Securities companies race for capital and technology in the AI era

After the Vietnamese stock market was officially upgraded to the “secondary emerging” group by FTSE Russell, the competition between securities companies entered a new phase. A series of businesses are simultaneously increasing capital, investing in technology and applying artificial intelligence (AI) to improve service capacity, meeting international standards of transparency and data security.

Báo Tin Tức•14/10/2025

Photo caption — Customers transact at the headquarters of Bao Viet Securities Company in Hanoi . Photo: Tran Viet/VNA

Digital age investment assistant

AI is gradually changing the face of the securities industry. From an analytical support tool, AI has now become an “investment assistant” helping individual investors make faster and more accurate decisions.

Previously, consulting activities mainly relied on the analysis team. But when the number of F0 investors (new investors entering the market for the first time) increased sharply, the traditional model revealed its limitations: costly human resources, slow response and lack of personalization. Therefore, many securities companies have developed AI chatbots to advise, analyze and automate transactions.

There are currently many AI platforms on the market such as Dolphin AI of MB Securities Joint Stock Company (MBS), Ensa of DNSE Securities Joint Stock Company (DNSE), Map Thong Thai of Techcom Securities Joint Stock Company (TCBS), Ysuri of Yuanta Vietnam Securities Company Limited (Yuanta Vietnam), hiDragon of Dragon Viet Securities Joint Stock Company (VDSC), and recently StockGuru of VPBank Securities Joint Stock Company (VPBankS) - the platform is introduced as the first "investment assistant" in Vietnam applying Agentic AI technology, capable of independent action.

StockGuru processes huge data, fundamental – technical – market sentiment analysis and business valuation. Not only does it answer questions, the system also proactively suggests investment strategies in real time. According to Fintech AI Joint Stock Company – the developer of StockGuru, Agentic AI’s strength lies in its ability to automatically select the appropriate tools and data sources to make useful investment recommendations.

Mr. Pham Van Hai, an investor in Hanoi, said: “AI helps me save time, and at the same time, investment performance improves significantly.”

Among the popular platforms, DNSE’s Ensa is a prime example. It learns user behavior, processes real-time data, and makes personalized recommendations. Ensa also analyzes derivative indicators in seconds, providing objective and accurate results.

In data analysis, AI significantly reduces the time: The system can summarize financial reports in 5 minutes instead of hours of manual reading. Some companies have integrated AI into automated trading, allowing the system to execute buy and sell orders in real time.

DNSE recently launched the AI Order feature, optimizing transaction prices and saving time – the first time AI is integrated directly into the order placement process.

According to Mr. Nguyen The Minh, Director of Analysis of Yuanta Vietnam: “AI is the top keyword, but it is not easy to implement.” Yuanta chose to develop the “core”, focusing on improving AI’s decision-making ability instead of just stopping at the interface. However, for AI to understand the risk appetite of each investor, it requires large data and a long training time.

Mr. Cao Thanh Thanh, Director of Fintech AI Technology, shared at the program “VPBankS Talk 5: Smart investment with AI” that AI can contribute up to 13,000 billion USD to global GDP by 2030 and change 300 million jobs. In the financial sector, AI has become a must-have factor – supporting data analysis, investment decision making and capital portfolio allocation.

However, the biggest challenge remains the quality of input data and investor confidence. If the data is incorrect, the consulting results will be inaccurate; at the same time, many people are still used to interacting with real experts.

Investor Nguyen Ngoc Hung shared: “AI is a good tool but not enough for me to completely trust when making decisions.”

AI is not a “magic wand” to replace humans, but a tool to support faster, more accurate and personalized decision making. In the context of fierce competition, AI is becoming a strategic advantage for securities companies.

Accelerating capital – the foundation for technological innovation

Parallel to the AI race is a strong wave of capital increase to strengthen financial potential and expand investment.

Techcombank Securities Joint Stock Company (TCBS) has just announced its listing on HOSE with the code TCX, marking the largest IPO in the securities industry in 2025. More than 2.3 billion TCX shares will officially trade from October 21, 2025 with a reference price of VND 46,800/share, valued at about VND 110,000 billion. The two major shareholders are Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank ( Techcombank ) (79.82%) and Mr. Nguyen Xuan Minh - Chairman of the Board of Directors (5.34%).

VPS Securities Joint Stock Company (VPS) also plans to IPO a maximum of 202.3 million shares in the period of the fourth quarter of 2025 - the first quarter of 2026, with an offering price not lower than VND22,457/share.

The securities group's Q3/2025 business results increased sharply, demonstrating its solid financial capacity for the new technology investment phase. TCBS achieved a third-quarter after-tax profit of VND1,620 billion, up 85%; the accumulated 9-month profit reached VND4,050 billion, up 31%.

VPBank Securities Joint Stock Company (VPBankS) achieved after-tax profit in the third quarter of VND1,892 billion, 7 times higher than the same period; revenue in the first 9 months of VND5,457 billion, 3 times higher; pre-tax profit of VND3,260 billion, reaching 73% of the yearly plan.

VIX Securities Joint Stock Company (VIX) achieved revenue of VND3,222 billion, nearly 6 times higher; profit after tax of VND2,449 billion, more than 9 times higher, far exceeding the yearly plan.

MB Securities Joint Stock Company (MBS) achieved operating revenue of VND1,162 billion, up 44%; brokerage revenue increased 178%; after-tax profit of VND333 billion, up 86%.

SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) estimated pre-tax profit for the first 9 months at VND4,000 billion, up 34%, completing 94% of the yearly plan. VPS achieved after-tax profit in the third quarter of VND1,079 billion, up 64.5% - the highest level in history.

Profit growth and foreign capital inflows after the upgrade are expected to help securities companies consolidate their positions and have strong resources to invest in infrastructure, technology and AI data, towards international standards on transparency and information security.

AI and capital are becoming two pillars that shape the new development stage of the Vietnamese securities industry – one side is financial capacity, ensuring scale and resilience; the other side is technological capacity, determining the speed and efficiency of service. The combination of large-scale capital increase and extensive AI application not only creates a fierce race between securities companies, but also contributes to bringing the Vietnamese market towards international standards – where technology, data and transparency become the foundation for all smart investment decisions.