The Equity Breakthrough of Fixed-Income Giants: Tianxiong Fund's Index Business Breakout Strategy

As domestic ETF assets surpass 6 trillion yuan, the wave of index investing is shifting from rapid growth in scale to a new stage focused on product competition, capability deepening, and ecosystem co-creation. In this market landscape, industry participants are exploring paths suited to their development to meet the diversified upgrade of market demands.

As a fund company with inclusive roots, Tianhong Fund leverages its resources—large off-exchange client base, strong internet DNA, and advanced financial technology—to develop precise product layouts, scientific investment operations, and systematic ecological services. It has carved out a unique development path of “off-exchange surrounding on-exchange,” providing valuable reference for the passive investment market’s transition from “quantitative change” to “qualitative change.”

Product Layout: Anchoring Demand, Building a Diverse Index Product Matrix

Behind the rapid scale growth are the continuous enrichment of index product offerings and the increasing segmentation of investor needs. How to align product deployment with real market demands has become a key challenge for industry players. Tianhong Fund does not pursue blind expansion across all categories but focuses on customer needs and long-term value. It proactively invests in emerging directions, gradually building a multi-track index product matrix to offer investors more options of “good assets.”

For example, based on the “14th Five-Year” plan’s strategic emerging industries and six future industries, Tianhong’s industry/theme ETFs cover new energy, new materials, aerospace, low-altitude economy, biomanufacturing, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications. By aligning with national strategic guidance and focusing on emerging industries, Tianhong’s diverse and forward-looking index system provides investors with abundant choices.

Wind data shows that by the end of 2025, Tianhong’s index product matrix includes broad-based, industry/theme, strategy, commodity, bond, and cross-border categories. It covers core A-share indices like CSI 300 and ChiNext, meeting basic asset allocation needs, while also focusing on national strategies such as technological independence, energy revolution, and high-end manufacturing. It has established positions in emerging sectors like chips, AI, robotics, aerospace, and has actively expanded into new bond ETF categories, becoming one of the first institutions to issue credit bond ETFs and sci-tech innovation bond ETFs, with some products forming differentiated advantages.

Investment Operations: Lean Management, Strengthening Professional Index Business Foundations

The long-term development of index businesses depends on meticulous operational management and solid research capabilities. Whether in steadily increasing product scale or maintaining stable tracking performance, these reflect the institution’s comprehensive operational strength. Tianhong Fund adopts a boutique approach, integrating professional expertise throughout product management, performance tracking, and customer service, gradually forming its own operational特色.

In product operations, Tianhong focuses on core products, creating flagship offerings. By the end of 2025, it has five ETFs with over 10 billion yuan in assets: credit bond ETF Tianhong, robotics ETF Tianhong, sci-tech innovation bond ETF Tianhong, Hang Seng Tech ETF Tianhong, and securities ETF Tianhong. Additionally, 14 products rank among the top in their categories, accounting for over one-third of similar products (note: “similar” refers to ETFs tracking the same index, with top-tier scale in Shenzhen or Shanghai markets, as of March 10, 2026, data from Wind). This scale advantage enhances liquidity and creates a virtuous cycle of “scale-liquidity-yield.”

In research management, Tianhong has deep expertise in traditional multi-factor fundamental systems, with solid foundational accumulation. Recently, it has actively integrated AI technologies, employing machine learning to fuse multiple models, extract excess factors from various dimensions such as traditional factors, high-frequency features, and state features, and achieve multi-term forecasts, making excess returns more robust. By the end of 2025, among 12 index enhancement products over six months old, seven have outperformed their benchmarks annually since inception, and all 12 index enhancement products beat their benchmarks in 2025 (data from Wind, Tianhong Fund).

Furthermore, leveraging its 770 million account holders (as of June 30, 2025), Tianhong has built a bridge connecting off-exchange and on-exchange markets through fund linkages, enabling investors without stock accounts to participate conveniently in index investing. Wind data shows that by the end of 2025, Tianhong’s off-exchange index fund assets reached 80.8 billion yuan, ranking third industry-wide; its stock index funds (including passive and enhanced ETFs, totaling 86, with combined A-share share classes, excluding D-Share indices, bond indices, and commodity indices, data from Wind as of June 30, 2025) have over 12 million account holders, ranking first in the industry.

Ecosystem Services: Collaborative Synergy, Building a Comprehensive Index Investment Service System

As index investing shifts from “product supply” to “asset allocation services,” investor needs extend beyond simple investment tools to include full-process solutions such as fund selection, timing, and allocation. Building a complete index investment ecosystem has become a new trend. Tianhong Fund responds to this trend by leveraging technology and institutional cooperation to create a multi-party collaborative ecosystem, providing more comprehensive service support for investors.

In terms of fintech empowerment and ecosystem partnership, Tianhong relies on a strong tech team to collaborate deeply with internet platforms, brokerages, and exchanges, developing various investment tools and strategies around investor pain points. In 2025, it launched industry rotation models with Ant Group, introduced “Strategy Target Investment” tools with JD Finance, developed “ChiNext Smart DCA Strategy” in response to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and promoted “Institutional Express” industry rotation strategies with Ping An Securities. These tools translate professional research logic into simple, understandable investment guidance, helping investors with industry selection, timing, and systematic investment.

Notably, Tianhong’s “Large Model-based FinAgent Financial Intelligence Agent” won the first prize in the 2024 Financial Technology Development Award announced by the People’s Bank of China, exemplifying innovation and integration of technology and business in the mutual fund industry.

From scale expansion to meticulous refinement, the development logic of index products is undergoing profound change. Industry competition is gradually shifting from superficial battles over product quantity and fee rates to deeper competition in product deployment, operational capability, and ecosystem services. In this wave of index investing, Tianhong aims to provide investors not just passive tools but long-term investment solutions—offering easy-to-understand tools and strategies, comprehensive product layouts, and helping investors make asset allocations and investment decisions that can withstand market cycles.

Risk Reminder: The views are for reference only and do not constitute any investment advice. Index funds may have tracking errors; past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should carefully read the fund’s “Fund Contract,” “Prospectus,” and other legal documents before investing, understand the risk-return characteristics, and assess whether the fund matches their investment objectives, time horizon, experience, and risk tolerance. Markets are risky; invest cautiously. Past performance is not indicative of future results.