The public appearance of Liu Qiuming in his role as president of Everbright Securities was last seen during the company's 2026 interim results meeting. On August 20, the securities firm held its performance briefing, and Liu attended as the head of operations but remained silent throughout the session. Chairman Zhao Ling was the one responding to investor inquiries during the event.

Currently, Liu Qiuming has resigned from his positions as executive director, member of the board's strategy and sustainable development committee, and president due to the expiration of his term. Following his resignation, Liu no longer serves as the company's legal representative. Based on the 2025 annual report of Everbright Securities Company Limited (SSE: 601788), Liu's original term was scheduled to end in May 2027.

The presidential seat at Everbright Securities is now vacant. Fortunately, Zhao Ling possesses sufficient capability to shoulder the responsibilities of driving the company's growth and operations. In recent times, Zhao has been more visible publicly compared to Liu, making more appearances and statements. For instance, on September 6, at the 2026 Xiamen Science and Technology Industry and Securities Development Conference and the Jinyuan Group Cup Gold Bull Awards ceremony held in Fujian's Xiamen, Zhao delivered a keynote speech emphasizing the need to inject more innovative development energy into the industrial upgrading of Xiamen and the nation as a whole.

Everbright Securities has already arranged a series of measures to ensure a smooth transition in management. Liu Qiuming joined Everbright Securities earlier than Zhao Ling. He previously held positions at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities, UBS Securities, Ping An Group, Ping An Securities, and CMB International Capital, and assumed the role of president at Everbright Securities in March 2020. During his tenure, Liu briefly acted as chairman during a period of management turbulence to maintain company operations. Zhao Ling, on the other hand, had a prior career at China Everbright Bank before being transferred to serve as chairman of Everbright Securities in May 2022.

Since taking office, Zhao has focused on restoring corporate governance order, reshaping the risk control culture, and spearheading strategic initiatives. Over the past few years, Zhao and Liu worked in harmony, pulling Everbright Securities out of the shadow of significant historical events, restoring profitability, and pushing the asset scale beyond the 300 billion yuan mark. As of June 30, 2026, the total assets of Everbright Securities reached 350.5 billion yuan, an increase of 32.4 billion yuan from the beginning of the year, representing a growth rate of 10.18%.

Now, Everbright Securities is entering a new phase requiring fresh changes to stimulate further development. The vacant presidential position, while potentially causing short-term management fluctuations, also signifies greater possibilities for the future. There remain several areas in which Everbright Securities needs to improve its performance. In the first half of 2026, the company achieved operating revenue of 6.056 billion yuan, up 18.17% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.229 billion yuan, up 32.45% year-on-year.

Looking at it by business segment, the growth was primarily driven by the wealth management business and institutional client business. During the period, the wealth management business of Everbright Securities generated revenue of 3.45 billion yuan, a 30% increase, accounting for 57% of total revenue. The institutional client business cluster brought in 850 million yuan, up 48% year-on-year, representing 14% of revenue. Asset management business revenue reached 577 million yuan, up 2% year-on-year.

However, corporate financing business revenue fell 25% to 286 million yuan, and investment trading business revenue decreased 3% to 600 million yuan. Even the equity investment business posted a loss, with revenue of -218 million yuan in the first half of 2026 and a gross margin of -140%. It is worth noting that the equity investment business cluster of Everbright Securities includes private equity fund investment and financing operations as well as alternative investment activities. These are primarily conducted through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Everbright Capital and Everbright Development for private equity fund investment and financing, and Everbright Fuzun for proprietary fund alternative investments. From January to June 2026, the net profits of Everbright Capital, Everbright Development, and Everbright Fuzun stood at -57 million yuan, -131 million yuan, and -8 million yuan, respectively.

In the equity investment arena, Everbright Securities has stumbled. Former president Liu Qiuming, who worked at CMB International Capital from 2017 to 2019 focusing on PE, VC, industrial M&A, and fund-of-funds business, did not have much time or energy to devote to equity investment after joining Everbright Securities. To boost profitability, Everbright Securities has made simultaneous adjustments in business investment and staffing networks. In the first half of 2026, operating expenses totaled 3.29 billion yuan, up 7% year-on-year. Among these, business and management fees rose 7% to 3.18 billion yuan, an increase of 200 million yuan.

On a more detailed level, employee costs increased 6.84% to 2.157 billion yuan, fund sales expenses surged 42.21% to 115 million yuan, and marketing, advertising, promotion, and business entertainment expenses grew 31.11% to 54.797 million yuan. This reflects the increased activity and higher input costs in the brokerage and wealth management business of Everbright Securities. In terms of staffing, as of the end of June 2026, the company had 7,729 employees (including 987 brokers), a decrease of 34 from the 7,763 at the end of the previous year. The branch network has also been optimized, with Everbright Securities closing the Meishan Hongxing Road securities sales department and the Shaoxing Keqiao Jinkeqiao Avenue securities sales department.

Meanwhile, compensation for key management personnel at Everbright Securities has been reduced. From January to June 2026, the total remuneration paid to key management was 7.7996 million yuan, down 2.2771 million yuan from 10.0767 million yuan in the same period last year.