2026 Investment Advisory Industry Transformation: From 'Traffic Race' to 'Value Return'

With the arrival of the 'May 15' investor protection milestone in 2026, the core issue of investor rights protection in the capital markets has become increasingly tangible within the securities advisory industry.

Amidst the dual waves of stricter regulation and market volatility, the industry is undergoing an evolutionary path of eliminating falsehoods and focusing on quality over quantity.

If the past few years were about the investment advisory industry's 'land grab' fueled by the mobile internet boom, then 2025 was more akin to a 'trial by fire.'

This year, the advisory industry not only witnessed the ups and downs of the capital market but also found a new direction for development through self-renewal: moving from a狂欢 of traffic back to the essence of value.

In 2026, the A-share market showed certain fluctuations and volatilities, with structural divergence in market trends and accelerated sector rotations becoming increasingly prominent, which intensified investors' growing desire for high-quality advisory services when facing complex market conditions.

Although this presents certain market opportunities for the investment advisory industry, it does not mean that all participants will be able to capitalize on this wave of dividends.

In the financial industry, risk control capability has always been the 'ballast stone' determining how far a company can go. Especially in the context where short videos and live streaming are reshaping the investment advisory ecosystem, compliance difficulty has increased exponentially.The moment to test whether an investment advisory firm truly implements 'investor protection in practice' has arrived.。

At this new starting point, only investment advisory firms that can both keenly capture the service dividends brought by technological transformation and maintain a sense of respect for market rules while integrating the protection of investors' legitimate rights throughout the entire service process will be able to stand firm amidst the turbulent currents and achieve long-term growth across cycles.

Rebuild the trust covenant

The A-share market in 2025 is destined to be recorded in the annals of China's capital market history.

The Shanghai Composite Index has surged through multiple key levels, from 3,400 points to 4,000 points, repeatedly setting new decade highs. Market trading sentiment has reached unprecedented levels of activity, with annual turnover historically surpassing the 400 trillion yuan mark.

However, behind the soaring index and record-breaking turnover, the investment advisory industry is facing unprecedented changes and challenges.

On one hand, the booming market has caused a surge in demand for professional services among investors, directly boosting the visibility of advisory services.

On the other hand, the influx of capital has brought increasingly complex market noise. The difficulty in discerning true or false information, mixed-quality analyses, and even extreme statements made just to grab attention have left many investors caught in a 'trust versus risk' dilemma when seeking advice.

This mismatch between supply and demand presents the industry with a shared challenge: how to maintain compliance amid the lure of massive traffic and rebuild the trust covenant with investors?

As the industry reaches this critical juncture, regulators have set a clear course for this transformation.

In December last year, CSRC Chairman Wu Qing delivered an important speech titled 'Accelerating the Development of First-Class Investment Banks and Institutions to Better Promote High-Quality Growth of the Capital Market' at the eighth member conference of the Securities Association of China. He emphasized the need to enhance wealth management service capabilities, further strengthen alignment of interests with investors, accelerate the establishment of an evaluation system centered on investor returns, and drive the transformation of brokerage, advisory, and comprehensive wealth management businesses.

This means that past practices relying solely on traffic acquisition, or even skirting regulations to expand client bases, are no longer viable.

This trend has also been deeply observed by sell-side research institutions. In their report, Sun Ting and other non-banking securities analysts at East Wu pointed out that the continuous activity in the capital market in 2025 will further expand the growth potential for the securities investment advisory industry, while normalized stringent regulation is an inevitable requirement to support the industry’s rapid and high-quality development.

In Sun Ting's view, competition within the industry will ultimately return to the essence of 'professional capability' and 'long-term investor trust.' Institutions that can first complete internal governance upgrades and truly establish a service system centered on client interests will gain a more solid competitive advantage in the reshaping of the industry landscape.

Compliance has become a consensus.

If a shift in mindset represents soft power, then hardcore investments in 'technology plus investment research' will be the watershed determining whether advisory firms can break through in the future.

Amid this major transformation, the industry exhibits two clear evolutionary characteristics: the 'technologization' of compliance and the 'intensification' of investment research.

