China Fund Distribution Rankings Shift as Third-Party Platforms Overtake Banks

The top 100 public fund distribution rankings for the first half of 2026 have been released. The top 100 institutions held a combined RMB 13.79 trillion in non-money-market fund assets, up 17.88% from the previous period; equity fund assets under custody totaled RMB 7.06 trillion, up 17.81%; and equity index fund assets reached RMB 2.94 trillion, up 21.91%. Among the top 100 institutions, 56 were securities firms, 25 were banks, and 19 were third-party and insurance institutions.

The channel landscape has shifted. Third-party institutions, including insurers, held RMB 5.40 trillion in non-money-market fund assets, surpassing banks' RMB 5.33 trillion for the first time to become the largest public fund distribution channel. The third-party market share rose 3 percentage points from the previous period to 39.18%, while banks' share fell 2.99 percentage points to 38.67%. Over the same period, third-party non-money-market fund assets grew 27.67% from the previous period, while banks grew 9.42%. The top three by non-money-market fund assets under custody were Ant Fund with RMB 2.21 trillion, China Merchants Bank with RMB 1.58 trillion, and Tian Tian Fund with RMB 883.5 billion.

Securities firms held RMB 3.05 trillion in non-money-market fund assets, up 17.81% from the previous period, accounting for 22.15% of the top 100 total. Their equity fund assets under custody totaled RMB 1.88 trillion, or 26.59% of the top 100; equity index fund assets reached RMB 1.53 trillion, or 52.09%; bond and other fund assets stood at RMB 1.18 trillion, up 22.07%; and active equity fund assets totaled RMB 344.5 billion, up 9.68%. The top five securities firms by non-money-market fund assets accounted for 42.22% of the securities firm total, and the top 10 accounted for 64.13%.

Banks held RMB 464.2 billion in equity index fund assets, up 29.74% from the previous period. Securities firms' equity index fund assets rose 16.63% from the previous period. CITIC Securities ranked first among securities firms in equity index fund assets with RMB 178.1 billion, Huatai Securities ranked second with RMB 161.8 billion, and Guotai Haitong ranked third with RMB 119.6 billion. Galaxy Securities, China Merchants Securities, Guosen Securities, CITIC Construction Investment, GF Securities, East Money, and Ping An Securities ranked fourth through tenth. The top 10 securities firms together accounted for 64.61% of securities firms' equity index fund assets.

In terms of non-money-market fund assets within the securities sector, CITIC Securities ranked first with RMB 380.6 billion, up 21.06% from the previous period; Guotai Haitong rose to second with RMB 254.8 billion, up 24.72%; and Huatai Securities ranked third with RMB 247.9 billion, up 18.10%. CITIC Construction Investment held RMB 206.4 billion in non-money-market fund assets, up 19.38%, rising to fourth among securities firms; East Money held RMB 125.5 billion, up 26.13%, rising to eighth. In equity funds, CITIC Securities led with RMB 190.4 billion, followed by Huatai Securities with RMB 171.8 billion and Guotai Haitong with RMB 140.6 billion.

Small and medium-sized securities firms showed notable growth. The five securities firms with the fastest growth in non-money-market fund assets were Hua An Securities, Hua Lin Securities, Guotou Securities, Kaiyuan Securities, and Founder Securities. Hua An Securities' non-money-market fund assets rose from RMB 11.8 billion to RMB 16.6 billion, an increase of 40.68%; Hua Lin Securities grew from RMB 4.5 billion to RMB 5.8 billion, up 28.89%; Guotou Securities, Kaiyuan Securities, and Founder Securities grew 28.71%, 26.87%, and 26.30%, respectively. The top three by equity fund growth were Hua Lin Securities, Hua An Securities, and Kaiyuan Securities, with increases of 34.88%, 27.27%, and 26.19%. The top three by equity index fund growth were Guohai Securities, Hua Lin Securities, and CITIC Construction Investment, with increases of 39.47%, 38.46%, and 31.74%.

Securities firms held RMB 344.5 billion in active equity fund assets, accounting for 8.36% of the top 100 total; banks accounted for 54.12%, and third-party and insurance institutions accounted for 37.52%. Securities firms' active equity fund assets grew 9.68% from the previous period. GF Securities held RMB 33.7 billion in active equity fund assets, China Merchants Securities RMB 33.1 billion, CITIC Construction Investment RMB 28.6 billion, Industrial Securities RMB 23.3 billion, Galaxy Securities RMB 21.9 billion, and Guotai Haitong RMB 21.0 billion.

Under the Securities Company Classification Evaluation Rules revised and implemented in August 2025, the top 10 in the industry by incremental equity fund distribution assets receive 1 point, and the top 20 receive 0.5 points. In terms of equity fund increments in the first half of 2026, Huatai Securities led with RMB 28.6 billion, followed by CITIC Securities with RMB 27.2 billion and China Merchants Securities with RMB 25.0 billion; CITIC Construction Investment had RMB 20.9 billion, Guotai Haitong RMB 19.9 billion, Galaxy Securities RMB 18.7 billion, East Money RMB 14.8 billion, and GF Securities RMB 13.1 billion. Guojin Securities with RMB 6.2 billion, Shenwan Hongyuan with RMB 5.8 billion, Guotou Securities with RMB 5.3 billion, Founder Securities with RMB 5.1 billion, and Everbright Securities with RMB 4.0 billion were among the top 20 by increment.