A pivotal leadership change has been announced at China Merchants Securities Co., Ltd. (600999.SH). On May 8th, the company disclosed that Chairman Huo Da has resigned due to work reassignment after nine years at the helm. Zhu Jiangtao, who has served as President for less than a year, has been elected as the acting Chairman.
The 53-year-old Zhu Jiangtao is known for his pragmatic approach. He built a 22-year career at China Merchants Bank (CM BANK, 03968.HK), where he gained a strong reputation for risk management. Since assuming the role of President at China Merchants Securities in June 2025, he has quickly immersed himself in frontline operations, driving reforms in the wealth management division and demonstrating strong execution and transformative vision.
Zhu Jiangtao's arrival coincides with a robust period in the capital markets, presenting him with a mixed report card of record-high performance and underlying pressure. On one hand, the company achieved a net profit at a historical peak. On the other, its industry ranking slipped from 4th to 6th. While overall performance rebounded, over half of the revenue came from wealth and institutional business, while investment banking and asset management operations remain relatively small in scale.
The key question is whether the new leader can steer China Merchants Securities to break through the intense competition among top-tier firms and consolidate its established advantages.
Huo Da, a "Regulatory Veteran," Steps Down After 9 Years; 22-Year CM BANK Executive Takes Over
Huo Da was a unique figure among the chairmen of China Merchants Securities. Unlike his predecessors who were internal promotions from the China Merchants Group system, Huo, born in 1968, was appointed in May 2017, bringing nearly two decades of experience from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, including roles as Director of the Market Supervision Department and the Corporate Bond Supervision Department. He was the first chairman in the company's history with a typical regulatory background.
The company's announcement praised Huo Da's tenure, noting consecutive years of strong operational performance, with net profit reaching new highs twice and breaking the 10-billion-yuan mark three times. The company's comprehensive competitiveness was strengthened, laying a solid foundation for building a leading Chinese investment bank. This progress was closely linked to Huo's focus on constructing a modern investment bank, deepening wealth management transformation, and deploying AI technology.
During Huo Da's leadership, China Merchants Securities' total assets grew over 1.6 times, from 286 billion yuan to 753.4 billion yuan. Operating income increased 87% from 13.35 billion yuan to 24.97 billion yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders more than doubled from 5.79 billion yuan to 12.35 billion yuan. The company maintained its position as a leading securities firm, with key metrics consistently ranking at the forefront of the industry.
According to media reports, Huo Da is set to become the Party Committee Secretary and General Manager of China Merchants Financial Holdings Co., Ltd., the controlling shareholder of China Merchants Securities. The former General Manager of China Merchants Financial Holdings, Wang Xiaoqing, will transition to become the Party Committee Secretary and President of CM BANK. This personnel adjustment is a key move in China Merchants Group's integration of financial resources.
His successor, Zhu Jiangtao, is a "hands-on practitioner."
Born in December 1972, Zhu Jiangtao joined CM BANK in 2003, starting as the President of the Nanchang Qing Shanhu Sub-branch and steadily rising through the ranks: Deputy President of the Guangzhou Branch, President of the Chongqing Branch, and General Manager of the Head Office's Risk Management Department. He was promoted to Chief Risk Officer in 2020 and became a Vice President in 2021. During his 22-year career at CM BANK, he led the establishment of a comprehensive risk management system covering credit, market, and liquidity risks, earning recognition as a "risk control expert" in the industry.
In June 2025, Zhu made a "crossover" move to become President of China Merchants Securities, overseeing wealth management and institutional business, which are the company's cornerstone operations. This marked a significant career shift from "banker" to "securities firm helmsman."
Although his tenure as President has been less than a year, Zhu has already demonstrated a distinct "hands-on" style—frequently visiting branches nationwide, diving into the front lines of wealth and institutional business to focus on solving pain points. The areas under his management have delivered impressive results. In 2025, wealth and institutional business generated revenue of 13.83 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.10%, accounting for 55.36% of main business revenue.
Simultaneously, he vigorously promoted reforms in personnel mechanisms, implementing company-wide competitions for positions in the wealth management division and encouraging a younger leadership cadre. Internal evaluations note: "He dares to delegate authority and empower people, significantly revitalizing the core business lines."
Zhu Jiangtao's greater value lies in his role as a key piece in China Merchants Group's push for "deep bank-securities synergy."
China Merchants Securities originally stemmed from the securities department of CM BANK, sharing deep "CM BANK genes." Zhu's arrival is pushing bank-securities collaboration into "deeper waters."
Synergy is advancing across three major dimensions: wealth management leverages CM BANK's hundreds of millions of retail customers for client conversion; investment banking utilizes CM BANK's corporate client base to deliver a "credit + investment banking" combination; and product and channel cooperation is being integrated. The rise in IPO underwriting deals to 4th place in the industry in 2025 is a direct reflection of this synergy effect.
