With the continuous development and application of information technology, investors have higher and higher requirements for brokerage transactions, which requires brokerages to continuously improve their technology and service levels.
However, as the disclosure of brokers' annual reports comes to an end, Phoenix.com Finance's "Investment Observation" found that in 2023, brokerages will have divergent investment in R&D and information technology, and 10 of the 40 brokerages that have disclosed information have reduced their investment in R&D or information technology.
In 2023, the company's information technology investment will be 1.729 billion yuan, a decrease of 177 million yuan from 1.906 billion yuan in 2022, a decrease of nearly 10%.
Followed by Huatai Securities, as the head brokerage, Huatai Securities will invest 2.578 billion yuan in information technology in 2023, although it is still the highest investment among brokerages, but the gap with Haitong Securities, which ranks second, is less than 200 million, and in 2022, Huatai Securities' investment in information technology will be more than 500 million yuan higher than Haitong Securities.
It is worth mentioning that Huatai Securities' investment in information technology has decreased for the first time in nearly 6 years. In addition, the number of R&D personnel in Huatai Securities in 2023 will also drop from 3,667 in 2022 to 3,286, a decrease of more than 10%.
However, in terms of the reduction rate of information technology investment, the highest decline is the first venture, reaching 26.5%, followed by Guojin Securities, the company's information technology investment in 2023 will also decline by more than 20%.
Interestingly, in the 2023 annual report, the statement of Guojin Securities on the investment in information technology has been abstracted, "exceeding 7% of the average revenue of the last three fiscal years", and in the 2022 annual report, it is mentioned that "the company's information technology investment is 577 million yuan". Based on this calculation, Guojin Securities' investment in information technology in 2023 will be more than 460 million yuan, a difference of more than 100 million yuan from 2022.
The three brokerages that have increased the most in information technology investment are Guotai Junan, Shenwan Hongyuan and Haitong Securities, and the three brokerages with the largest increase are Huaan Securities, Guolian Securities and Shenwan Hongyuan.
In addition, the "Investment Observation" of Phoenix.com Finance noticed that although many brokerages are shouting that they attach great importance to investment in science and technology, R&D investment and the number of R&D personnel have shown a opposite trend.
For example, Hualin Securities, although the investment in R&D will increase in 2023, the overall number of R&D personnel has decreased significantly, with a decrease of 17.88%.
Similar to the situation of Hualin Securities, Oriental Wealth, although the R&D investment in 2023 has increased, the number of personnel at all levels of education is decreasing, especially for master's and doctoral talents, and the decline is more obvious.
In the annual report, Hualin Securities and Oriental Fortune attach great importance to scientific and technological research and development, but the increase and decrease of R&D personnel are somewhat contrary to the company's "slogan".
In addition, there are Huaxin shares and Guojin Securities, although the two companies have increased their R&D personnel, but their investment in R&D has declined compared with the same period last year.