HONG KONG, July 23, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - In the small and medium-sized brokerage sector of Hong Kong stocks, where does the competitiveness of CMBC Capital (1141.HK) truly lie? The answer is not in the label of "bank-affiliated," but in its ability to transform license capabilities, shareholder resources, and professional teams into executable project delivery capabilities. Although CMBC Capital currently has a market capitalization of only HK$5 billion, its historical peak market cap once reached HK$30 billion, making it a veritable giant.

License Dimension: Scarce Full-Chain Service Capability

CMBC Capital holds Type 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9 regulated activity licenses, covering the complete chain from securities trading, futures, advisory, corporate finance to asset management. This means it can meet corporate clients’ cross-border capital needs in a one-stop manner: from offshore bond issuance, Hong Kong IPO sponsorship, M&A financial advisory, to post-listing investor relations, asset management, and wealth management. Such a full-license combination is rare among Hong Kong’s small and mid-sized investment banks, as most peers can only focus on 1-2 niche areas.

Investment Banking: Leading Position in Offshore Bond Underwriting

In 2025, CMBC Capital completed 295 bond underwriting deals with a total scale exceeding US$60.5 billion, and won multiple prestigious awards at the year-end, including DMI’s "2025 Industry Influential Underwriting Institution", Senpu’s "2025 Best Underwriting Team for Chinese Offshore Bonds", and Duration Finance’s "2025 Golden Duration Outstanding Underwriter in the Chinese Offshore Bond Market". In the green finance sector, it participated in 97 ESG offshore bond underwriting deals throughout the year, with a total underwriting amount of US$1.23 billion.

Entering 2026, the company continued this momentum: in January, it assisted Hongxing Cold Chain in listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and helped Shandong Development Investment issue US$240 million in sustainable development bonds; in February, CMBC International successfully issued US$300 million in floating-rate notes; in March, it assisted Guangzhou Industrial Investment Fund in issuing RMB 1.733 billion in bonds; in May, it helped Ledong Robot and Tianxing Medical successively list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This project density ranks among the top among small and medium-sized Chinese investment banks.

Asset Management: Dual Enhancement of Scale and Reputation

In 2025, asset management revenue reached HK$166 million, a year-on-year increase of 22.3%, accounting for 35.56% of total revenue, making it the largest source of income. In March 2026, CMBC Asset Management won three awards at the 2026 "Investment Insights & Mandates," further gaining market recognition for its offshore asset management capabilities. The company clearly stated that it will fully leverage the customer and channel advantages of China Minsheng Bank in the domestic market, vigorously promote entrusted asset management business, focus on product net value management, seize the development opportunities of the Greater Bay Area integration and cross-border connectivity, and build a comprehensive and diversified asset management platform.

Business Model: Strategic Choice of an Asset-Light Investment Bank

In the 2025 annual report’s business outlook, the company explicitly stated its goal to "fully develop licensed businesses and build an asset-light investment bank." This is a key strategic signal—it means the company will increasingly rely on fee income rather than proprietary investments, thereby reducing earnings cyclicality and improving ROE quality. Based on 2025 data, the share of commission and fee income has already risen significantly, and the asset-light transformation is underway.

Risk Control: Continuation of Banking-Grade Standards

CMBC Capital clearly states in its official website introduction: "We attach great importance to balancing business development with compliance and risk control, routinely building and optimizing the company’s internal compliance processes, and continuously strengthening the comprehensive risk management system." Amid the market volatility in 2025, the company’s impairment losses were only HK$4.96 million, a significant decrease from HK$18.19 million in 2024, maintaining excellent asset quality. This robust risk control culture is one of the core features distinguishing bank-backed platforms from private investment banks.

In the increasingly competitive landscape of Hong Kong stock investment banking, the ability to consistently secure high-quality projects and seize opportunities in emerging fields (such as digital assets and stablecoin-related businesses) is key to determining the depth of the moat.

The company also demonstrates a clear response strategy in its business outlook: focusing research on key areas such as technology, media, and telecommunications; new energy; high-tech; consumer goods and social services; biomedicine; and M&A; continuously leading bond underwriting projects; steadily advancing foundational wealth management businesses; and driving upgrades in securities operations. This dual-track approach of "stabilizing the base with traditional businesses + capturing growth in emerging fields" is pragmatic.

Overall assessment: CMBC Capital’s business competitiveness can be summarized in sixteen words: "complete licenses, strong synergy, clear transformation, and stable risk control." It has established differentiated advantages in three sub-sectors: offshore bond underwriting, Hong Kong stock sponsorship, and cross-border asset management. However, it still has some distance from being a "leader." For investors, its business value lies not in being "big and comprehensive," but in the scarcity premium of the rare combination of "a Chinese bank-backed platform + Hong Kong full license + light-capital transformation."

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