QDII wealth management products are favored and the number of issuances reached a new high during the year

China Fund News reporter Li Shuchao Zhang Ling

Since the beginning of this year, under the active layout of wealth management companies, the QDII wealth management market has expanded significantly. According to the data, the number of QDII wealth management products issued in the first six months of this year has exceeded the data of the whole year of 2023 and hit a new high in the past five years.

A number of industry insiders said that in the case of low interest rates in the mainland and high interest rates abroad, QDII wealth management products have attracted widespread attention due to their high investment returns. However, while QDII wealth management products help investors increase their returns, they also face many potential risks, and investors still need to be cautious when deploying.

QDII wealth management products in the first half of the year

The number of issuances reached a new high

Since the beginning of this year, while public QDII funds have been favored by funds and have frequently experienced premiums, QDII wealth management products have also attracted continuous attention with good returns, and wealth management companies have been enthusiastic about the layout of QDII products.

From the perspective of investment income, according to the calculation of Wisdom Xinhong Wealth Management Research Institute, if according to the statistics of sub-shares, the average annualized rate of return of QDII wealth management products during the year reached 3.78%; According to the statistics of the registration code, the average annualized rate of return of QDII wealth management products during the year reached 3.94%.

In terms of product issuance, China's wealth management network shows that since June, the QDII wealth management products of many companies such as ICBC Wealth Management, CMB Wealth Management, China Post Wealth Management, and Beiyin Wealth Management have been raised, and the investment type is basically fixed income, and the operation mode is basically closed-end net worth, with an investment period of 3~6 months (inclusive), 6~12 months (inclusive), and more than 3 years.

According to the data monitored by Puyi Standard, in the first six months of this year, a total of 634 QDII wealth management products were issued, a year-on-year increase of nearly 180%; The total issuance scale was 34.94 billion yuan, 4.3 times that of the same period last year.

In the long run, since 2019, the number and scale of QDII wealth management products have shown a steady increase year by year, and will hit a new high in 2023, with a total of 581 issued that year, with a new issuance scale of 40.645 billion yuan. In the first six months of this year, the number of new issuances once again set a new record, not only exceeding the data for the whole of 2023, but also hitting a new high in the past five years. The total issuance size also exceeded the data for the whole of 2022 and previous years.

Lou Feipeng, a researcher at the Postal Savings Bank of China, said that QDII wealth management products mainly allocate overseas assets by raising funds from domestic investors, and the layout of such products will help bring higher returns to investors when the mainland is in a low interest rate and foreign interest rates are high.

"With the growth and accumulation of national wealth and the two-way opening up of the financial industry, the demand for global asset allocation has increased among some residents." Zhou Maohua, a macro researcher at the financial market department of Everbright Bank, believes that QDII wealth management products are easy to operate and rich in investment varieties, which provides convenience for domestic residents to allocate overseas financial assets and manage risks.

At the same time, in recent years, advanced economies have continued to raise interest rates and interest rate differentials between China and the United States have remained high, which has also attracted the attention of some domestic investors. Zhou Maohua believes that some financial institutions rely on their own resource advantages to actively expand international business, which is also an effective attempt to "open up another track" and tap market potential.

Wisdom Xinhong Financial Research Institute said that under the influence of factors such as the economic cycle and the movement of the financial cycle, the U.S. stock market has risen better; At the same time, U.S. Treasury yields are running at high levels, and a potential rate cut could also help increase capital gains on U.S. Treasuries. Based on the above two underlying assets, QDII wealth management products invested in the United States during the year were favored by investors, and wealth management companies also actively deployed.

There is more room for development

Caution is still needed in investing

Interviewees all believe that while QDII wealth management products help investors increase investment returns, they also face many potential risks.

"The funds raised by QDII wealth management products are allocated in many countries or regions, which helps to diversify risks and improve returns." Lou Feipeng said that due to the time difference, the transaction time is different in different places, and the purchase or redemption of products may take longer, and at the same time, it may also face exchange rate risks.

Zhou Maohua believes that QDII wealth management products have rich investment varieties and flexible investment. However, due to the global allocation, the corresponding asset prices are affected by many factors and fluctuate greatly, which requires high professional level and risk tolerance of investors, in addition, they also need to bear a lot of transaction costs.

Although the number of QDII wealth management products issued has grown rapidly in recent years, due to quota restrictions, the industry generally believes that although there is a large space for development of QDII wealth management products, the overall scale may have an upper limit.

Wisdom Xinhong Wealth Management Research Institute said that due to the requirements of foreign exchange management, the number and scale of follow-up QDII wealth management products will increase limitedly, and it is expected to continue to operate at a high level.

"As a type of wealth management product, the existence of QDII wealth management products can help enrich investors' choices, but the overall scale may be relatively limited." Lou Feipeng said.

According to data disclosed by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, as of the end of June this year, the total amount of QDII investment approved by banking institutions was US$27.58 billion. However, in May this year, CMB Wealth Management, Bank of China Wealth Management, Everbright Wealth Management, HSBC (China) and many other companies were approved for new quotas.

"From the perspective of domestic residents' wealth growth and market demand potential, QDII wealth management products have more room for development." Zhou Maohua pointed out that the allocation demand for overseas wealth management products is affected by the performance of overseas asset investment income, the operational capacity of relevant financial institutions, and the foreign exchange purchase quota policy of domestic institutions. At present, the valuation of overseas assets is generally expensive, and the uncertainty of the economic policy outlook is high, which may affect the demand for related products.

Zhou Maohua also said that at present, there are big differences in QDII wealth management products, and investors need to pay attention to the stability of income in addition to the level of income; At the same time, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the attributes, trading rules and risks of relevant cross-border investment and wealth management products, and invest rationally according to their own cross-border investment professional capabilities, investment objectives and risk tolerance.

"At present, the valuation of overseas financial assets is generally high, the economic and policy outlook is uncertain, and the market volatility will be relatively large, so investors need to guard against potential risks." Zhou Maohua reminded.

Wisdom Xinhong Wealth Management Research Institute suggests that three elements should be studied before investing in fixed-income QDII wealth management products: one is duration, the second is the lock and proportion of foreign exchange, and the third is the country distribution.

"Investors can reasonably allocate QDII wealth management products according to their own situation, on the basis of consulting professionals from financial institutions and having a full understanding of the products." Lou Feipeng said.