"After all that intense maneuvering, I only earned an extra 2.5 yuan." This perhaps captures the reality facing today's wealth management "special forces" investors.

The phenomenon of wealth management "special forces" has been hotly discussed in the market recently, with their high-frequency switching between various wealth management products for arbitrage opportunities sparking considerable controversy. However, bank wealth management is fundamentally different from quantitative trading, and individual arbitrage activities not only fail to generate substantial excess returns but also create an exhausting cycle of constant repositioning.

Particularly in recent periods, influenced by factors such as the "stock-bond seesaw," the bond market has fallen into a weak oscillating pattern, affecting wealth management product returns. Many wealth management "special forces" have discovered that returns across their product portfolios have generally declined, leaving them with nowhere to move their funds.

As systematic opportunities diminish, some wealth management "special forces" are beginning to recognize the importance of asset allocation, shifting from single-asset strategies to diversified approaches. Many young investors are exploring new battlegrounds in the "New Three Golds" (money market funds + bond funds + gold ETF funds).

In the low interest rate era, the sense of security is giving way to a desire for growth. Money market funds and bond funds provide relatively stable returns, while gold assets can pursue additional gains. This three-asset combination has become the preferred wealth management choice for many young people today.

**Anxiety Over "Declining Value" Among Wealth Management "Special Forces"**

In the first half of this year, bank deposit interest rates accelerated their decline. As substitutes for deposits, bank wealth management products became popular. Deposit "special forces" who had previously been active across different bank branches shifted to the wealth management market, bringing their consistent arbitrage style: during the deposit era, "special forces" arbitraged between different bank branches; in the wealth management era, they arbitrage between different wealth management products.

Huizi (pseudonym) was once such a wealth management "special force." Whenever she discovered a product showing consecutive "zero returns" or sustained "declining value," she would reposition. "Declining value" refers to when a newly issued wealth management product starts with high returns but gradually decreases after investors purchase it, while "zero returns" means zero income for a particular day - these serve as important signals for "special forces" to reposition.

After operating this way for some time, Huizi carefully calculated her returns and found this approach hadn't brought her excess returns. "For example, with a demand wealth management product, if I subscribe today, returns are only confirmed the day after tomorrow, meaning there are two to three days without returns. If the capital amount is particularly large, the hassle might yield returns greater than costs, but the problem is we're buying wealth management products with tens of thousands of yuan. Even with the highest-yielding products, daily income is just a few yuan, so the back-and-forth switching really isn't necessary," she said.

This confusion isn't unique to Huizi. Recently, in a bank wealth management group with several hundred members, participants engaged in heated discussion about whether "frequent product switching can achieve higher returns." One member commented, "After all that intense maneuvering, I only earned an extra 2.5 yuan."

What most troubles wealth management "special forces" is encountering "wealth management assassins" - products that start high but fall low. "A few months ago, I bought a newly issued demand wealth management product with a first-day annualized return of 15%. It was so hard to get, but recently I noticed the 7-day annualized return had dropped to 2%," one user said. After careful research, they discovered this product's performance benchmark was only 1%-2%.

A bank wealth management manager explained that newly issued wealth management products might allocate some high-yield bonds to attract customers, but as more customers enter and bonds gradually mature, each person's share of the "pie" decreases, causing returns to normalize.

Particularly noteworthy is that since July, influenced by factors such as the "stock-bond seesaw," the bond market has fallen into a weak oscillating pattern. "Wealth management returns overall show a continued downward trend," commented one wealth management blogger when evaluating recent product performance.

Puyi Standard monitoring data shows that in July 2025, 15,406 wealth management products were available in the market, an increase of 612 from the previous month. Among these, 12,751 were open-ended products with an average performance benchmark of 2.27%, down 0.03 percentage points month-over-month; 2,655 were closed-end products with an average performance benchmark of 2.51%, down 0.04 percentage points month-over-month.

One user shared on social media that three fixed-income enhanced products they purchased all showed losses on the same day. "Wealth management products haven't been this bad in years," they said.

Guosheng Securities Chief Macro Fixed Income Analyst Yang Yewei noted in a research report that looking ahead to the second half of the year, with declining underlying bond yields and gradual release of retained earnings, wealth management returns may trend downward. Combined with the gradual maturity of previously allocated relatively high-yield assets, downward pressure on wealth management returns will become more apparent. Additionally, because wealth management products' smoothing valuation methods are constrained, and with the rising proportion of open-ended products increasing exposure to volatility, wealth management net value fluctuations may increase.

**From "Saving Money" to Asset Allocation in the Low Interest Rate Era**

Looking back at the deposit market, there's no going back for a considerable time. According to Rong360 Digital Technology Research Institute data, fixed deposit rates continue declining, with medium and long-term rates entering the "1 era," and 3-month average rates falling below 1%. The latest central bank data shows that in July, household deposits decreased by 1.11 trillion yuan net, 0.8 trillion yuan more than the same period last year, indicating accelerating deposit migration.

