CFI Financial Group Achieves Record Quarterly Trading Volume of $3.45 Trillion

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the Chinese economy, increasing the wealth of prominent figures in the technology sector. Zhang Yiming, creator of ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has returned to the top of the richest individuals ranking in China, with a fortune valued at $100 billion, which corresponds to approximately R$ 540 billion.

This amount demonstrates a 43% increase compared to the previous year and sets a new record for the country's wealthiest person. The data was presented in the 2026 edition of the annual Hurun Research Institute list, released this Tuesday, the 27th.

According to Rupert Hoogewerf, president of the institute, most of Zhang's fortune growth is directly linked to AI. ByteDance, which also manages the Chinese platform Douyin, has expanded its operations in this segment, highlighting the AI assistant Doubao, ranked by Hurun as the most used in China.

This scenario illustrates how the competition for AI is generating fortunes beyond corporations focused on chips and language models. Companies that already possess large user bases can capitalize on their infrastructure to launch new tools and gain market share.

Despite Zhang Yiming regaining the lead, other notable entrepreneurs are among the top positions. Zhong Shanshan, a bottled water magnate, holds the second position, with an estimated fortune of $61 billion (about R$ 329 billion), representing a 23% decrease in one year.

In third place is Robin Zeng, president of CATL, a manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries, whose fortune was valued at $57.3 billion (approximately R$ 309 billion). Pony Ma, co-founder of Tencent, dropped to fourth place with $51.5 billion (about R$ 278 billion).

Another point of attention was Lei Jun, president of Xiaomi, whose fortune halved, reaching $25.1 billion (about R$ 135 billion), according to the survey.

The variations in the rankings reflect the heterogeneous performance of the industries and sectors where these entrepreneurs operate. While businesses related to AI, chips, and robotics gained strength, consumer sectors and the real estate market registered value losses.

The list also points to the difficulties faced by the Chinese real estate market, which is under pressure due to a persistent crisis for several years, affecting domestic demand. According to Hoogewerf, for the first time since the beginning of the survey, no mainland Chinese property developer is among the top hundred. Names from the real estate sector maintaining positions at the top of the ranking belong to families owning properties in Hong Kong.

Consumption also showed weakness, as consumers are reducing their spending, which makes life difficult for small entrepreneurs, in contrast to companies benefiting from Chinese support for technologies such as AI and electric vehicles.

Despite this uneven landscape, the Chinese economy recorded a 4.5% growth in the third quarter of 2026, compared to the same period last year, driven by exports. The official growth target for the year remains between 4.5% and 5%.

The 2026 edition of the Hurun list identified 1,529 individuals with net worth exceeding 5 billion yuan, equivalent to about $740 million (approximately R$ 4 billion). This number represents a 6.6% increase compared to the previous year and surpasses the previous record set in 2021. The total number of billionaires in dollars reached 1,176, an increase of 155 people in one year, surpassing the quantity recorded in the United States, according to the institute.

The survey considers fortunes estimated up to September 1, 2026, with adjustments made for any significant changes that occurred until the publication date. This study has been conducted annually since 1999 and is in its 28th edition.

Non-banking lender Piramal Finance announced on Monday a significant increase in net profit by 67% compared to the previous year, reaching ₹545 crore for the September quarter. This growth was driven by an increase in core income and improved costs.

The company's core net interest income increased by 35%, amounting to ₹1,530 crore. This resulted from a 24% growth in assets under management and an expansion of the net interest margin to 6.5%. Furthermore, the cost-to-income ratio sharply improved, declining to 52.1% from 61.2% in the reported quarter, which positively impacted the final result.

Managing Director and CEO Jairam Sridharan expressed confidence in the company's unique position in the NBFC sector, noting that it does not see a threat to margins even amid rising interest rates. He stated that the company could increase its NIM by 0.20% over the next year.

Responding to the question of how this is possible despite rate hikes, which increase borrowing costs for NBFCs, Sridharan explained that the recent rating upgrade will help reduce the cost of borrowings over the next two to three years and expand margins.

Sridharan also noted that the growth in assets under management could have been higher, but it was constrained due to high levels of early repayments observed. He reported that about 70% of new loans disbursed were repaid within the quarter. The trend of early repayment is more pronounced in the wholesale client segment, with the real estate sector showing the highest demand for debt early repayment in this segment.

He clarified that the growth in assets under management in the real estate sector during the quarter was about 7%, but could have reached 25% without early repayments. Regarding asset quality, Sridharan emphasized that the company has not faced stress in any segment, despite concerns about the impact of the Middle East crisis on small business lending and the influence of El Niño on the agricultural sector.

Nevertheless, he reiterated that loans issued in South India to IT sector salaried employees continue to show signs of strain, and the company is cautious in issuing such credits. The non-performing asset ratio remained stable at 2.4% as of September 2026.

Meanwhile, the company announced the appointment of former SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara as an independent director for the next five years. Piramal Finance shares closed on the BSE on Monday at ₹1,948.05 per share, down by 0.08%.

The past week proved to be very successful for investors who invested in the stock market. Both the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty demonstrated significant growth. Furthermore, nine out of ten companies in the top 10 Sensex provided substantial profits to their shareholders, earning a total of 3.65 lakh crore rupees in just five trading days. Among these companies were both Tata Group's TCS and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance company.

Investors who have long faced significant fluctuations in the stock market received tangible benefits last week. Against the backdrop of overall growth, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) showed an increase in the Sensex index by 2256.94 points, which is 3.11%. At the same time, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded a rise in Nifty by 625.7 points, or 2.77%.

An analysis of the list of the ten most valuable companies in the Sensex revealed that Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), and Infosys benefited their investors. The only company from the top 10 Sensex whose investors incurred losses was Larsen & Toubro.

TCS, belonging to the Tata Group, emerged as the leader in terms of profit volume for its investors. The market capitalization of this company increased to 8,91,134.96 crore, and investors who invested in it over five working days earned 1,08,542.63 crore.

Following TCS, the telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel also showed good results. The company's market capitalization grew to 11,88,815.45 crore rupees, bringing investors 61,406.53 crore rupees. Additionally, the market valuation of Infosys increased from 55,893.05 crore to 4,71,409.41 crore rupees.

As for Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, its market capitalization jumped to 16,37,437.19 crore rupees last week. Investors who bought shares of this company earned 53,047.56 crore rupees in five days. The market capitalization of HDFC Bank was also noted to have grown from 32,379.05 crore to 11,22,628.07 crore rupees, while ICICI Bank increased its capitalization by 30,769.95 crore, reaching 10,02,871.44 crore rupees.

Among other profitable companies is Bajaj Finance. Its market capitalization grew by 14,786.65 crore rupees, reaching 6,11,326.72 crore rupees. As for the country's largest insurance company, LIC, its market capitalization increased from 4,933.5 crore to 5,02,204.82 crore. And the country's largest public bank, SBI, increased its market capitalization from 3,323.07 crore to 8,87,722.84 crore rupees.

Despite the overall boom in the stock market, one company from the top 10 Sensex faced losses. This was Larsen & Toubro, whose market value decreased by 9,232.26 crore rupees in five days, falling to 4,99,725.06 crore rupees.

After a significant jump last week, Reliance Industries' dominance remained unchanged in the list of the country's most expensive companies. Mukesh Ambani's company remained at the top in market value among domestic enterprises. It is followed by Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, LIC, Larsen & Toubro, and Infosys.