Brokerage sell-side research commission rankings unveiled: The era of disruption has arrived!

Ask AI · Why did Huayuan Securities surge against the trend with a 764% growth rate to become a dark horse?

In 2025, the sell-side research landscape of securities firms is turbulent, with rankings experiencing major shocks.

With the comprehensive implementation of public fund fee rate reforms, the once-large commission cake has shrunk, but from another perspective, the new commission policy fully restores the basis of commission distribution to the original research and investment analysis, opening a new reshuffle perspective.

From the rankings, at least three trends have emerged in sell-side research this year:

On one hand, teams with strong research capabilities within large institutions have gained new development advantages, thereby expanding their market share;

On the other hand, the original sales-oriented commission has significantly shrunk, causing some firms with strong sales ability to drop noticeably in rankings;

Third, more critically, after the commission shrinkage, some small and medium research institutions have adjusted their positioning, with some (semi)退出了研究江湖, leading to rapid drops in rankings.

In this shift from “scale expansion” to “research competition” driven by sell-side commissions, the entire sell-side landscape has entered a state of upheaval.

The reasons behind each of the top ten firms

By early April 2025, the public fund sub-account commission rankings had settled, and the “Matthew Effect” among the top players remained prominent. The top ten securities firms shared over half of the market share, but their internal rankings experienced fierce reshuffling and restructuring.

According to WIND data, CITIC Securities ranked first with a total commission of 750 million yuan, a slight decrease of 0.90% year-on-year, but its leading advantage remains difficult to shake. Following are Guotai-Haitong Securities, GF Securities, and Changjiang Securities, occupying second, third, and fourth places respectively. The top four positions remained consistent with the previous year, indicating stability within the “top-tier” camp.

Considering the growth in actual received commissions, Huatai Securities, Industrial Securities, and Zheshang Securities became the biggest winners, with growth rates approaching or exceeding 19% year-on-year, demonstrating strong offensive capabilities.

Among them, Huatai Securities ranks fifth in sub-account commissions, a position previously held by CITIC Construction Investment.

Additionally, Shenwan Hongyuan made a strong leap with an astonishing 37.37% increase, jumping from 13th at the end of 2024 to 8th.

Public information shows that in 2025, Wang Sheng was promoted internally to director of Shenwan Hongyuan Research Institute, succeeding the former director Zhou Haichen. Wang Sheng was previously Shenwan’s chief strategist, leading the research institute’s transformation toward “research + investment research/production research/political research.”

In stark contrast, CITIC Construction Investment and Guolian Minsheng Securities faced significant challenges in fierce competition, with commission income declining by 17.30% and 14.66% respectively, dropping from 5th and 6th place in 2024 to 7th and 9th now. Of course, the top ten still confirm that these two firms possess strong research capabilities.

Overall, the 2025 commission battle is no longer just about scale but also a contest of research service resilience and transformation speed.

Mid-tier “close combat”

The sub-account commission reform is a major recent change in China’s securities industry, aimed at reducing commission costs and enhancing market competitiveness. This means securities firms no longer rely on high commission income but attract clients through improved research service quality, professionalism, and innovation. For those unable to adapt in time, this reform could lead to loss of market share and risk of淘汰.

Under this trend, the rankings from 11th to 20th are no longer about shared growth in an expanding market but about extreme squeezing of existing shares, showing a “fight for every inch” stalemate.

In this camp, China Merchants Securities ranks 11th with a total commission of 357 million yuan (down from 8th in 2024). Historically, China Merchants Securities has been a regular in the top ten.

But the chasers behind are not letting go, with Dongwu Securities (328 million yuan) and China International Capital Corporation (322 million yuan) very close.

A notable feature of this tier is the dramatic divergence in growth momentum: Guojin Securities (rising from 21st to 16th) and Dongwu Securities (from 16th to 12th) are exemplars of counter-trend breakthroughs, with growth rates of 37.23% and 22.85% respectively, showing that under fee reduction pressure, precise and proactive research services can still open market gaps.

According to publicly available data, Guojin Securities’ research head is Su Chen, and this sell-side team began the 3.0 reform in 2021, launching a talent strategy in 2024, continuously recruiting top analysts, with significant activity; Dongwu Securities’ management features a distinctive co-director model, with the core leader being Director Guo Jingjing, a female with extensive sales background, co-directors being Zeng Duohong (also Chief of Electric New) and Lu Zhe (also Chief Economist).

