Increased capital inflows: what signals do newly issued funds convey?

At the beginning of the second quarter, the public fund issuance market continued to stay hot. According to Wind data, on the first trading day after the holiday (April 7), a total of 27 funds across the whole market started their issuance. Extending the view to the entire month of April, the number of funds with scheduled issuance dates currently stands at 87.

So far this year, as of April 5, there were nearly 390 newly established funds, with total issuance volume of 325.858 billion fund units; the number of issuance hit a new high for the same period in nearly three years.

The share of equity-focused funds is rising

Looking at the issuance structure of funds that are set to be issued starting April 7, there are 7 actively managed equity funds (inclining to stock/balanced hybrid funds and stock funds), including E Fund Emerging Industries, Huatai Zijin Harbor Stock Connect Value Selections, and CCB Consumer Select, among others. There are 10 passive index funds, covering multiple sectors such as consumption, technology, energy, and the Stock Connect to Hong Kong. In addition, there are 6 bond funds, with 1 FOF fund and 1 QDII fund each. There are also 2 enhanced index funds.

Looking across the entire month of April, among the funds scheduled to be issued, equity products are also the main force. Among the funds scheduled for issuance in April, there are 23 actively managed equity funds; 2 of them are traditional stock funds, and the remaining 21 are equity-leaning hybrid funds. There are as many as 24 passive index funds, along with 3 enhanced index funds. This reflects that “tool-like,” low-cost investment products are attracting more and more investors.

At the same time, the 23 bond funds scheduled for issuance in April are equal in number to the actively managed equity funds.

FOF fund issuance surges year over year

Notably, FOF fund issuance has clearly accelerated since the beginning of this year.

Data show that as of April 5, there were 53 newly established FOF funds within the year, with issuance volume of 69.049 billion fund units. In the same periods of 2025 and 2024, the number of FOF funds established were 20 and 18, and the issuance volumes were 23.031 billion fund units and 4.418 billion fund units, respectively. As of April 5, in April there are 5 FOF funds waiting to be issued.

The dense listings of FOF products reflect that investors’ demand for diversified asset allocation and portfolio management is rising, and it also provides more entry channels for medium- and long-term capital such as pension funds and wealth-management funds.

Hard-tech becomes the main deployment theme

Judging from the thematic distribution of newly established funds this year, the hard-tech sector is a key direction that institutions are focusing on.

According to Wind statistics, among newly established funds so far this year, there are 50 products whose names include “technology” or “Sci-Tech Innovation”; among them, the Morgan Stanley CSI Hong Kong-Shenzhen Technology Fund issued 4.424 billion fund units. There are 9 funds themed around semiconductors or chips, with total issuance volume exceeding 2.5 billion fund units. Among them, the China Merchants SSE STAR Market Chip Design Theme Index and the BOC Frontier Semiconductor have solicitation/ subscription periods of only 1 day each. There are 4 AI-themed funds, with total issuance volume exceeding 1.3 billion fund units. There are 14 funds themed around new energy and photovoltaics, with total issuance volume exceeding 2.8 billion fund units.

Looking ahead, multiple institutions have expressed confidence in the outlook for A-shares.

The Bank of Communications Schroder Fund says that geopolitical conflicts may further intensify the defensive and controllable characteristics of core A-share assets. China’s manufacturing advantages are expected to be amplified after conflicts ease. The fund remains confident in the resilience of A-shares over the medium term, and it favors value, energy, and technology directions.

Agricultural Bank of China Schroder Fund states that in the short term, against the backdrop of fluctuations in risk-avoidance sentiment, assets with low valuations and high safety margins may be repriced. In the medium term, the upward trend of A-shares remains unchanged; some emerging technology industries will continue to create incremental demand through high-quality supply and are gradually entering the critical window period for technology to commercialize, and they are expected to become the main theme in the market in the future.

（Source: China Securities Journal）