Zhu Jiangtao is currently only acting as Chairman. The formal appointment is yet to be finalized, pending further company announcements on whether the candidate will be an internal promotion or an appointment from the China Merchants Group.
Record Profit Amidst Ranking Decline
Zhu Jiangtao joined China Merchants Securities during one of the most bullish cycles in the capital markets in recent years. The strong market conditions directly fueled a robust recovery in securities firm performance. Riding this favorable wave, China Merchants Securities delivered its best historical performance.
In 2025, China Merchants Securities achieved operating income of 24.97 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.53%. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 12.35 billion yuan, up 18.91% year-on-year, setting a new record high.
However, within the "the strong get stronger" competitive landscape among top firms, this report card failed to maintain its previous position—the ranking for net profit attributable to shareholders slipped from a long-held 4th place to 6th, surpassed by GF Securities (000776.SZ) and China Galaxy (601881.SH).
The profit growth rate of China Merchants Securities lagged behind its top peers. In 2025, its profit growth ranked second-to-last among the top ten securities firms. Meanwhile, GF Securities saw a 42% year-on-year increase in net profit, rising to 4th in the industry. China Galaxy's net profit attributable to shareholders reached 12.52 billion yuan, narrowly surpassing China Merchants Securities. The "advance or retreat" nature of top-tier competition was vividly demonstrated.
In terms of specific business segments, as mentioned, wealth and institutional business was the largest revenue contributor. Breaking it down, brokerage business net revenue in 2025 was 8.89 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43.82%. Boosted by market conditions, the company's domestic stock and fund trading volume grew by nearly 70% year-on-year. The monthly average number of active app users increased by 13.44%, ranking 5th in the securities industry, with average daily usage time per user leading the sector. This drove an 8.67% growth in trading clients and a nearly 70% increase in domestic stock and fund trading volume.
The company is relatively reliant on wealth and institutional business, which contributes over half of its revenue. Looking at brokerage business net revenue, it accounted for 35.61% of total operating revenue in 2025, ranking second among the top ten firms by revenue.
Margin financing and securities lending business also performed strongly. In 2025, interest income from margin financing and securities lending grew by approximately 13% year-on-year. The outstanding balance at year-end was 128.6 billion yuan, with market share increasing from 4.87% at the beginning of the year to 5.06%. Against the backdrop of intensified industry competition, this counter-trend rise in market share reflects the company's customer base and risk control capabilities in the capital intermediation field.
The investment business saw relatively moderate growth but maintained a substantial absolute scale. In 2025, proprietary business revenue (investment net income + net gains from changes in fair value - investment income from associates and joint ventures) was 9.79 billion yuan, exceeding brokerage net revenue, with a year-on-year growth of 2.7%.
Despite strong performance in wealth management and margin financing, China Merchants Securities has weaknesses in investment banking and asset management.
Investment banking generated net revenue of 1.03 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 20.27%, but its absolute scale remains notably small among leading firms. Although it ranked 4th in the number of A-share IPO underwriting deals, the total equity underwriting amount was only 17.15 billion yuan, ranking 9th. For comparison, top investment banks like CITIC Securities (600030.SH) and China International Capital Corporation (601995.SH) have equity underwriting scales in the hundreds of billions, indicating a significant gap.
Asset management is another area of weakness. Revenue in 2025 was 873 million yuan, up 21.7% year-on-year, but the absolute scale also ranks low among top securities firms. Notably, the total assets under management at China Merchants Asset Management declined by 2.4% year-on-year to 261.05 billion yuan. Although public fund AUM surged from 100 million yuan to 70.4 billion yuan, this was primarily driven by license acquisition and new product launches, rather than organic growth from existing funds.
In 2025, the company's net cash flow from operating activities turned negative, plunging to -31.37 billion yuan, a decrease of 157.32%. This was due to significant cash usage for the expansion of margin financing business and increased proprietary investment positions. This "balance sheet expansion-driven profit" model yields significant results during favorable markets but comes at the cost of volatile cash flows and potential liquidity pressure.
At a time when the industry is generally focused on "cost reduction and efficiency improvement," China Merchants Securities' operating expenses in 2025 increased by 13.12% year-on-year, which is one of the main reasons its profit growth lagged behind top peers. This reflects the rigid cost pressures brought by business expansion and tests the new management's cost control capabilities.
On a positive note, the company's performance continued its high-growth trend in the first quarter of 2026, with revenue of 6.97 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.96%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.27 billion yuan, up 41.73% year-on-year. As Zhu Jiangtao takes the helm, the market will be watching to see if China Merchants Securities can sustain its fight to climb the industry rankings.
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