At the beginning of the new year in 2022, the new regulations on asset management were officially implemented. For the asset management of securities companies, we have to choose the “difficult mode” to continue climbing this year.
In the first quarter, affected by multiple disturbing factors in domestic and foreign markets, there was great uncertainty in all kinds of assets, especially the “double kill” in the stock and bond market, which made investors have a strong wait-and-see mood. Some asset managers of securities companies reported that the current phenomena such as net worth withdrawal, cold product issuance and difficulty in finding channels for consignment sales are not uncommon in the industry. Facing the trouble of income directly, especially the performance of “fixed income +” products of some peers makes customers “very hurt”.
Now that we have chosen the “difficult mode”, what coping strategies should we adopt? Many asset managers of securities companies believe that in order to meet the needs of investors’ low-risk preference, we can consider promoting short-term debt, cash management and other products. As for “fixed income +” products, we can take multiple measures to stabilize the fluctuation of their net value; Looking forward to the future, the cost performance based on equity assets has been relatively prominent. Next, we can focus on equity, fof (fund in the fund), quantification and other businesses.
securities companies face many challenges in Asset Management
A shares suffered “cold spring” at the beginning of the year. According to statistics, the Shanghai Composite Index, Shenzhen Composite Index and gem index fell by 10.65%, 18.44% and 19.96% respectively in the first quarter. The performance of the bond market has also experienced ups and downs, and many public and private funds have retreated greatly. As a member of the large asset management industry, it is difficult for securities companies to be independent of asset management, and they always face no small challenges in the development process.
Sealand Securities Co.Ltd(000750) asset management business related person in charge said in an interview with the reporter of the securities times that the fluctuation of the stock bond market led to the withdrawal of the net value of products, which had a certain impact on the profitability of the asset management industry of securities companies. With the withdrawal of the secondary market, the product issuance of the whole industry was obviously cold. In addition, after the implementation of the new regulations on asset management, the asset management of securities companies encountered the downward cycle of the industry for the first time, and there is still a lot of experience to accumulate in channel maintenance and investor companionship.
At the beginning of this year, there was such a scene in the market – due to the decline of asset prices, the net value of products retreated, which caused investors to redeem or trigger the closing line, resulting in products being forced to sell assets, resulting in a vicious circle of continued price decline First Capital Securities Co.Ltd(002797) relevant people said that in the future, the industry will put forward higher requirements for managers’ ability in liquidity management and pullback control.
In fact, the challenges faced by the asset management of securities companies next come not only from the turbulence of the market, but also from the competition within the industry and the impact of external institutions. Dongfanghong asset manager told the securities times that at present, the homogeneous competition in the industry is intensifying, and the head effect is becoming more and more obvious. Foreign giants’ exhibition in China can not be ignored. He mentioned that the establishment of bank financial management subsidiaries will gradually have an impact on the pattern of the asset management industry. “The advantages of bank financial management in fixed income, currency and non-standard investment have been further strengthened, coupled with the unique advantages of the banking system’s huge customer base, it may have a direct impact on the fixed income, currency and passive index businesses of other subdivided asset management industry institutions.”
“fixed income +” where to go
In recent years, the asset management products of securities companies mainly focus on fixed income. Although various institutions have increased their investment in the “fixed income +” strategy, due to the large fluctuations in the stock and bond market this year, the customer experience and channel heat will inevitably be greatly affected. The “fixed income +” that once attracted countless fans is now ridiculed as “fixed income -“.
Guosen Securities Co.Ltd(002736) asset managers explained to the reporter of the securities times that for public funds with relative income as the goal, some fund managers of “fixed income +” products will take more radical equity related position management measures. Since the beginning of this year, the equity market has fluctuated tremendously. In the process of expanding the scale of asset management, some fund managers are reluctant to “get off the bus” easily, take the initiative to reduce their positions or give up the opportunity to gain performance flexibility, resulting in a large retreat of some “fixed income +” products.
It is understood that from a strategic perspective, the current mainstream “fixed income +” strategy, most of which cover equity, convertible bonds, subscription of new shares, etc. The performance of these three strategies this year is less than expected. For example, convertible bonds encounter the “killing valuation” market after the Spring Festival. Previously, it has been regarded as a stable new share subscription strategy, which has been highly effective for many years, but it is also difficult to offset the frequent breaking of new shares this year.
Citic Securities Company Limited(600030) asset managers supplement their views from the perspective of investor philosophy. He explained that the “fixed income +” target groups are mainly medium and low risk preference investors. With the end of the transition period of the new regulations on asset management, the net worth transformation has just ended in 2021, and it will take time for a large number of customers to change their investment ideas. When choosing products, they still configure “fixed income +” according to the idea of absolute target income, which will lead to strong dissatisfaction when the fluctuation of products exceeds psychological expectations.
In the view of this person, in view of the large pullback of “fixed income +” recently, the company has reasonably controlled the position of flexible assets according to the product positioning and customer demand. In addition, for the “+” part of diversified “fixed income +” products, diversified strategies such as CTA and market neutrality are introduced to broaden the strategic scope of “fixed income +” products and reduce the correlation with stock market fluctuations.
