With an increase of more than 10 times in four years, this type of product continues to be popular!

China Fund News reporter Zhang Ling

Since the beginning of the year, a number of fund companies are still actively deploying brokerage settlement model funds. According to the data, the total number of bond funds has exceeded the 1,000 mark, and the total scale has increased by more than 10 times in more than four years.

Although the market share of the bond fund is low in the short term, with the implementation of the commission reduction policy of the public fund and the continuous improvement of the brokerage agency's distribution ability, the future bond fund still has a lot of room for development.

The total number exceeded the 1,000 mark, and the scale increased by more than 10 times in four years

Bond settlement funds began in 2017 on a pilot basis, and after they officially became the norm in 2019, the number of fund products choosing the bond settlement model has gradually increased. In terms of fund types, it has also gradually expanded from the early hybrid and equity funds to bond funds, FOF, QDII, etc.

Since the beginning of this year, the pace of fund companies in the layout of bond funds is still continuing. Wind data shows that as of April 26, 65 new bond funds were established during the year (A/C shares are calculated together, the same below), helping the total number of bond funds to exceed the 1,000 mark, reaching 1,025.

In terms of scale, as of the end of the first quarter of this year, the total scale of existing bond fund products reached 648.473 billion yuan. According to the data previously disclosed by Tianxiang Investment Advisors, as of the end of 2019, the total scale of bond funds was 56.332 billion yuan. According to this calculation, the scale has increased by more than 10 times in more than four years.

In this regard, Guolian Fund said that since the beginning of this year, the volatility of the capital market has intensified, which has had a great impact on fund sales. At the same time, the downward trend of commissions has also affected the traditional income of brokerages. In this context, the layout of bond funds will help bring new business growth points to securities firms and fund companies.

"First of all, the bond fund will be closely linked to the fund company and the brokerage, through the joint promotion and sale of the bond fund, the two sides can form a resource sharing and complementary advantages, bring new sources of income for the brokerage, and alleviate the pressure caused by the commission reduction. "Guolian Fund analysis, secondly, from the perspective of fund sales, brokerages can use their own channel advantages to provide strong marketing support for fund companies. "This can not only help fund companies effectively improve the layout of product lines and make their products more in line with market demand, but also help fund companies expand their product scale and increase market share. ”

Wang Lu, a fund analyst at the Shanghai Securities Fund Evaluation and Research Center, also believes that on the one hand, the bond fund can provide leveraged resources for brokerage companies with trading commission income, that is, in addition to the trading commissions within the sales scale of the brokerage, the scale of sales by other distribution agencies is also traded in the brokerage, which brings more significant trading volume to the brokerage; Institutional business and other aspects can be cooperated, which is conducive to efficient cooperation with brokerage channels and increase product ownership.

A person from a brokerage firm in Beijing said that under the bond settlement model, public funds can participate in margin financing and securities lending, stock pledged repurchase, index and ETF options, etc., and the design of fund products is more flexible and the investment means are more abundant. At the same time, the separation of the settlement party and the custodian is also conducive to protecting the safety of funds and preventing the occurrence of risk events in fund investment transactions.

It is expected to continue to expand in the future

Although the number and scale of bond funds are constantly expanding, from the perspective of short-term scale changes, the total scale of bond funds at the end of the first quarter still shrank by nearly 8% compared with the end of last year under the continuous layout of various companies during the year.

In this regard, Wang Lu of Shanghai Securities bluntly said that from 2019 to 2021, the number of funds established through the brokerage transaction settlement model has increased significantly year by year, but after 2022, the issuance of bond funds has also been delayed due to the poor performance of the equity market. In 2023, the number of bond funds accounted for about 20% and the issuance scale accounted for about 16%, an increase of 2.96% and 5.37% respectively from the previous month.

"On the other hand, we have observed that the managers with a large number of bond funds are small and medium-sized institutions. Because such companies are usually inferior to large fund companies in various indicators, it is often difficult for banks to include their products in the list of key consignment products, so they have to turn to in-depth cooperation with brokers. Wang Lu said that because the brokerage company's distribution ability is weaker than the overall bank channel, this has also led to the scale has not yet developed greatly.

Guolian Fund believes that although the number of bond funds is increasing, many investors still have limited understanding and understanding of the bond settlement model, which may lead them to prefer to choose the fund trading model they are familiar with when choosing investment funds. At the same time, under the strong competition from banking channels and Internet financial channels, the market share of bond funds may also be squeezed.

"These traditional and emerging financial channels have their own advantages in fund depository, payment and settlement, product sales, etc., which pose a certain pressure on bond funds. However, given that the number of bond funds is still increasing, it will take time for the scale to grow. Guolian Fund said.

When it comes to the future development prospects of bond funds, Guolian Fund further said that although the sales flexibility of bond funds is limited, cooperation with specific brokerages may lead to low sales enthusiasm in other channels. However, it should be noted that the advantage of the bond settlement model fund lies in the deep binding with the brokerage, which helps the long-term retention of the product, and provides accurate monitoring through the real-time capital verification and securities verification of the brokerage, while reducing the cost of capital occupation. "With the clear support of the regulator for the bond settlement model and the continuous growth of the market size, this type of fund is expected to usher in more development opportunities. ”

"In order to meet the needs of investors, bond funds are also constantly innovating products and services to enhance market competitiveness. In addition, through in-depth cooperation with banks, mutual funds and other channels, bond funds are also expected to expand sales channels and expand market share. The League of Nations Fund added.

The above-mentioned brokerages also believe that although the market share of such products is low in the short term, driven by relevant policies, the market scale of securities funds is still expected to further expand in the future with the continuous efforts of brokerages and the gradual enhancement of consignment capabilities.

Wang Lu said that according to the recently issued "Regulations on the Administration of Securities Transaction Costs of Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds", funds under the transaction settlement mode of securities brokerages can be exempted from the requirement that the total annual trading commission of a fund manager for securities transactions through a securities company shall not exceed 15% and be maintained at the original uncapped, but the fund manager shall not circumvent the 15% upper limit requirement by converting the securities trading mode of the existing fund. This may encourage managers to issue more new funds under the bond-to-bond model.

"However, in the context of such a favorable brokerage, it is not easy for small and medium-sized brokers. Wang Lu believes that the securities settlement business needs to spend more manpower and time on the system docking, and the small and medium-sized brokerage itself is relatively weak, and whether the public fund is willing to trade in the brokerage seat is mainly determined by the brokerage's distribution ability and the amount of resources that are willing to provide.

Editor: Captain

Review: Chen Mo