The tide is turning! Securities firms are competing fiercely for AI talent, with stark divisions between hot and cold positions

Stock trading relies on Golden Kylin Analysts’ reports—authoritative, professional, timely, comprehensive—helping you discover potential thematic opportunities!

【Introduction】Spring recruitment season is in full swing, with brokerages ramping up AI talent recruitment

China Fund Reporter Sun Yue Intern Fang Yang

Spring recruitment is here! As campus finance job fairs heat up, a new wave of spring hiring by brokerages has begun.

According to incomplete statistics, dozens of brokerages including Shenwan Hongyuan, Guotai Haitong Securities, and Eastmoney Securities are gradually opening their 2026 spring recruitment. From the positions already available, demand for brokerage talent shows a “two extremes” trend.

On one hand, as wealth management transformation deepens and the market recovers, demand for investment advisory and financial technology talent is surging, with AI capabilities becoming a “hard currency”; on the other hand, positions in investment banking, research institutes, and related areas continue to shrink.

(Financial industry talent spring campus recruitment event, shot by intern Fang Yang)

Financial Technology Positions Remain Hot: Clear Focus on AI

Financial technology roles have been a spring recruitment hotspot for years, and the 2026 keywords clearly point to artificial intelligence.

Huatai Securities has a dedicated fintech session for spring recruitment, focusing on software development, algorithm engineering, AI application development, and similar roles. Candidates are expected to have a foundation in machine learning and deep learning, along with financial business understanding to build algorithms suitable for research, trading, and other applications.

GF Securities also held a special recruitment session for financial technology talent, covering roles from front-end product design to back-end technical operations, including product managers, backend developers, algorithm developers, front-end developers, terminal developers, data specialists, testers, operations, DBAs, security management, and project management—11 positions in total.

Eastmoney Securities launched the “Management Trainee Star” and “Tech Innovator” programs, targeting fintech talent, with roles in AI data analysis and AI internet products. These positions require mastery of large model techniques, Python programming, and other core skills.

Across the industry, leading brokerages generally require technical candidates to be proficient in programming languages such as Python, Java, C++, and familiar with financial database operations. Some roles also specify experience in large model tuning and intelligent agent development. Candidates with dual backgrounds in computer science and finance are preferred.

The brokerage industry’s strong demand for fintech talent reflects profound industry transformation and reshaping of competitive dynamics. A mid-sized brokerage IT department head in Shanghai told reporters: “AI investment advisory, intelligent customer service, quantitative trading systems—it’s no longer a question of whether to adopt these technologies, but of falling behind if you don’t. Technical application skills directly impact client acquisition efficiency and operational costs.”

Wealth Management Transformation Deepens, Investment Advisory Demand Rises

Brokerages are continuously deepening their wealth management business transformation, with many making it a core recruitment focus. Eastmoney Securities has a dedicated “Wealth Elite” program, with securities service manager roles in Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanjing, and other cities.

CITIC Securities and CITIC Construction Investment Securities have expanded their wealth management training programs nationwide, with rotations focused on client development, financial product sales, and wealth management services. Huatai Securities and Northeast Securities have also opened over 100 wealth management positions through social recruitment, with increasing talent demand.

The rising need for investment advisory professionals is closely linked to market recovery and increased investor enthusiasm. According to publicly available data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, in 2025, new A-share accounts opened totaled 27.4369 million, up 9.75% from 24.9989 million in 2024. As account openings increase, so does demand for investment advisors.

Notably, wealth management roles are no longer limited to traditional financial consulting. Specialized positions such as fund investment advisory operations, stock investment advisory operations, and private wealth strategy design are emerging, forming a diversified talent pipeline. Shenwan Hongyuan Securities even launched an intelligent marketing role focused on online product operations to expand user base in the public domain, aligning with the development trend of the new media era.

Investment Banking and Research Positions Significantly Shrink

In stark contrast to the hot demand for certain roles, traditional investment banking and basic operations positions continue to contract. There are very few campus recruitment roles in equity investment banking, with only a few brokerages offering roles like bond underwriting assistants through external recruitment.

The trend of shrinking research institute positions is also evident. Not only are campus recruitment roles scarce, but the existing analyst teams are also facing widespread reshuffling.

Data from the China Securities Industry Association shows that the growth trend of securities analysts has reached a turning point in early 2026. As of March 15, the total number of analysts in the industry dropped to 5,917; earlier in 2026, the number was 6,029, a decrease of 112 analysts since the start of the year.

Additionally, the recruitment approach has shifted toward “rolling recruitment + internship retention” as a new model. Some brokerages have eliminated fixed recruitment batches, adopting a rolling process, with some positions directly recruiting through internship-to-full-time channels.

For example, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities launched the “New Shenli Plan” in 2024, an all-year campus recruitment program to reserve young talent. It includes summer internships (early batch for campus recruitment), autumn campus recruitment, and spring campus recruitment, providing continuous recruitment channels. This approach improves recruitment efficiency and better matches talent with roles.

Massive Information, Precise Analysis, Only on Sina Finance APP

Editor: Song Yafang