In the first half of the year, the securities brokerage industry witnessed a remarkable surge in sub-brokerage commission income, climbing more than 95% year-on-year. This key metric, which serves as a barometer for the research capabilities of brokerages, has drawn significant market attention. On September 1st, the official rankings for fund sub-brokerage commissions for the first half of 2026 were released, revealing that the industry collectively generated 8.727 billion yuan in commissions, a substantial 95.13% increase compared to the same period last year.

After undergoing multiple rounds of industry adjustments, the research business is now entering a phase of recovery and repair, with operational resilience and risk resistance capabilities continuing to strengthen. The effects of differentiation strategies have become increasingly pronounced, as brokerages navigate a landscape reshaped by deepening capital market registration reforms and new long-term assessment guidelines for public funds. The optimization of commission allocation mechanisms, coupled with heightened market trading activity, has directly fueled this impressive growth in commission income.

Looking at the competitive landscape, leading brokerages have firmly maintained their dominant positions. CITIC Securities topped the industry rankings with 562 million yuan in commission income, followed closely by Guotai Haitong with 510 million yuan. The third through sixth positions were secured by GF Securities, Changjiang Securities, Huatai Securities, and Industrial Securities, each exceeding 400 million yuan in commissions, with figures of 509 million, 437 million, 418 million, and 407 million yuan respectively. CSC Financial, Guolian Minsheng, and Shenwan Hongyuan Securities each recorded commission incomes surpassing 300 million yuan.

The competition in the brokerage research sector has become increasingly fierce, with market resources gravitating toward the top firms. According to data compilation, the top 20 brokerages collectively earned 6.434 billion yuan in commissions during the first half, accounting for 74% of the entire industry's market share. CITIC Securities commanded a 6.44% share of sub-brokerage seats, while Guotai Haitong held 5.84%, and both GF Securities and Changjiang Securities maintained shares above 5%.

Against this backdrop of industry transformation, differentiation and specialization have emerged as key strategies for breakthrough. Industrial Securities, Guolian Minsheng, and Sinolink Securities have leveraged their advantages in specialized tracks to secure positions within the top ten. A research executive from Guolian Minsheng noted that the firm's research business has entered a new stage of quality enhancement and efficiency improvement. Following integration, the company successfully restructured its dual research systems, achieving complementary strengths while maintaining a highly stable core team and seamless continuity in key research areas. This has not only safeguarded the fundamental research business but also elevated overall capabilities through resource consolidation and mechanism optimization.

As the transformation of sell-side research continues, many brokerages have achieved rapid commission growth through upgraded research capabilities and service model iterations. Within the first tier, Sinolink Securities, Industrial Securities, CSC Financial, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, and GF Securities all recorded year-on-year growth rates exceeding 100%, with figures of 181.14%, 158.67%, 122.71%, 121.25%, and 103.34% respectively. A research representative from Shenwan Hongyuan attributed the substantial increase in commission income to the proactive advancement of a trinity model integrating investment research, industry research, and policy research, which has created a differentiated competitive advantage through organic coordination and mutual support.

The mid-tier brokerages have also produced notable high-growth examples. East Money Securities saw its commission income surge by 277.45% to 126 million yuan, climbing to the 24th position in industry rankings. Huayuan Securities achieved a 260.81% increase to 174 million yuan, advancing to the 22nd spot. Huafu Securities recorded a 118.05% growth to 189 million yuan, successfully entering the top 20 at the 19th position. A research executive from Huafu Securities explained that the firm's research institute has been advancing business development through five strategic pillars: anchoring on major clients, strengthening high-caliber talent, enhancing assessment transparency, empowering precise sales, and facilitating collaborative synergy. The company has also been expanding its research and sales teams, broadening industry research coverage, and refining research output quality to build differentiated service capabilities in the increasingly competitive sell-side arena.

Within the ongoing industry transformation, sell-side research is accelerating its shift toward in-depth research, industry chain analysis, and long-term trend studies, with research value extending from short-term stock recommendations to medium and long-term asset allocation services. Major brokerages are exploring transformation paths aligned with their respective resource endowments. Leading firms are intensifying their comprehensive capability building, with CITIC Securities deepening its integrated domestic and international operations to consolidate its leading position and facilitate efficient bidirectional conversion of research products and services. Guotai Haitong is solidifying its "one institute, one academy" research framework combining the research institute with policy and industry research, promoting integrated overseas and domestic research operations. Huatai Securities is driving research business model transformation through AI, focusing on top institutional clients and optimizing research team and resource allocation.

Mid-tier brokerages are concentrating on collaborative empowerment and breaking down barriers between research and other business segments. Industrial Securities is deeply implementing its "investment banking plus research" model to achieve value conversion through primary and secondary market linkage. Tianfeng Securities is anchoring its strategy on industry chain research as the core focus. Huaxi Securities is moving beyond the traditional model of serving only financial institutions, establishing bidirectional synergy that supports internal business decision-making, empowers corporate development, and serves external institutional clients.

The transformation path for brokerage research institutes is becoming increasingly clear, with industry competition driving them to enhance their research pricing capabilities and industry empowerment levels. Industry analysts suggest that brokerage research operations need to accelerate their strategic repositioning from sell-side services to high-end think tanks. The traditional profit model reliant on trading commissions has hit its growth ceiling, and research institutions should proactively serve national strategies, focus on emerging productive forces and future industries, and deliver high-quality policy analysis and industry planning to unlock diversified value realization pathways.