Farewell to "Steady Happiness," Bank Wealth Management Products' "Returns" Reduced

Recently, the performance comparison benchmarks for wealth management products are undergoing intensive adjustments.

As of March 24 at 17:00, Postal Savings Bank Wealth Management announced 14 adjustments to performance comparison benchmarks on that day, with varying degrees of downward adjustments to the performance comparison benchmarks of corresponding products.

According to finance media analysis, as of March 24, since the beginning of this year, multiple wealth management companies, including Postal Savings Bank Wealth Management, Agricultural Bank Wealth Management, China Merchants Bank Wealth Management, Everbright Wealth Management, and Hengfeng Wealth Management, have issued announcements adjusting the performance comparison benchmarks for some wealth management products. The adjustments mainly focus on two aspects: first, lowering the performance comparison benchmarks; second, adjusting the original fixed values or ranges to be linked to indicators such as the “CSI 300 Index return” and “deposit interest rates.”

Postal Savings Bank Wealth Management emphasized in its announcement that the performance comparison benchmark is not the expected return rate. Rather, it is the investment target set by the institution based on product nature, investment strategy, past experience, and other factors. It does not represent the future performance of the product or actual returns and does not constitute a commitment to product returns.

For example, the announcement for the “Postal Savings Bank Wealth Management Hongjin Shortest Holding 365 Days No. 9 (Xinyi) RMB Wealth Management Product” shows that, based on current market environment changes, starting from March 27, 2026, the performance comparison benchmark for all share classes of this product will be adjusted from 2.15% to 3.60% (annualized) to 1.2% to 2.6% (annualized).

Additionally, the previously released announcement for the “Postal Savings Bank Wealth Management Youyin Wealth · Hongyuan Shortest Holding 180 Days No. 1 (Value Advantage) RMB Wealth Management Product” indicates that the yield on 10-year government bonds has fallen to a low of 1.8%, and the stock market has also reached a relatively higher position after a previous rebound. Based on current market conditions, starting from March 20, 2026, the performance comparison benchmark for all share classes of this product will be adjusted from 2.5% to 4.8% (annualized) to the CSI 300 Index return * 15.00% + the one-year fixed deposit rate published by the People’s Bank of China (whole deposit) * 85.00%.

Regarding the reasons for adjusting the performance comparison benchmarks, Gao Chengfei, Deputy Director of the Brand and IP Committee at the Influence Research Institute, told finance media that “traditional fixed-value benchmarks are facing compliance pressure due to frequent revisions,” and the shift in pricing strategy for wealth management products to “index anchors” is an inevitable result of regulatory constraints and market environment resonance.

At the market level, “the yield center is shifting downward” is a long-term trend. Against the backdrop of continuously declining risk-free interest rates, the overall yield level of wealth management products continues to decrease. According to the “Annual Report on China’s Banking Wealth Management Market (2025)” published by the Banking Wealth Management Registration and Custody Center, the average yield of wealth management products in 2025 is expected to be 1.98% (the average yield is the arithmetic average of monthly yields during the statistical period), setting a historical low.

Data from Puyin Standards shows that as of the end of February 2026, the annualized yield of cash management products for the past month is 1.25%, a slight decline from the previous month; the overall average annualized yield of fixed-income products for the past month is 2.16%, a decrease of 146 basis points; the average annualized yields for mixed products and equity products for the past month are 1.30% and 5.83%, respectively, with overall relatively large declines.

Regulatory constraints further accelerated this adjustment. The “Regulations on Information Disclosure of Asset Management Products by Banking and Insurance Institutions” will officially take effect on September 1, 2026, requiring product managers of asset management products that disclose performance comparison benchmarks to maintain the coherence of the product’s performance comparison benchmark and, in principle, must not adjust the performance comparison benchmark.

In the context of adjustments to performance comparison benchmarks, investors’ understanding of wealth management products also needs to be adjusted accordingly.

Wu Zewei, a special researcher at Suzhou Bank, pointed out to finance media that ordinary investors need to re-establish their understanding of wealth management products, abandoning the habitual thinking of “capital protection and guaranteed returns” and viewing wealth management products as net-value investment tools similar to funds and bonds.

Wu Zewei further stated that in understanding the returns of wealth management products, investors should recognize that the performance comparison benchmark is not a return commitment, but a reference value based on investment strategy and market judgment, and actual returns may be higher or lower than the benchmark. When selecting products, investors should focus on investment strategy, risk level, historical volatility, product duration, and other indicators, instead of merely pursuing high performance comparison benchmarks.

At the same time, investors should also reasonably allocate wealth management products of different durations and risk levels based on their liquidity needs and risk tolerance, avoiding irrational redemptions caused by short-term net value fluctuations. In the long run, accepting net value fluctuations and adhering to long-term investments is an important prerequisite for adapting to the era of net-value-based wealth management.