The arrival of August has brought a wave of activity to the securities industry, with over ten brokerages launching their "818 Wealth Festival" campaigns, featuring a diverse array of intelligent investment advisory tools, extensive scenario-based marketing, and gamified client interactions. This annual event has become a key barometer for observing the progress of the sector's wealth management transformation, with firms employing innovative strategies to capture investor attention and drive business growth.
A prominent highlight of this year's festival is the aggressive marketing of smart investment assistance tools. For instance, SouEast Securities has set up an "AI Investment Refueling Station," providing users with tools like an AI signal trading master, AI market monitoring, and an AI smart investment assistant. China Galaxy Securities is offering investors a complimentary 15-day trial of its ETF smart advisory service, along with access to its professional "Xingyao Shuzhi" financial database. Meanwhile, Nanjing Securities and Huafu Securities are also opening up free trials of their intelligent advisory products to investors.
According to Chen Yinhua, President of the Western Financial Research Institute, these intelligent tools are becoming crucial for optimizing the trading experience and opening up new business avenues for brokerages. By lowering the professional threshold for investment and boosting information processing efficiency, these tools help bridge the gap between ordinary investors and the market. As investor reliance on smart decision-making support grows, the short-term free trials offered during the festival not only reduce the risk for new clients but also help cultivate long-term user habits and brand loyalty.
Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) have emerged as a central focus for many firms this year. Leveraging their advantages of operational transparency, trading flexibility, and low costs, ETFs are becoming a key lever for brokerages to tap into mass wealth management demand. To this end, Great Wall Securities is hosting an "Index Ranking Tournament" where users can predict the top-performing ETF of the day in sectors like semiconductors, innovative drugs, and securities. Guotai Haitong Securities has created an "ETF is Here" series of activities, while Shenwan Hongyuan Securities is running a live ETF trading competition. Additionally, Financial Street Securities is engaging investors with an "ETF Ultimate Showdown" contest.
Zhang Cuixia, Chief Investment Advisor at Jufu Investment, notes that the expanding range of ETF products has made them a vital wealth management tool, especially among younger investors. For brokerages, engaging in scenario-based marketing like quizzes, check-ins, and live trading contests around ETFs effectively blends educational content with hands-on experience. This gamified, lightweight approach lowers participation barriers, attracting new clients and re-energizing existing ones. More importantly, it allows firms to extend their service chain, shifting from simple product distribution to more value-added, comprehensive advisory services.
Beyond ETFs, other brokerages are drawing in investors with unique financial products and interactive games. Zhongtai Securities, for example, is offering a special wealth management product with an agreed annualized return of 6.88% and hosting live streams with several fund managers. Kaiyuan Securities is leveraging its regional strengths with a game called "Chang'an Adventure," where investors can roll dice online, explore scenes, and collect virtual souvenirs to unlock prizes.
The diverse "new strategies" on display at the "818 Wealth Festival" underscore the industry's strategic commitment to accelerating its wealth management transformation. With commission rates for brokerage businesses continuing to decline—recent data from the Shanghai Securities Industry Association shows the average commission rate for A-shares in Shanghai fell to 0.0162% in July, a 2.4% drop month-on-month—firms are under pressure to evolve. In response, they are actively exploring new pathways and upgrading their service models. China Merchants Securities, for example, has made the buyer's advisory model its core strategic path, offering differentiated account management plans like fund advisory and custom asset portfolios to shift from "product sales" to "asset allocation" for long-term client returns. Similarly, Huaxi Securities is focusing on client needs by enhancing its product service system through a digital intelligence platform, increasing its investment in smart strategies and tools to deeply integrate standardized products with personalized advisory services.
As Chen Yinhua concludes, the ultimate goal of these festival campaigns is to convert the traffic they attract into long-term client retention and a strong brand image. To achieve this, brokerages must move beyond a "festival-centric" mindset. This involves embedding intelligent investment tools more deeply into every aspect of the service process and accelerating the development of a client-centric buyer's advisory model, truly realizing the transition from "selling products" to "managing accounts."