"I just received my year-end bonus last week, although it's not a lot, I still want to make money with money. I don't know what to buy in this market environment. I am afraid of losing money in the stock market, funds, and net worth management products. and the large deposit doesn't have enough principal." said Xiao Li, who works for a foreign company in Shanghai.
There are many "workers" who have the same "trouble" as Xiao Li. Since January, many companies have started to distribute year-end bonuses.Banks and bank wealth management companies have launched various products or creative marketing strategies targeting customers' year-end bonuses, joining the "year-end bonus battle".
Exclusive products and creative marketing
Recently, ICBC Wealth Management released a year-end bonus wealth management guide, recommending relevant products to consumers. According to incomplete statistics, a number of banks and bank wealth management companies, such as Bank of Communications, Postal Savings Bank, Tianjin Rural Commercial Bank, and Everbright Wealth Management, have released information on managing year-end bonuses and recommended wealth management products for sale or distribution.
It is found that most of the recommended products by institutions are cash management or fixed-income products, mainly investing in bonds, etc.The products have low risk levels, mainly focusing on medium-low risk (R2) and low risk (R1). As for the term, there are both daily open-end products and mid to long-term products with a term of 3 months to 1 year.
In addition, Ningyin Wealth Management has also launched wealth management products with the word "year-end bonus exclusive" in their names. Currently, there are 4 such products on the China Wealth Management Network, 3 of which are still in existence, and the other is still in the process of raising funds. In terms of time, as early as January 2023, Ningyin Wealth Management launched exclusive year-end bonus wealth management products. Since December 2023, they have continuously launched three more products.
In terms of product performance, according to the data from Ningyin Wealth Management, the net asset value of the year-end bonus exclusive wealth management product launched by the company in January 2023 is still above 1. As of January 10th, the net asset value per share is 1.04, and the annualized rate of return (compared to the establishment date) is 4.4297%.
Banks have also launched exclusive year-end bonus products. For example, Tianjin Rural Commercial Bank stated that the year-end bonus series of exclusive products will be released from January to March this year, with nearly 20 exclusive wealth management products, and the term is moderate with low risk.
Catching the hot trend of precious metals consumption
In addition to launching exclusive products, banks have also targeted year-end bonus customers by capitalizing on the trend of gold, through precious metals business.
A variety of precious metals products such as Dragon Year gold bars, gold medals, gold coins, and lucky charm beads have been recommended by many customer managers. Many banks have launched gold-related marketing activities, targeted gold business advertisements, offering discounts per gram, drawing discounts, and distributing coupons for the purchase of gold commemorative banknotes and stamps.
"After working hard all year, what should I buy to reward myself? Gold products are a good choice!" said an employee of a state-owned bank. The bank is currently carrying out the "Happy Gold Accumulation, Enjoy Non-stop Gold Fortune" activity, participating in the Happy Gold Accumulation activity, and purchasing designated products can receive gold coupons.
Recently, China Construction Bank Guangdong Branch also launched a gold festival in 20 cities in Guangdong Province, promoting "CCB Gold" zodiac series products, Panda gold coins, and "Great Rivers and Mountains" products.
The precious metals business of banks has become one of the ways for many young consumers to manage their year-end bonuses.
A white-collar worker in Beijing, Ms. Chen, said, "I just received tens of thousands of yuan in year-end bonuses a few days ago. I bought 5 20g auspicious gold bars. I bought and accumulated precious metals in the bank's app, and then went to the bank to collect the physical gold bars after 3 days."
There are also banks' wealth management companies that have launched gold wealth management products. A certain R3-level gold wealth management product under CMB Wealth Management is about to enter the subscription period and has been recommended by several wealth managers.
"Gold asset management products, including gold ETFs, funds or wealth management products that have allocated gold, are also types of gold investment targets that ordinary investors can easily access. Such products usually have the advantages of convenient and fast trading, low management costs, and professional asset allocation by professional managers. For investors who are interested in gold investment but don't have too much confidence, gold asset management products can help solve timing and other issues," said an industry insider.
Diversified investment with balanced allocation
With various marketing strategies by institutions, do investors buy them? Judging from the current situation, investors have different attitudes.
"Actually, I don't pay much attention to these recommendations. When I buy wealth management products, I directly consult with the customer manager. In the past few years, I have been seeking stability, so I am more interested in products like increasing life expectancy, large deposits, etc. The returns of cash management products and these wealth management products are not much different, and cash management products are more convenient for deposits and withdrawals," said an investor frankly.
"You can reserve some money from the year-end bonus for expenses that may arise at any time; for idle funds, let wealth management help you." a customer manager from China Construction Bank suggested that the reserved money can be used to purchase multiple wealth management products with fast redemption functions. This way, the arrangement is flexible, enjoying returns, and without affecting usability. Regarding wealth management, conservative investors can choose large deposits and other fixed-term deposit products or savings treasury bonds; stable and balanced investors can choose "fixed-income+" funds. From historical data, holding these funds for a long term can achieve good returns.
