China Wealth Management Firms Cut Fees to Near Zero as Rate War Intensifies

The shift from sales fees to management fees as the last line of defense is the real story here: once fixed management fees approach zero, wealth managers lose their most stable revenue stream while still absorbing the cost of distribution. This pressures smaller firms that lack scale or differentiated products, and it signals that competition is now purely over existing money rather than new inflows. Whether these cuts stabilize market share or simply compress margins across the industry is the open question, and how sales service fees hold up will reveal where the actual bargaining power sits.