(Yicai) July 11 -- Investment in China’s personal pension wealth management products, first introduced in February last year, has tripled so far this year from the end of 2023 to CNY4.7 billion (USD646.4 million) as the country’s burgeoning private pension market goes from strength to strength.

There are now 26 private pension wealth management products available on the market in China. They comprise 22 fixed-income products and four hybrid ones and have been issued by six different wealth managers.

This includes three more that were added yesterday in the fifth batch of such products. Wealth management units of Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and Postal Savings Bank of China each added one product, according to the China Wealth website. Two of them are fixed-income products and one is a hybrid product with moderate risks. All three have set minimum holding periods.

The US’ BlackRock and China Construction Bank rolled out their first personal pension wealth management products through a joint venture last September.

Twenty-three wealth management private pension products averaged a rate of return of about 1.09 percent in the last quarter, with the highest rate at 2.24 percent and the lowest at 0.45 percent. Despite fluctuations of different degrees, the 23 products all had a net value above 1.

Over 60 million people have opened personal pension accounts, according to data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security last month. Industry players are paying attention to how to increase the fee payment and investment rates, as more people open such accounts.

Twenty-three commercial banks and 11 wealth managers were the first financial services firms to trial the launch of private pensions across 36 cities at the end of 2022.

There are now 766 different types of pension financial products for investors to choose from, according to the catalogue on the ministry’s website. There are 465 deposit products, 193 fund products, and 82 insurance products and 26 wealth management ones.

Enriching product variety can meet diversified needs and expand the coverage of personal pensions, several experts said. But even more important is to ensure the investment’s return, stability and safety.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor