The scale of listed companies purchasing wealth management products continues to decline

By Reporter 熊 悦

Recently, Lijiang Shares released an announcement. To improve the efficiency of capital use and make rational use of idle funds, the company’s board of directors approved the use of funds totaling no more than 400 million yuan to purchase wealth management products. The investment term is valid for 12 months from the date the company’s board of directors approves the matter. Within the above time period and额度 range, the funds may be used on a rolling basis.

According to statistics from Wind Information, as of March 25, the date of the reporter’s submission, in the year to date, 460 listed companies have subscribed to wealth management products, with a total amount of 137.69 billion yuan. However, this figure shows a clear contraction compared with the same period last year. In the 2025 same period, 809 listed companies subscribed with a total amount of 281.784 billion yuan.

Looking at a longer time span, since 2023, the scale of listed companies’ subscriptions to wealth management products has been on a declining trend. Wind Information data shows that from 2021 to 2025, the subscription amounts of listed companies to wealth management products were 1.43 trillion yuan, 1.52 trillion yuan, 1.29 trillion yuan, 1.22 trillion yuan, and 1.06 trillion yuan, respectively.

“Since this year began, the scale of listed companies’ subscriptions to wealth management products has contracted significantly. This is not because companies’ funds are tight, but rather a rational adjustment driven by the combined effects of the macro environment, business decisions, and market returns.” Fu Yifu, a special research fellow of Sushang Bank, said in an interview with Securities Daily. “Currently, the returns on wealth management and deposits continue to decline. Low yields cannot cover the opportunity cost, which reduces companies’ willingness to allocate capital; at the same time, investment in the real economy has started to recover, and many companies have prioritized channeling idle funds into their core businesses, naturally squeezing wealth management funds. In addition, after wealth management products become fully net-value-based, volatility increases. For reasons of prudence, companies actively reduce the scale of wealth management and use some funds to repay debts and optimize their financial structure.”

“Overall, this phenomenon reflects that listed companies’ cash management strategies have become more pragmatic, with greater focus on capital efficiency,” Fu Yifu said.

In addition, listed companies’ allocation structure for wealth management products is becoming more diversified. Wind Information data shows that among the 137.69 billion yuan of wealth management products subscribed by listed companies year to date, the highest subscription amount is for structured deposits, reaching 80.681 billion yuan, accounting for 59%. Subscriptions for bank wealth management products were 11.95 billion yuan, accounting for 9%; subscriptions for securities firms’ wealth management products were 11.231 billion yuan, accounting for 8%. In addition, listed companies also direct funds into wealth management products such as deposits, time deposits, notice deposits, trusts, and reverse repos on government bonds, seeking diversification and reducing risk.

In Fu Yifu’s view, currently the overall subscription to wealth management products by listed companies presents the following characteristics: first, preference for low-risk products with high credit ratings, with strict control over the risk of principal loss; second, heightened attention to capital liquidity, with a focus on short-term, open-ended products to ensure that funds can be recalled at any time for business turnover or project investment; third, allocations are more diversified, no longer concentrated in a single product type. By combining multiple institutions and multiple categories, they reduce the risk of volatility. “Listed companies remain cautious about products whose underlying assets are opaque and whose risks are hidden. When choosing cooperation institutions, they also place greater emphasis on the reputation of leading institutions and their risk-control capabilities,” Fu Yifu said.

Regarding trends in the changes in listed companies’ wealth management product allocation structures, Fu Yifu believes that listed companies’ shift from previously highly relying on structured deposits to gradually moving toward diversified allocations such as bank wealth management and brokerage wealth management is an important reflection of how corporate cash management is becoming more refined and professional, and it is also a reasonable choice for seeking a balance between returns and risks in a low-interest-rate environment.

(Editor: Qian Xiaorui)

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