The Securities and Futures Commission and Hong Kong Monetary Authority published their 2025 joint product survey on 8 September. Responding licensed corporations and registered institutions reported HK$9.9 trillion in non-exchange-traded investment product transactions, up 63% year on year and the highest since the survey began in 2020.
The figure measures sales activity—not net inflows, assets under management or investor profit. For structured and derivative products, transaction amount is the maximum exposure at the point of sale; redemptions, close-outs and rollovers are excluded. The headline therefore should not be read as HK$9.9 trillion of new money.
FICC-related demand powered activity
Demand remained strong for fixed-income, currency and commodity-related products, including money-market and bond funds, debt securities, currency- and commodity-linked structured products and currency swaps.
Collective investment scheme sales rose 85% to HK$4.1 trillion and became the largest category. Money-market funds represented 88% of the top-five CIS sales reported by large firms. Structured-product sales climbed 53% to HK$3.9 trillion, while debt securities reached HK$929 billion—slightly lower than 2024 but 43% above 2022.
The survey expressly excludes leveraged foreign exchange products that are not structured products, paper-gold schemes, ETFs, futures and listed securities. Its findings illuminate FICC-related distribution by licensed intermediaries, but they are not a measure of the entire retail FX, spot-gold or exchange-traded market.
Participation and digital distribution broadened
The number of firms selling covered products increased 9% to 452, while clients completing at least one transaction rose 33% to more than 1.6 million. Distribution staff reached 20,126.
Online channels accounted for 21% of transaction activity, up from 17% in 2024. The number of firms distributing online increased 17% to 122. CIS made up 84% of online sales, and 83% of CIS investors transacted through online platforms.
Lower purchase friction does not simplify product risk. For currency- or commodity-linked structures, digital journeys still need to explain triggers, tenor, early termination, issuer credit risk and stressed-market outcomes clearly.
Concentration and suitability remain central
The top 20 firms generated HK$7.6 trillion, or 77% of aggregate transactions. Seventy per cent of the total related to products not authorised by the SFC. Such products cannot be marketed to the public, but may be privately placed, offered to professional investors or sold where an exemption applies. “Non-authorised” does not automatically mean unlawful or poor quality, but it does mean the product may not receive the same public-offer oversight.
For intermediaries, volume growth increases the importance of client classification, product due diligence, suitability, conflicts disclosure, digital risk presentation and auditable sales records.
TraderVote view
The deeper signal is a simultaneous shift toward FICC allocation and digital wealth distribution. Product count and sales scale show activity, not service quality. Investors should identify the exact legal form, issuer, distributor, SFC authorisation status, maximum loss, liquidity, fees and trigger conditions before treating an online product as straightforward.
Future monitoring should focus on complaint trends, how complex risks are presented online, whether concentration among the largest firms rises further, and whether regulators launch additional reviews of structured or non-authorised product distribution.
Sources
SFC and HKMA joint survey, published 8 September 2026, accessed 9 September 2026: https://www.sfc.hk/-/media/EN/files/COM/Reports-and-surveys/2025-SFC-HKMA-Joint-Product-Survey-Report_Eng.pdf?hash=2D2C02D63E19C99BA6602AFE9D09B266&rev=e62f6b1dfcb24d7d97eba39f14673703
SFC periodic reports and surveys index, updated 8 September 2026, accessed 9 September 2026: https://www.sfc.hk/en/Published-resources/Reports-and-surveys/Periodic-reports-and-surveys
Mondo Visione industry report, published 8 September 2026, accessed 9 September 2026: https://mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/record-year-for-investment-product-sales-in-hong-kong-with-robust-demand-for-ficc/
Written independently by Hengyuan from public materials. This article is not investment advice.
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