Data is currently being uniformly calculated, with a "benevolent exit" plan expected to be announced within 4 to 6 weeks, followed by signing agreements with clients individually. "I invested over 10 million yuan just a year and a half ago. Hearing about the exit plan left me stunned. Now, I just hope to get my principal back smoothly," said an investor, Mr. Chen (pseudonym). Recently, news of Yixin initiating a "benevolent exit" for its quasi-fixed income products has drawn significant market attention. It was observed across multiple investor groups that Yixin's client base primarily consists of high-net-worth individuals, with investment amounts generally substantial, especially dominated by those investing over one million yuan. Consequently, there is considerable focus on the exit plan details. According to Yixin's prior response, the company is currently performing unified data calculations. After the plan is formulated and reported to the relevant authorities, it is expected to be announced within 4 to 6 weeks, followed by signing agreements with clients individually. A former mid-to-senior level financial advisor, Mr. Zhao (pseudonym), who claimed to have worked at Yixin for 14 years, stated that based on his estimates, the current scale of Yixin's "quasi-fixed income" products is approximately 50 billion yuan. "Calculating with this scale, and assuming the previously rumored net principal repayment, giving Yixin a 3-5 year buffer period, the final repayment should not be a major issue," he said. What constitutes the underlying assets of these quasi-fixed income products? In fact, "net principal repayment" is currently the most contentious point of debate. According to circulating market rumors about potential repayment rules, the calculation base would be the investor's current balance minus cumulative distributed returns. This means subsequent repayments would exclude all historical profit earnings, using only the remaining principal as the basis for installment calculations. It was noted in multiple investor groups that newer clients tend to accept this model, mainly because their investment returns are still in early stages. However, most long-term clients oppose it, primarily due to their larger cumulative earnings, which could result in minimal principal repayment. "I calculated that under the net principal model, the money I could get back is almost zero," said one investor. Some long-term rolling investors even mentioned starting investments during the P2P era, suggesting they might end up needing to "pay extra." "Fixed interest rates and high returns" were key reasons many investors chose Yixin. "When I was still at Yixin, the annualized returns for quasi-fixed income products ranged from 6% to 8%, with terms from 3 months to 2 years. This return was very attractive," Mr. Zhao said. Additionally, investors are particularly concerned about the specific scale and underlying assets of these products. Mr. Zhao revealed that Yixin's "quasi-fixed income" business peaked around 2019, estimated at nearly 150 billion yuan at the time. In recent years, Yixin has been scaling back this business. "Currently, based on my estimation, it should be around 40 to 50 billion yuan," he said. Regarding the underlying assets, Mr. Zhao indicated that quasi-fixed income products evolved from the earlier P2P business. Following the gradual exit from P2P, Yixin transitioned into businesses like micro-lending assistance, including vehicle mortgage loans, online loans, and bank-assisted lending. "To my knowledge, the underlying assets for its quasi-fixed income products include microcredit and financial leasing," he stated. Currently, investors are gathering information and data on these underlying assets, but no definitive conclusions have been reached. Mr. Zhao's claims also remain unverified. Furthermore, some investors disclosed that approximately 30 billion yuan of the funds raised through quasi-fixed income products has already been invested. However, this claim has not been confirmed. According to Mr. Zhao, besides quasi-fixed income, Yixin's wealth management business segment, categorized by product type, also includes fund of funds, sunshine private equity, and overseas insurance allocation. Among these, the fund of funds business was established earlier. Public information shows: In September 2013, Yixin and IDG Capital jointly launched the "IDG•Yixin Financial Innovation Fund" with a scale of $100 million. This was Yixin's first fund specifically established in cooperation with a VC firm. That same year, Yixin Wealth launched its first fund of funds product. Subsequently, fund of funds gradually became a strategic focus for Yixin. Its basic investment logic involves the fund of funds investing in several individual funds, which then invest in different projects and companies to diversify risk. This period coincided with China's second and third internet waves, where private equity funds created significant wealth effects. The saying "one cannot become wealthy without equity" even circulated among the public. Once Featured in "Ode to Joy" Yixin was founded in 2006 and was one of the earliest companies to introduce the P2P development model in China, later growing into the world's largest P2P lending service platform. At the time, the industry frequently mentioned Yixin's pioneering "offline credit assignment model." Public information indicates that the "offline credit assignment model" involved Yixin's founder, Tang Ning, lending to users in need, then splitting and repackaging the acquired credits into quasi-fixed income products sold to investment clients. As a leading P2P institution, Yixin gained considerable popularity and was once featured through product placement in the hit TV series "Ode to Joy." Between 2018 and 2020, as the wave of P2P exits arrived, Yixin's P2P business underwent adjustments. In November 2019, the company announced that its P2P platform, Yixin Huimin, would no longer add new lending or borrowing business, with its existing online lending operations to be uniformly managed by the Yirendai platform. After restructuring, Yirendai was renamed "Yiren Digital". In December 2015, Yiren Digital (NYSE: YRD) successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first Chinese fintech stock. It was renamed "Yiren Digital" in 2024. Its official website shows that Yiren Digital leverages next-generation information technologies like the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence to build an "AI + multi-scenario" full-chain digital business strategy. It comprises two main business segments: one is the online lending assistance business "Yixianghua"; the other is Hexiang Insurance Brokerage. In March this year, regarding issues with online lending assistance businesses, the National Financial Regulatory Administration interviewed the operating institutions of five platforms, including Yixianghua. The platforms were required to standardize marketing practices, clearly disclose loan product fee information, strictly comply with personal information protection regulations, and conduct collections legally and compliantly when cooperating with financial institutions. On May 25, regarding the recent "benevolent exit" matter, Yiren Digital issued a statement clarifying that the company, as an independently operated listed entity, belongs to a separate business system from other business segments, with completely isolated operations and management. Each operates independently without mutual impact. Yiren Digital does not engage in any wealth management-related business.
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