Brokerage firms ramp up focus on "niche businesses"! The expansion of "primary market maker" roles continues again

Recently, the Shanghai Stock Exchange disclosed core operational data for stock option brokerage business in February to internal securities firm staff, covering key indicators such as trading volume rankings, new client numbers, and market share rankings.

From the document, it is evident that as the stock options market steadily expands, securities firms are accelerating their “land grab” in this niche sector. A new competitive landscape is emerging, characterized by fierce battles among leading firms and distinctive breakthroughs by small and medium-sized brokers.

Leading Firms Seize Market Share

Small and Medium Firms Compete Differently

According to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, in January this year, CITIC Securities, which held a 4.79% market share and topped the stock options brokerage trading volume list, faced a strong challenge in February. Guotai Haitong surpassed it with a 5.19% market share, taking the top spot; CITIC Securities saw its market share slightly increase to 4.97% but fell to second place. Huatai Securities demonstrated strong resilience, maintaining a stable market share of about 3.58% and ranking third.

Unlike the “battle of attrition” among top firms in trading volume, small and medium-sized brokers are choosing differentiated paths, achieving breakthroughs in client acquisition.

Data shows that some small and medium brokers have effectively attracted new investors by focusing on internet client acquisition, regional deepening, and specialized services. Among them, Founder Securities stands out. The company has ranked first for two consecutive months in market share of new clients in stock options brokerage, with a 14.64% share in January and a slight decrease to 14.47% in February, still far ahead of peers. Driven by this, Founder Securities’ total market share of new accounts increased steadily from 6.8% in January to 6.84% in February.

By the end of February, the total number of options investor accounts on the Shanghai market reached 733,600 (including 733,400 brokerage accounts). In February alone, 3,477 new brokerage client accounts were added.

Notably, Founder Securities also performed actively in ETF market-making services, with a total of 465 ETFs market-making in February, including 452 stock ETFs, demonstrating its deep engagement in this area. This performance proves that in the highly specialized options field, small and medium brokers can still build a solid customer base through niche operations and targeted marketing, maintaining a competitive position in the fierce market environment.

Leading Firms Compete for Dominance

“Principal Market Maker” Qualification

Data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange shows that by the end of February 2026, 90 securities firms had obtained trading permissions for stock options brokerage business.

This indicates that most brokers have entered this sector, leading to serious homogenized competition. To compete for limited clients and trading volume, lowering commissions has become the most direct and effective strategy, causing overall industry commission rates to decline.

Industry insiders reveal that the transaction fee for stock options has dropped from over 10 yuan per contract to within 2 yuan, with some brokers offering as low as 1.65 yuan per contract (including the exchange’s basic commission of 1.6 yuan).

Recently, capable brokers have turned their attention to “stock options market-making business.”

According to multiple industry sources, engaging in market-making is a key move for brokers to develop into top-tier investment banks and build competitive advantages. Market-making spreads are an important profit source, helping optimize revenue structures, and allowing brokers to serve institutional clients more deeply, enhancing their comprehensive service capabilities in derivatives.

In fact, since the first 15 brokers began participating in stock options market-making in 2015, only 18 brokers had been approved for this activity as of February 2026.

Recently, Industrial Securities announced it had officially obtained the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s principal market maker qualification for stock options, covering four core options products: SSE 50 ETF options, CSI 500 ETF options, CSI 300 ETF options, and STAR 50 ETF options, successfully joining the ranks of domestic mainstream on-exchange derivatives market makers. With this, the number of brokers involved in stock options market-making increased to 19.

A relevant person from Industrial Securities’ derivatives and trading department stated that obtaining the principal market maker qualification marks a significant upgrade from general market-making to principal market-making, further consolidating its leading position in derivatives services. The principal market maker status not only supports diversification and systematic development of market-making strategies but also entails greater market responsibilities. The firm will continue providing precise, efficient, and stable quotes to support liquidity in the options market.

Industry experts believe that becoming a stock options principal market maker requires not only strong capital reserves but also high levels of pricing ability, risk control, and trading technology. Market-making involves continuously providing bid and ask quotes, which requires holding sufficient underlying assets (ETFs or options contracts) as inventory to manage buy-sell imbalances and meet liquidity needs, occupying significant capital. As brokers increase their investments in options, market-making is becoming a new profit growth point and core competitive advantage after brokerage services in the options market.