As the year draws to a close, the eagerly anticipated 2025 year-end bonuses are being distributed to employees, fueling a sustained uptick in the year-end bonus investment market.
Major state-owned banks, joint-stock banks, city commercial banks, and their wealth management subsidiaries are aggressively launching specialized products and services tailored for year-end bonuses. Among them, Bank of Communications Wealth Management's "New Salary Treasure" series starts from just 1 yuan, with some products achieving an annualized return of up to 4.91% since inception; China CITIC Bank's Shenzhen branch is promoting products rated PR1-PR2, offering a maximum three-month annualized return of 2.13%, coupled with a triple-gift promotion granting benefits worth up to 860.6 yuan; Shanghai Pudong Development Bank's Year of the Horse commemorative certificate requires a 10,000 yuan minimum investment with a three-year annual interest rate of 1.75%; Suzhou Bank's self-operated and distributed products cover a wide yield range from 1.68% to 12.32%.
Simultaneously, in the current low-interest-rate environment, household investment behavior is becoming more rational, prioritizing stability and adopting a tiered allocation strategy as the mainstream approach, with a growing emphasis on securing guaranteed returns.
Fu Qiaochu, a researcher at Puyi Standard, pointed out two significant shifts in banks' recent year-end bonus investment marketing strategies: first, integrating a full spectrum of financial products including deposits, wealth management products, and funds to provide comprehensive, one-stop asset allocation solutions for various scenarios; second, focusing on professional services by offering customized allocation strategies and investment rationales based on clients' risk preferences and fund usage, rather than simply listing products.
Facing the concentrated release of year-end bonus investment demand, various financial institutions are targeting their efforts precisely, moving beyond the promotion of single products to provide full-category asset allocation services focused on different demographics' fund usage and risk preferences.
Banks have taken the lead in initiating the fierce competition to attract year-end bonus funds, with state-owned major banks, joint-stock banks, and city commercial banks all actively participating.
Leveraging their massive customer bases, state-owned major banks are primarily offering exclusive products focused on R2-level stability, covering short, medium, and long-term durations. Bank of Communications launched the "Where to Put Your Year-End Bonus" themed campaign, featuring exclusive wealth management products that are all R2稳健型; among them, the "Lingdong Huili No. 21" (30-day holding period) had a three-month annualized return of 4.93% as of January 31, providing a flexible option for short-term idle funds. The bank also introduced diversified product portfolios covering deposits, funds, precious metals, and insurance to meet various allocation needs. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's mobile banking APP features a "Salary Butler" section promoting exclusive salary-themed wealth management products, emphasizing low entry thresholds and diverse strategies suitable for allocating salary-based funds like year-end bonuses. Its distributed product, "ICBC Wealth Management · Tian Tian Xin Tian Yi Low Volatility Dividend Strategy Fixed Income Enhanced Open-ended Product," had a one-month annualized return exceeding 3% as of January 31, officially advertised as starting from 1 yuan with a PR2 (稳健型) risk rating, allowing flexible subscription and redemption during fixed time windows on weekdays, suitable for short-term allocation needs.
Joint-stock banks and city commercial banks are actively breaking through in differentiated competition. China CITIC Bank's Shenzhen branch introduced a year-end bonus investment plan, including multiple PR1-PR2 level products, with a maximum seven-day annualized interest rate of 1.54% and a three-month annualized rate of 2.13%, supporting flexible redemption and high quick-redemption limits, coupled with a "Triple Salary Gift" promotion offering benefits up to 860.6 yuan through draws and asset growth. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank recently launched a limited 2026 Year of the Horse commemorative certificate, with the core product being the An Xiang Win Time Deposit 2026 Series 0019 (3-year term), offering an annual interest rate of 1.75% with a 10,000 yuan minimum investment. Concurrently available products include a 3-year large-denomination certificate of deposit (annual interest rate 1.75%) and US dollar certificates (annual interest rate 2.3%-2.8%), which are only available for processing at offline bank counters. Among city commercial banks, Suzhou Bank released a year-end bonus investment guide, precisely recommending suitable products based on allocation horizon: cash management products with a seven-day annualized yield of 1.68%-1.80%,稳健型 products with a performance benchmark of 2.25%-2.95% annualized, and some medium-to-long-term fixed-income enhanced products it distributes achieving a remarkable one-month annualized yield of up to 12.32%, catering to diverse needs.
