of the globalization of economic and financial development, China's large wealth management has enormous growth potential. Currently, China is transitioning from a major financial country to a strong financial country. The valuation of Chinese assets is rising, the capital market is recovering positively, and global funds are optimistic about China. The sub-sectors of China's financial industry and financing structure are undergoing profound changes. China's asset management scale accounts for 17.4% of the global total, and the market generally predicts that China's wealth asset management market will continue to maintain strong growth of 8-10% annually, with further enhancement of global influence and attractiveness Second, China's financial industry has entered a low-interest-rate era, which will have a profound impact on large wealth management. Since 2021, interest rates in China have continued to decline. Wealth management institutions face challenges from the continuous decline in risk-free interest rates, pressure on investment returns and operations, as well as opportunities from the trend of clients converting deposits into wealth management products. Balancing the relationship between profitability, safety, and liquidity to create low-risk, stable-return products for investors will be a significant opportunity for excellent wealth management institutions.

Third, changes in customer demand have raised higher requirements for large wealth management capabilities. Currently, customer demand is shifting towards "universalization, globalization, all-scenario, full-cycle, and all-product." In the future, wealth management institutions must continuously enhance their service capabilities to adapt to changes in customer demand and provide clients with a "long-term, stable, continuous, and good" comprehensive wealth management experience.

Fourth, large wealth management needs to accelerate transformation to achieve high-quality development. Wealth management institutions must adapt to changes in the regulatory environment, accelerating the shift from "many and small" to "large and strong." In terms of development direction, they should transition from local competition to international development; in terms of business philosophy, they should shift from "scale-oriented" to "investor-centric," safeguarding investor rights and adhering to long-term value, acting as patient capital; in terms of business model, they should enhance customer demand insights and companionship, accelerating the transition from a sell-side model to a buy-side advisory model; in terms of product supply, they should strengthen the creation of diverse products, especially to adapt to an aging society, enhancing innovation in pension and eldercare products.

Fifth, the technological revolution represented by AI is accelerating evolution and will bring disruptive impacts to large wealth management. AI is gradually shifting from replacing "physical labor" to replacing "mental labor." In the future, wealth management institutions will face a reshaping of their service methods, business models, product forms, asset allocation, and investment research decisions. "AI + finance" and "human + intelligent data" have become the trend.

Propose "Five Major Initiatives"

Wang Liang believes that on the new journey of large wealth management, it is necessary to adapt to changes in circumstances and needs while also adhering to the original intention and working together to accelerate the development of specialization, ecological integration, internationalization, digital intelligence, and differentiation, gathering new momentum for high-quality development. To this end, he proposed five initiatives in his speech:

First, jointly be the "builders" of a strong financial nation. Deeply integrate into the national financial strategic layout, promote a virtuous cycle of "funds-capital-industry," and assist in the development of the real economy and the preservation and appreciation of residents' wealth; continuously grow, optimize, and strengthen to enhance self-strength and global competitiveness.

Second, jointly be the "creators" of long-term value. China Merchants Bank should adhere to customer supremacy, continuously create value for customers, and enhance the customer wealth management experience. China Merchants Bank will also leverage its advantages of a large customer base and proximity to clients to serve as a bridge between clients and wealth management institutions, better meeting customer needs.

Third, jointly be the "servicers" of clients' global asset allocation. China Merchants Bank has formed an international layout centered on Hong Kong, radiating to major global financial centers; it has established an international service system for cross-border clearing and settlement, investment and financing, financial markets, and asset custody. China Merchants Bank will fully leverage its integrated service advantages at home and abroad, working with partners to provide professional comprehensive services for clients' global asset allocation Fourth, jointly be the "pathfinder" for "AI + finance". In the face of the AI wave, China Merchants Bank implements the "AI First" strategy, creating "Smart CM Bank", prioritizing AI capability construction, and taking the lead in building an AI-type organization, striving to become a globally leading intelligent bank. All partners have also launched many exciting AI large models and applications, and CM Bank hopes to share technology, co-build ecosystems, and achieve win-win cooperation with partners.

Fifth, jointly be the "practitioner" of market norms. Adhere to self-regulation, implement various regulatory requirements and industry self-discipline agreements; adhere to risk-based principles, ensuring strict product access, sales, and underlying asset controls; maintain healthy competition, oppose "involution" competition, and continuously create a co-prosperous, symbiotic, and healthy sustainable wealth asset management ecosystem