The bank wealth management market has rebounded strongly in the second quarter of 2026, reversing the subdued performance seen in the first quarter. According to the latest estimates from Huayuan Securities, the total scale of wealth management products reached 34.5 trillion yuan by the end of April 2026, an increase of 2.6 trillion yuan from the previous month.
Data from Puyi Standards shows that as of the end of April, the average annualized return over the past month for open-end fixed-income wealth management products (excluding cash management products) offered by wealth management companies was 2.41%, up 0.98 percentage points from the previous month.
Wu Zewei, a special researcher at a commercial bank, explained that following the end-of-quarter assessments, a significant amount of funds that had flowed out in March to meet deposit targets returned in large scale, creating a typical seasonal rebound. Simultaneously, the bond market stabilized after earlier adjustments, leading to smoother net asset value performance for wealth management products. This has significantly alleviated investor concerns about net value volatility, boosting their willingness to subscribe.
The scale of wealth management products saw a notable recovery in April. According to the "Quarterly Report on China's Banking Wealth Management Market (Q1 2026)" released by the China Banking Wealth Management Registration and Custodian Center, the total outstanding product scale at the end of the first quarter of 2026 was 31.91 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.51%. However, this represented a decrease of 1.38 trillion yuan, or approximately 4.15%, from the 33.29 trillion yuan recorded at the end of 2025.
Huayuan Securities' research report attributes the first-quarter decline to several factors: the regulation of irregular practices related to product performance rankings in January, significant efforts to boost deposits at the end of the quarter, and net value drawdowns for some products due to stock market corrections in March.
Entering April, the market rebounded. Huayuan Securities estimates that by the end of April 2026, the scale of wealth management products recovered to 34.5 trillion yuan, a single-month increase of 2.6 trillion yuan. This figure significantly exceeds the average April increase of 2.04 trillion yuan seen from 2021 to 2025, indicating a growth spurt exceeding seasonal norms.
Concurrently, the return levels of fixed-income wealth management products also improved markedly. Against the backdrop of a strong performance in both stocks and bonds, the average monthly annualized returns for fixed-income and pure fixed-income products offered by wealth management companies in April reached 3.42% and 2.71%, respectively, showing clear recovery from March levels.
Separately, Puyi Standards calculated that as of the end of April 2026, wealth management companies had 34,878 outstanding wealth management products, an increase of 1,229 from the previous month, accounting for 75.48% of all outstanding products in the market. The average annualized return over the past month for their open-end fixed-income products (excluding cash management products) was 2.41%, up 0.98 percentage points month-on-month.
Wu Zewei noted that after the quarterly assessments concluded, funds that had exited in March to meet deposit targets returned on a large scale, forming a typical seasonal rebound. At the same time, the bond market gradually stabilized following previous adjustments, leading to smoother net asset value performance for wealth management products. This significantly eased investor concerns about net value fluctuations, thereby increasing subscription interest.
From the supply side, he mentioned that against the backdrop of continuously declining deposit interest rates, banks are positioning wealth management products, particularly stable products, as crucial tools for absorbing low-interest deposits. Through enhanced recommendations by relationship managers and guidance for product renewal upon maturity, the scale of fund inflows has been significantly boosted. Furthermore, as the equity market maintains a volatile pattern, some risk-averse capital has flowed back from equity-focused funds to bank wealth management products, which are primarily fixed-income based with controlled volatility, further fueling the scale expansion in April.
Sun Yini, a researcher at Dingxin Huijin, also stated that the current market environment is warming up, with the bond market stabilizing overall, coupled with a recovery in product net values, attracting investor subscriptions. Post-quarter-end, overall liquidity has eased, leading some idle funds to flow back into wealth management. Concurrently, the underlying assets of products are being optimized. With money market fund yields generally below 1%, wealth management products are enhancing returns by diversifying into non-standard assets, public funds, QDII products, and other asset classes.
She emphasized that the elasticity of "fixed income plus" products mainly lies in the "plus" component. Given the relatively good performance of the stock market this year, bank wealth management has built a systematic toolbox using strategies like barbell, diversified, and quantitative approaches to enhance returns while controlling drawdowns.
Looking ahead, a CITIC Securities research report forecasts that the growth rate of bank wealth management scale in 2026 is expected to reach around 12%–13%, with the annual scale potentially climbing to 37–38 trillion yuan.
**Banks Actively Promote 'Fixed Income Plus' and FOF Products to Boost Returns**
Compared to traditional pure fixed-income products, "fixed income plus" strategies enhance returns while controlling volatility by appropriately allocating to equities, convertible bonds, and other assets. FOF (Fund of Funds) products achieve risk diversification and return enhancement through diversified strategies and fund selection.
It has been observed that several banks prominently feature "fixed income plus" and FOF products in their recommendations. For example, China Merchants Bank has a "Premium+ Wealth Management" section in its mobile banking app, offering "Diversified+" and "Value+" series under the "fixed income plus" category, emphasizing enhanced returns through carefully selected strategies. Simultaneously, the bank has a dedicated FOF product zone, facilitating investor allocation based on needs. Its page indicates that FOFs consist of portfolios of funds selected by professional teams, effectively bundling investments in multiple fund products into a single click, saving investors the trouble of individual selection.
According to Puyi Standards data, by the end of the first quarter of 2026, wealth management institutions had issued a total of 2,804 closed-end "fixed income plus" type wealth management products within the year, with 10,386 products outstanding at quarter-end, showing a median quarterly annualized return of 2.69%.
Wind data shows that as of May 14th, the issuance scale of FOF products this year has reached 96.33 billion yuan, with 73 products issued, averaging 1.32 billion yuan per product. In contrast, the full-year 2025 issuance scale for FOF products was 84.529 billion yuan across 93 products, averaging 909 million yuan per product. Not only has the issuance scale surpassed last year's annual total, but the fundraising scale per product has also significantly increased.
Wu Zewei analyzed that for "fixed income plus" products, traditional pure fixed-income wealth management products face gradually declining yields in a low-interest-rate environment, struggling to meet investor demand for relatively stable returns slightly above deposit rates. Bank wealth management subsidiaries are enhancing returns by appropriately allocating to convertible bonds, preferred stocks, or a small portion of equity assets while maintaining low net value drawdowns. This risk-return profile has gained broad recognition from distribution channels and clients in the current market environment.
Sun Yini also analyzed that in a low-interest-rate environment, investors seek return enhancement but are unwilling to bear excessive risk, thus favoring stable strategies that combine fixed income with a small amount of equities or derivatives. From an institutional perspective, the risk of a single asset lies in its volatility and the singularity of its strategy, making it unable to adapt to rapid market changes. FOFs effectively address this issue, as diversified, multi-strategy investments reduce volatility, and different strategies lower the concentration of underlying assets.