"How ordinary people can protect their wallets in the low interest rate era" has become a hot topic. Many are looking to Japan, where an investment model called "Mrs. Watanabe" is becoming popular on social platforms. Japan experienced negative interest rates for eight years, and Japanese "Mrs. Watanabes" created unique investment strategies, investing in overseas markets while maintaining diversified domestic asset allocation.

The "Mrs. Watanabe phenomenon" is now playing out domestically. Single assets represented by savings and wealth management can no longer withstand downward interest rate pressure, making diversified asset allocation increasingly important. Previously, asset allocation was typically a wealth management approach more focused on by high-net-worth individuals, but now, driven by low interest rates, it's gradually entering ordinary households.

The Chinese version of "Mrs. Watanabe" alternative wealth management solutions includes gold, government bonds, high-yield dividend stocks, QDII funds, money market funds, structured deposits, and savings insurance known as "interest rate safe boxes."

"In fact, each type of financial product has its advantages and disadvantages. For ordinary people, the purpose of different asset allocations is to leverage strengths and mitigate weaknesses, achieving overall optimization," said wealth management blogger "Little Latte," a financial industry professional who has been posting about different asset allocations with good response.

Under the influence of asset allocation concepts, a stable wealth management approach called "New Three Golds" has recently become popular on social platforms. The so-called "New Three Golds" refers to the allocation combination of "money market funds + bond funds + gold ETF funds." According to Ant Fortune data, 9.37 million post-90s and post-00s users on Alipay have assembled the "money market funds + bond funds + gold ETF funds" combination.

Different allocation ratios based on the varying return characteristics of money market funds, bond funds, and gold funds can achieve different return models.

A "New Three Golds" wealth management blogger described money market funds as flexible small treasuries, represented by Yu'e Bao, allowing deposits and withdrawals anytime with returns 3-5 times higher than demand deposits, suitable for daily pocket money and emergency reserves. The advantage is virtually zero risk, with allocation ratios between 30%-40%. Bond funds are stable "cash cows," represented by pure bond funds and short-term bond funds, mainly purchasing government bonds and corporate bonds with stable returns, suitable for medium and long-term savings like down payments and travel funds, but noting short-term volatility requires long-term holding, with allocation ratios between 40%-50%. Gold ETF funds are anti-inflation guardians, tracking gold price trends to hedge against currency depreciation, suitable for asset allocation, risk diversification, and long-term inflation protection, noting the need for diversified timing and avoiding chasing highs, with allocation ratios between 10%-20%.

The blogger provided three allocation models: conservative investors can allocate according to money market funds: bond funds: gold ETF funds in a 6:3:1 ratio; steady investors can allocate in a 4:4:2 ratio; aggressive investors can adjust to 3:5:2. The overall principle is adjusting based on individual risk tolerance and investment objectives - those with low risk tolerance can increase money market fund proportions, while those able to bear certain risks can increase bond fund or gold allocation proportions.

Asset allocation can avoid "zero returns" from single assets, achieving daily "egg collection" happiness.

**"New Three Golds" Evolves into Multiple Allocation Methods**

Wealth management professionals calculated that with the same 100,000 yuan, a one-year fixed deposit yields 900 yuan interest, while using the "New Three Golds" method could earn an additional 1,500-3,500 yuan, equivalent to saving for half an iPhone.

Mr. Chen in Shenzhen deposited money in a private bank's 5-year fixed deposit five years ago at 4.8% interest. When it recently matured, he found that 5-year deposits in the market had basically entered the "1 era," with some banks even discontinuing 5-year products. After extensive searching, he also joined the "New Three Golds" team, additionally including some index funds and equity funds, essentially creating a "New Five Golds."

"Currently, the overall return rate is around 5-6%, which I'm very satisfied with," he said.

In fact, "New Three Golds" is a colloquial term by netizens, but its meaning is continuously expanding and evolving. Its core isn't limited to three specific types of financial assets, but emphasizes constructing a wealth management portfolio that balances liquidity, stability, and risk resistance through a basic diversified allocation framework. As market conditions change and investor needs diversify, "New Three Golds" continues evolving in practice.

With recent strong overall stock market performance, the Shanghai Composite Index recently hit a ten-year high, surging above 3,800 points. Gold prices continue high-level oscillation with increased volatility. Many young investors are actively adjusting their original "New Three Golds" structure, replacing gold ETFs with more growth-potential index funds or even active equity funds, forming new allocation combinations.

Wind data shows that among new funds issued in the first half of 2025, index funds led the way, with 363 established in the first half and issuance reaching 182.379 billion shares, accounting for 35% of total new fund scale. The total scale of all listed ETFs reached 4.31 trillion yuan. Latest data shows that in just two days from August 18-19, among approximately 1,100 stock ETFs, 644 achieved scale growth, accounting for nearly 60%, with combined scale increases of nearly 33.6 billion yuan.

As the wealth management "micro-profit era" and net value volatility become normalized, the allocation approach represented by "New Three Golds" is becoming part of the daily wealth management routine for the new generation of young people.