Net profit surges by 42%! How did GF Securities achieve both performance and compensation growth?

Questioning AI · How does mixed ownership empower GF Securities’ market flexibility?

Compared to the industry, GF Securities’ senior management compensation ranks among the top, demonstrating the company’s recognition of the value of its core management team.

Produced by | Zhongfang Network

Reviewed by | Li Xiaoyan

As the annual reports of A-share listed brokerages are densely disclosed in 2025, leading brokerages generally show signs of recovery, with GF Securities standing out in revenue and profit growth, becoming a benchmark example in the industry recovery cycle. The annual report shows that the company achieved a total operating income of 35.49B yuan for the year, a year-on-year increase of 34.33%; net profit attributable to the parent was 13.7B yuan, up 42.18%. All main business lines performed well, and amid the wave of increased activity in the capital markets, the company leveraged market-oriented mechanisms and diversified business layouts to achieve high-quality development. As a leading brokerage in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, GF Securities flexibly responds to market changes through the advantages of mixed ownership, while delivering performance, it also motivates the team with a compensation system deeply linked to performance, and simultaneously addresses compliance and business shortcomings, moving steadily toward a new stage of high-quality development.

In 2025, the A-share market will usher in a structural bull market, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 18.41%, and the ChiNext Index surging 49.57%. Market trading enthusiasm remains high, bringing development dividends to the brokerage industry. GF Securities seizes market opportunities, with four major business segments working together to achieve simultaneous growth in revenue and profit. Quarterly, the company’s performance shows steady growth, with the third quarter performing best during market peaks, with quarterly revenue reaching 10.77B yuan and net profit 4.47B yuan; even in the fourth quarter, when the market pulled back, the company still achieved revenue of 9.33B yuan and net profit of 2.77B yuan, demonstrating strong operational resilience.

From a business structure perspective, wealth management, trading and institutional, and investment management have become the “three driving forces” of performance growth, supporting the company’s steady progress. Among them, wealth management revenue of 14.07B yuan remains the largest segment, accounting for nearly 40% of total revenue, up 28.32% year-on-year. The company continues to deepen its transformation into buy-side investment advisory, building a “multi-asset, multi-strategy, all-weather” asset allocation system. By the end of 2025, the scale of financial products distributed through agency sales exceeded 370 billion yuan, up 42.65%; non-monetary public funds remained the industry’s fourth largest; margin financing and securities lending balance reached 138.98B yuan, with market share rising to 5.47%. The team of over 4,800 investment advisors ranks third in the industry, providing solid talent support for the wealth management transformation.

Trading and institutional business has become the fastest-growing core segment, with annual revenue of 11.17B yuan, a year-on-year increase of 60.19%, accounting for over 30% of total revenue. As a primary dealer in over-the-counter derivatives, the market-making business remains among the top tier in the industry. In 2025, the company officially launched market-making for STAR Market and Beijing Stock Exchange stocks, covering over 1,100 funds and all ETF options, while also making comprehensive efforts in equity investment, fixed income trading, and equity derivatives, significantly enhancing institutional service capabilities. Investment management revenue reached 9.24B yuan, up 21.63% year-on-year, with GF Fund and E Fund performing notably. Excluding money market funds, the public fund scale reached 1.01516 trillion yuan and 1.81786 trillion yuan respectively, ranking third and first in the industry, with the “twin star” effect continuing to shine.

Behind the significant performance growth is GF Securities’ efficient empowerment through a market-oriented governance mechanism. As a mixed-ownership brokerage without controlling shareholders or actual controllers, its main shareholders include Jilin Aodong, Liaoning Chengda, and Zhongshan Public Utilities. The diversified equity structure ensures flexible and efficient decision-making, with compensation systems deeply tied to performance. In 2025, core executives’ compensation increased in tandem with performance: Chairman Lin Chuanhui’s pre-tax salary was 3.617 million yuan, up 1.02T yuan from the previous year; General Manager Qin Li’s pre-tax salary was 3.5688 million yuan, an increase of 1.4793 million yuan; Vice Presidents Ouyang Xi and Hu Jinqian’s salaries rose to 3.3608 million yuan and 3.1472 million yuan respectively, with increases over 55%. Hu Jinqian’s salary increase of 321.26% exemplifies market-oriented incentive practices.

Compared to the industry, GF Securities’ senior management compensation ranks among the highest, reflecting the company’s recognition of the value of its core management team. Data shows that in 2025, the pre-tax salaries of CITIC Securities’ and China International Capital Corporation’s chairmen were 2.3034 million yuan and 1.82T yuan respectively. GF Securities’ core executives’ compensation fully embodies the market principle of “performance and returns aligned.” The 17 senior executives received a total compensation of 3.62M yuan, a 62.7% increase from 2024, with salary growth roughly synchronized with net profit growth, forming a virtuous cycle of “performance growth—performance-based incentives—efficiency improvement.” Meanwhile, the company remains committed to shareholder returns, planning to distribute 5 yuan per 10 shares in 2025, totaling 1.3M yuan, sharing development achievements with investors.

While performance is surging, GF Securities also faces development challenges, with room for improvement in investment banking and compliance risk control. In 2025, the company’s investment banking revenue was 896 million yuan, up 14.05%, but only accounted for 2.53% of total revenue, the slowest growth among the four major segments and the smallest proportion. During the year, A-share equity financing volume increased significantly, with 296 projects completed and 1.43M yuan raised, up 12.12% and 269.36% respectively. GF Securities only completed 8 A-share equity financing projects with an underwritten amount of 44.04M yuan, holding about 2% market share, lagging behind top-tier brokerages.

In terms of compliance and risk control, the company and its branches received multiple regulatory penalties in 2025, involving investment banking sponsorship, analyst management, and branch compliance. In January, a warning letter was issued due to lapses in North Long Dragon IPO sponsorship review; in August, Shenzhen Stock Exchange publicly reprimanded for inadequate diligence in Meishang Ecology sponsorship; in September, regulators interviewed for spreading false information by analysts; in November, a warning letter was issued for illegal product promotion by Shanghai branch staff. Additionally, the company is involved in multiple lawsuits, with 1,135 unresolved cases and 1,041 cases filed as of the end of 2025, involving approximately 3.91B yuan.

Facing these shortcomings and challenges, GF Securities actively responds and takes corrective actions. The company places compliance and risk control at a strategic level, with the word “compliance” appearing 121 times in the annual report. Chairman Lin Chuanhui explicitly states the operating principle of “stability first, building a solid compliance bottom line; if you can’t see or control it, you can’t develop.” On one hand, the company strengthens its investment banking team, improves full-process project management, enhances due diligence and ongoing supervision, and accelerates the transformation into an “industry investment bank.” On the other hand, it upgrades internal control systems, strengthens personnel management, and optimizes grassroots branch compliance mechanisms, leveraging technology to improve risk identification and prevention. Meanwhile, the company actively advances litigation case handling, consolidates compliance responsibilities, and builds a foundation for steady operation.

2025 is a critical year for deepening reforms in the capital market and the recovery of the brokerage industry. GF Securities demonstrates its comprehensive strength as a leading brokerage through excellent performance, stimulates team vitality with market-oriented mechanisms, and addresses development shortfalls with a pragmatic attitude. Looking ahead, as the registration system continues to be implemented and market activity remains high, the company will leverage its location advantages in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, deepen wealth management transformation, strengthen institutional services, consolidate its leadership in investment management, and accelerate the recovery of investment banking. It will strictly adhere to compliance and risk control, steadily advance high-quality development, and contribute more to the development of the capital market and the real economy.

Personal opinions, for reference only