Notably, some banks are also enhancing fund retention through incentive activities. Banks like Bank of Communications, Bank of China's Shenzhen branch, and China Everbright Bank have launched promotions such as gifting points or WeChat instant discounts for asset growth, and "smash the golden egg" games to increase customer stickiness.
Wealth management subsidiaries are building differentiated product matrices. For instance, Bank of Communications Wealth Management recommends several "New Salary Treasure" wealth management products for year-end bonuses, all rated 2R稳健型 and starting from 1 yuan. These include Lingdong Tianli No. 7 (performance benchmark 1.55%-2.55%/year) and Lingdong Huili No. 6 99-day holding period version (annualized return since inception 4.91%), covering different holding needs and balancing flexibility with returns.
Fu Qiaochu analyzed that the core attributes and classification logic of banks' year-end bonus themed wealth management products are largely consistent with ordinary wealth management products. Both primarily focus on low-to-medium risk, with core investments in fixed-income assets like government bonds and financial bonds to build a solid foundation for stable returns; products with higher risk ratings may allocate a small portion to assets like stocks, funds, or precious metals to seek better returns under controllable risk.
The heating up of the year-end bonus investment market stems not only from institutions' active layouts but also from the awakening of household investment awareness and the rational evolution of investment behavior. Interviews with investors reveal a basic consensus against blindly chasing high returns, instead prioritizing both safety and liquidity, with "guaranteed returns" being the core focus for everyone.
"After working for three years, my year-end bonus this year is over 80,000 yuan. I don't want to hastily put it in a time deposit and sacrifice potential returns, nor dare I recklessly touch high-volatility products like stocks and funds," Chen Xiang (pseudonym), an internet operations professional in Shanghai, shared. She ultimately opted for a tiered allocation strategy: depositing 30,000 yuan in a bank time deposit (annualized yield 1.8%) to lock in long-term certain returns; purchasing 30,000 yuan worth of bank R2-level short-term wealth management products to balance liquidity and returns; and using the remaining 20,000 yuan for gold dollar-cost averaging, participating in the recent popular investment trend. "This allocation means I don't have to worry excessively about principal loss, and I can access funds flexibly in emergencies. It suits my needs well, as this money was hard-earned – safety is paramount."
Yang Hua (pseudonym), working in Guangzhou, expects his year-end bonus around early February and has recently received product pushes from multiple banks. He stated he is carefully screening options. "I lean towards稳健偏进取型. My year-end bonus is roughly 120,000 yuan. I plan to allocate 60% to 'fixed-income+' wealth management products, 20% to index fund dollar-cost averaging, and keep the remaining 20% in monetary funds for Spring Festival spending and emergency funds," Yang Hua admitted, reflecting that past experiences of following trends into high-yield products and experiencing net value fluctuations have made him more rational. "In a low-interest-rate environment, I don't expect to 'get rich overnight' from year-end bonus investing; achieving stable appreciation is satisfying enough."
Investment needs are more targeted for young professionals and middle-aged/older investors. Sheng Bai (pseudonym), a post-00s professional with one year of experience, has a year-end bonus of over 20,000 yuan. He chooses to deposit most of it into monetary funds, using a small amount for fund dollar-cost averaging to gain experience. "I'm new to work and lack investment experience. Stability comes first; I'll accumulate experience slowly and consider adjusting my allocation targets once my income is more stable." Conversely, Li Luo (pseudonym), a middle-aged professional in Shenzhen, expressed a preference for short-term, low-risk products due to concerns about needing money during the New Year period. "I'm still watching the market. Banks have many fancy products; I plan to compare more and choose products with strong liquidity and low risk ratings."
Fu Qiaochu advises investors to rationally configure their assets by carefully examining their own liquidity needs and fund usage plans: first, clearly define the purpose and timing for the year-end bonus; second, objectively assess their own risk tolerance, with稳健型 investors focusing primarily on low-to-medium risk assets; simultaneously, maintain independent judgment and view marketing promotions rationally.
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