Sales of non-exchange-traded investment products in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region reached an all-time high last year, driven by a record level of market participation with strong demand for fixed-income, currency and commodity (FICC)-related products.

According to the annual joint survey by the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority published on Tuesday, sales of non-exchange-traded investment products surged 63 percent year-on-year to HK$9.9 trillion ($1.27 trillion) in 2025. FICC-related products such as debt securities and money market funds were particularly popular, as they catered to investors’ needs for income-generating assets and liquidity-management solutions amid fast-changing market conditions.

Sales of collective investment schemes (CIS) and structured products rose 85 percent and 53 percent year-on-year respectively, while CIS overtook structured products for the first time as the top-selling product type since 2020.

The number of clients who completed at least one transaction in non-exchange-traded investment products jumped 33 percent to more than 1.6 million, while the number of licensed corporations and registered institutions engaged in investment product sales grew 9 percent to 452. The number of large firms increased 27 percent to 128.

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) — an advisory body for the SAR’s financial services industry — said Hong Kong must evolve from an initial public offering venue into a global capital nexus with interoperability, multi-currency execution capabilities and a multi-asset ecosystem.

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This would accommodate the lifecycle funding needs of companies and the diversified investment needs of global investors, according to an FSDC report titled Hong Kong Capital Market Leadership 2.0: A Shared Action Agenda for Building Hong Kong’s Global Capital Nexus, also released on Tuesday. The report was developed through 30 closed-door roundtables involving more than 600 financial services industry practitioners.

The report envisions Hong Kong as a market where issuers, investors, intermediaries, instruments and infrastructure connect efficiently across borders. Particularly, it suggests Hong Kong develop a full-lifecycle capital formation center anchored by a corporate rescue framework and streamlined follow-on process that can support companies’ refinancing and restructuring needs.

At a news conference on Tuesday, FSDC Vice-Chairman Andrew Weir said: “It is an ongoing journey on the corporate rescue system in Hong Kong. The more that is modernized, the more it is brought into line with other major financial centers that can support Hong Kong’s overall positioning.”

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FSDC Executive Director Rocky Tung Yat-ngok pointed out that economic cycles and market ups and downs are inevitable, with some sectors favored by investors at certain times and choosing to delist at others. “We need to allow and enforce the cycle to be done and carried out more seamlessly,” he said.

The report suggests developing new market indices to better address global investment needs, and strengthen the city’s multi-asset ecosystem. Building a dual- or multi-currency benchmark bond yield curve is essential for enhancing predictability, continuity, and maturity coverage across Hong Kong and renminbi-denominated bonds, it says.

The report also calls for mobilizing patient capital, such as studying the Mandatory Provident Fund’s eligibility to cover alternative investments and infrastructure-related assets; strengthening structured engagement with mainland pension capital regarding international capital deployment through Hong Kong; and exploring the introduction of professional investor participation mechanisms under the MPF system.

“Hong Kong has to recalibrate the Connect programs for the next decade, such as broadening southbound product eligibility under the Wealth Management and ETF Connect programs,” the report says.

On the infrastructure front, developing CMU OmniClear Ltd as a regionally significant international central securities depository, particularly with fixed income and equity custody under unified governance, is essential for evolving a broader multi-asset platform in the special administrative region, it adds.

Contact the writers at oswald@chinadailyhk.com