In contrast, Orient Securities and Zhongtai Securities saw slightly reduced commissions, down 12.30% and 6.68% respectively, both experiencing some changes. Orient Securities invited veteran research director Huang Yanming in April 2025. Zhongtai Securities has also experienced personnel changes among its analysts, attracting attention.

Overall, the ranking changes in this zone are a brutal test of securities firms’ research service value-adding ability during the “reduce volume and improve quality” cycle.

"Dark horse"奔跑带动的激烈博弈

The 21st to 30th positions on the securities firm commission list show nearly “rebirth” level ranking volatility.

No wonder—research institutions in this zone are often the first to challenge after personnel restructuring or star analyst joining, and are also the last bastions for veteran firms after multiple upheavals. Key personnel changes in these positions can cause dramatic ranking shifts.

Against the backdrop of commission reform, this echelon has become the most dramatic part of the entire list.

Undoubtedly, Huafu Securities and Huayuan Securities are this year’s biggest “dark horses.”

Huafu Securities made a strong breakthrough with a 186.46% year-on-year increase, leaping from 33rd in 2024 directly to 21st.

Huayuan Securities staged an astonishing reversal, with commission income soaring 764.90% year-on-year, jumping from a marginal position (from 58th to 24th).

Huayuan Securities was formerly known as Jiuzhou Securities, renamed after a 2023 equity change. In 2024, the firm expanded its sell-side team significantly, with immediate results. Notably, Liu Yuhui, a well-known economist, joined as chief economist, and nearly 30 analysts joined through transfers in 2024.

This extraordinary growth may stem from precise bets in specific niche areas or from successfully absorbing spillover resources during industry reshuffling.

However, behind the prosperity lies brutal淘汰.

Guotou Securities led with a -48.97% plunge, while Founder Securities and Kaiyuan Securities also declined nearly or over 18%. Such cliff-like drops starkly reveal that in the era of commission “reduction,” sell-side market share of securities firms is a matter of life and death—those who slip up risk losing market share rapidly.

Long tail camp: foreign capital differentiation and small- and medium-sized broker breakthroughs

The 31st to 70th positions form the industry’s “long tail,” where competition is no longer just about scale rankings but a matter of “ecological reconstruction” for survival.

Amid the seismic shifts caused by the commission rate reform, this echelon shows prominent features of “foreign capital differentiation” and “small- and medium-sized broker breakthroughs.”

Among them, China Securities Index (CSI) Securities, ranked 39th, achieved 108% year-on-year commission growth. Relying on the China National Aviation Industry Group, it focuses on in-depth research in manufacturing and military industries, led by experts like Chief Economist Dong Zhongyun and Director Zou Runfang.

From 41st place onward, the “PK scene” of sub-account commissions is very lively. Most notably, CITIC Lyon Securities surged with a 119.20% increase.

Among foreign sell-side institutions, UBS Securities (154.40%) and Citigroup Global Markets (73.69%) showed explosive growth, breaking the stereotype of “foreign capital being unadapted,” demonstrating that global giants are rapidly capturing high-value residual markets during industry reshuffling with their international perspective and professional services. Even Goldman Sachs (China) Securities recorded a steady 5.35% growth, further confirming the risk resistance of top foreign institutions.

However, the other side of prosperity is brutal淘汰. Smaller brokers experienced more intense differentiation, with Debang Securities plunging 81.23%, Guodu Securities down 61.96%, Pacific Securities down 62.02%, Guorong Securities down 44.06%, Dongxing Securities down 38.32%, and Guoxin Securities down 26.64%.

In the “Hong Kong branch” of Chinese brokers, performance differentiation is the most brutal contrast. CITIC Lyon Securities surged 119.20%, becoming the fastest-growing “dark horse” in the long tail, with nearly doubled performance, showing strong cross-border expansion capability.

Following closely is China International Finance (International), with a 72.77% high growth, firmly holding second tier, jointly verifying that leading Chinese institutions can leverage internationalization to carve out high-value gaps in residual markets. In contrast, Haitong International Securities only recorded 7.54 million yuan in commissions with a -26.64% decline, ranking 70th.

This stark “fate difference” among peers reveals that the logic of Chinese outbound business has changed: mere geographical advantages no longer work. Even in the Yangtze River Delta or Greater Bay Area, being at the forefront of openness, firms face marginalization risks amid industry reshuffling.

Overall, the big ups and downs in commissions reflect intensified industry competition. Small- and medium-sized brokers lacking core research特色 or client base are facing survival crises of marginalization.