As for how to deal with the fluctuation risk, the above Guosen Securities Co.Ltd(002736) asset managers said, “Unlike many ‘fixed income +’ products in the current market, which pay too much attention to the investment and research of the equity part and ignore the performance of the fixed income part, we usually use the fixed income as the bottom, especially after accumulating certain income through some coupon assets and gradually increasing the position of the ‘+’ part in combination with the market conditions. Specifically, in terms of fixed income, we try our best to increase the income and provide a better performance safety cushion. In the process of selecting the ‘+’ part of assets, I They prefer to choose the sectors or individual stocks underestimated by the market, or convertible bonds. “
First Capital Securities Co.Ltd(002797) has always been characterized by fixed income. Relevant people of the company said that in the selection of “+”, the company fully compares the risk return characteristics of various assets of stocks, public funds, private funds and derivatives and their derivatives, selects the relatively optimal assets for allocation, and reduces the fluctuation risk of net product value through strategic diversification and decentralization. At the same time, pay attention to the control of investment safety margin, and limit the position in the case of lack of safety margin of assets. Carry out ex ante risk control from the perspective of system and research, appropriately disperse, avoid excessive impact of individual asset price fluctuations on the whole product, and set corresponding strategies for position increase, stop loss and profit stop.
Although the performance of some “fixed income +” products is not ideal this year, people in the industry believe that the product is still a long-term configuration direction. Dongfanghong asset management said that considering the needs of investors to maintain and increase the value of assets and the current financial asset allocation structure of residents, the allocation of equity products and “fixed income +” products is still a trend in the future.
development equity investment and fof
What are the main products of asset management of securities companies at present? The reporter of the securities times learned from a number of respondents that many securities companies have launched products such as short-term debt, cash management and fixed income + to match the needs of investors’ low-risk preference. In addition, considering the investment opportunities in the equity market, there are securities companies’ asset management plans to layout equity and fof businesses.
The aforementioned Citic Securities Company Limited(600030) asset managers pointed out that the recent market fluctuations are large and the product performance is under pressure. In the short term, a recovery process is needed, and in the long term, there are still opportunities in the equity market.
It is understood that Citic Securities Company Limited(600030) focuses on net worth products with the goal of long-term stable operation and capital preservation and appreciation. Through product design, we can guide the long-term capital to a certain extent and improve the proportion of long-term limited products; Further expand asset categories and strategies, and improve product supply in index investment, stock style theme, quantitative investment, cross-border investment and other fields. At the same time, develop pension fof products, improve the pension product system, expand the third pillar and better attract long-term funds.
The aforementioned Guosen Securities Co.Ltd(002736) asset managers said that on the basis of consolidating the fixed income business, the company has made greater efforts to distribute equity and fof business, “In the second quarter, the adverse impact of risk-free return on the price fluctuation of risky assets tends to weaken, while the conflict between Russia and Ukraine only has a short-term impact on the market, and the driving factors of China’s A-Shares will gradually switch to endogenous factors. According to our research, with the recovery of economic indicators, the structural market will enhance the flexibility of stock market valuation repair and improve the probability of medium and long-term corporate growth dividends.”
First Capital Securities Co.Ltd(002797) relevant people said that at present, the absolute yield of pure debt products has been at a relatively low level in history. With the policy guidance of stable growth, there may be trading opportunities in the short term; The valuation of some equity assets has returned to the historical low quantile, and the cost performance of equity assets is relatively prominent. It is understood that First Capital Securities Co.Ltd(002797) ‘s product line includes cash management or short-term financial products, fixed income and fixed income + small collection products; In terms of fof products, the performance ranking of its stock products is in the forefront of similar products in the industry.
quantifying the configuration opportunity
Some brokerage asset management is making efforts in the subdivision track. Specifically, quantitative index enhancement products are becoming an asset allocation tool for investors because of their wide coverage, high winning rate and rational decision-making.
From the fourth quarter of last year to the beginning of this year, many quantitative products also experienced large net value fluctuations due to market correction. Since mid March, with the bottom recovery of the market, the phased performance of quantitative products has generally rebounded.
According to the analysis of the relevant person in charge of Guohai asset management to the reporter of the securities times, the main reason is that since March, there have been frequent favorable policies such as maintaining the stable development of the financial market, the market liquidity is relatively abundant, and the profitability of most style factors has been improved. At the same time. Customer redemptions since the fourth quarter of last year have also released the competitive pressure of the industry and eased the congestion of factors. In addition, the further iteration and self evolution brought by quantitative strategy withdrawal also make the overall strategy more in line with the actual situation of the market.
The person in charge also said that since 2005, the CSI 500 index has maintained an annualized return of more than 10%, which is a good broad-based index. During the market decline since September last year, risks have also been fully released. The current index valuation is at the 2.73% quantile in the past decade. The expectation of valuation repair may support the future performance of the index.
\u3000\u3000 “In order to balance the contradiction between long-term performance and high-speed rotation of the market, index enhancement funds are an organic combination of active management and index funds. Their investment goal is to pursue stable and continuous performance beyond the target index on the premise of controlling tracking error. From the perspective of performance, public index enhancement funds have generally achieved 3% ~ 10% excess returns in bull and bear markets since 2017, and can generally play a role in different market environments The effect of outperforming the index. ” He said.
It is understood that Sealand Securities Co.Ltd(000750) asset management’s national mass selection of public offering products outperformed the target index by 6.8% from the date of public offering and transformation of products in August last year to the end of the first quarter of 2022.