The 'technologization' of compliance primarily arises because traditional manual risk control can no longer keep pace with rapid market changes given the vast amount of service demands and complex market environments.

In recent years, leading institutions in the industry have started to widely use AI technology to reshape business processes.

For example, some brokers have adopted a deep integration approach of 'business scenarios + data governance + algorithm models' to provide digital support for actual risk control needs.

Third-party advisory institutions represented by JF Investment Advisory have built risk defense systems through tools like the 'AI Monitoring Officer' and 'AI Patrol Officer.' For instance, the AI Monitoring Officer achieves full-dimensional traceability of behavioral data through multi-channel coverage and multi-format support, and uses contextual semantic understanding to predict violations and risk events in advance, enhancing the ability for 'preemptive prevention.'

From using AI systems to track every aspect of daily operations in real-time to intelligently identifying potential compliance risks, technology is ensuring that risks across the entire process remain controllable.

This is not just a simple digital transformation, but rather the deep integration of compliance and risk control into business scenarios. By adopting a more transparent, prudent, and controllable service mechanism, the protection of investors' rights is moved to the forefront at every critical stage, instead of waiting for risks to occur before taking remedial actions.

The 'intensification' of investment research adapts to the current trend of the information explosion era.

With AI technology advancing rapidly today, the cost of information production has been infinitely reduced. A deluge of research reports, endless opinions, and round-the-clock updates are bombarding investors’ mobile screens indiscriminately.

For many investors, what they lack is not information but the ability to extract key insights from the noise, which forces investment research services to evolve towards 'intensification.'

In this algorithm-driven 'fast' era, only in-depth research that takes the time for 'slow' efforts can cut through the fog of data and truly provide investors with valuable research reports.

The source of such depth lies precisely in what seems to be the most rudimentary on-site investigation.

On the investment research front, JiuFang ZhiTou's JiuFang Financial Research Institute has demonstrated its commitment to 'heavy investment,' relying on a pyramid-style team consisting of 'one chief economist + four chief experts + eight super IPs + over a hundred professionals' to comprehensively explore research depth.

In 2025, the JiuFang Financial Research Institute organized over 300 field investigations, thoroughly covering more than a hundred listed companies. Through solid on-site research, it delivered first-hand industry information to investors, truly fulfilling the industry’s commitment to shift from quantity to quality.

In 2026, this dedication to frontline exploration became even stronger. In April this year, while the market was broadly focused on discussions about AI concepts, JiuFang ZhiTou sent a star observation team to the China Electronics Information Expo site without delay. Through in-depth research, they captured cutting-edge technology trends and built a professional bridge between AI industry progress and rational understanding for investors.

This observation team came from JiuFang ZhiTou's 'Stock Path Navigation' star team.

As a representative educational service product in the securities investment advisory track, 'Stock Mastery' not only includes premium courses from leading experts but also provides smart investment tools and real-time companion services throughout the trading day. The goal is to substantially enhance investors' market cognition through daily interactions.

In terms of investment style, 'Stock Mastery' advocates the balanced allocation principle of 'not putting all eggs in one basket,' and emphasizes 'risk control above all' and 'respect for the market' as key investment philosophies imparted to investors.

This service model that helps investors adopt institutional thinking and cultivate disciplined trading habits serves as a vivid example of the advisory industry's shift from traffic monetization to a return to professional value.

Letting data speak and logic drive decisions, rather than emotional manipulation, is becoming the new norm in the industry.

For the investment advisory industry, 2025 will be a year of divergence and also a year of rebirth.

By 2026, when the tide recedes and the noise fades, what will remain are institutions that have deeply ingrained 'compliance' and regard 'professionalism' as their guiding belief. This evolution from competing for traffic to returning to value is not only the industry's self-renewal but also an essential step towards the maturation of China's capital markets.

On a deeper level, investor rights protection has long become the cornerstone of survival for the advisory industry. Only by integrating the protection of investors' legitimate rights throughout the entire service process and truly responding to investor trust with professional competence can the advisory sector reshape itself amid a return to value and move towards a more sustainable future.

*The above content does not constitute investment advice and does not represent the views of the publishing platform. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article align with their specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. The market involves risks, and investments should be made with caution. Independent judgment and decision-making are required.

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