Since the turn of the year, market trading activity has surged, prompting brokerages to aggressively ramp up customer acquisition through a variety of strategies, including fee discounts and enhanced services. Amidst the sustained uptick in the equity market, residents' funds are steadily flowing into the market, heralding a dual phase of performance and valuation recovery for brokerages in this new market landscape. Currently, the A-share brokerage index's price-to-book-to-forward-earnings (PBLF) ratio stands at 1.67x, positioning it at the 46th percentile of historical levels. Conversely, the H-share Chinese brokerage index's PBLF ratio is 1.00x, resting at the 76th percentile of historical benchmarks. Against this backdrop, the industry broadly favors the revaluation of the brokerage sector and recommends focusing on the following three categories of companies: firstly, top-tier A-share and H-share brokerages exhibiting stable performance growth with PBLF valuations hovering around the 1-1.1x range; secondly, companies possessing leading edges in wealth management transformation or international business endeavors; and thirdly, mid-sized brokerages characterized by relatively low current valuations.
