March new fund issuance exceeded 100 billion yuan, with "hard technology" products becoming the absolute main force

The Securities Times reporter Wang Minghong

In March, the “tech-related content” of the public fund offering market continues to rise. Driven by multiple factors, including the structural rally in technology stocks that has propelled the performance of related theme funds and the regulator’s concentrated approvals of new products, “hard-tech” theme funds represented by artificial intelligence (AI), new energy, and information technology have become the absolute main line of fund issuance in March. From the battery industry chain to Hong Kong stock technology leaders, and from index instruments to active management, a batch of technology-themed products led by senior fund managers have been launched in quick succession.

According to Wind data, as of March 29, several actively managed “hard-tech” theme funds have shown outstanding performance since the beginning of the year. For example, the 广发远见智选A fund has a return rate of 55.30%, temporarily ranking near the top in the entire market. The fund mainly invests in hard-tech fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, 5G, and consumer electronics. Its investment portfolio covers the entire industry chain from chip design to AI applications. AI theme funds are also strong—for instance, the 国寿安保数字经济A fund has a return rate of 40.47%. The return rates of 信澳产业优选 one-year holding A, 浦银安盛数字经济A, 华商致远回报A, and 国寿安保核心产业 are all above 27%.

Judging from the fund raising situations of new funds, the fund offering market as a whole has been active since March. According to Wind data, as of March 29, the number of newly established funds for the month reached 139, with a total fund-raising scale of about 109.88B yuan. Against the backdrop of overall market expansion, the “hard-tech” theme has become the thread running through March. According to statistics, since March, more than 20 products have been established that explicitly focus on the technology sector (including AI, chips, new energy, software, etc.), demonstrating that capital has made a concentrated commitment to the technology innovation track.

In addition, against the background of rising demand for certainty in the market, fund products targeting stability have become the mainstay of issuances in March. Among the top ten funds by issuance size, multiple products anchor “stable return” strategies.

Specifically, hybrid FOF (funds-of-funds) products have attracted significant attention. The 中欧基金’s 中欧盈欣稳健6个月持有A has an issuance size of 5.13B yuan. In addition, FOF funds such as 易方达如意盈泽6个月持有A and 招商智盈优选6个月持有A also have issuance sizes of more than 3 billion yuan each. Moreover, “fixed income +” strategy products have also achieved excellent issuance results. For example, the 南方逸享稳健添利A has raised 4.99B yuan, and the 天弘弘华A has raised 4.09B yuan.

It is worth noting that the China Securities Regulatory Commission has recently concentratedly approved 15 “hard-tech” theme funds. These products focus on the growth directions of core technologies and strategic emerging industries, including 7 passive funds tracking the CSI STAR Market Venture/Innovation AI Index and 8 active funds based on the CSI China Strategic Emerging Industries Composite Index. After approval, these “hard-tech” funds quickly entered the issuance phase. The 中银双创人工智能指数 fund and the 兴银双创人工智能指数 fund were the first to start issuing, with subscriptions opening on March 23 and March 27, respectively.

Among the funds currently being raised, batteries and new energy manufacturing remain key directions. The 银河基金’s 银河中证电池主题指数A and the 鹏华基金’s 鹏华中证电池主题ETF have both already started issuing, precisely covering the battery industry chain. In addition, products such as the 华夏基金’s 华夏中证全指家用电器ETF and the 华泰柏瑞基金’s 华泰柏瑞中证全指指数增强A are also providing investors with allocation tools in areas such as smart home appliances and industrial upgrading.

Information technology is also an important direction for “hard-tech” new fund issuance in recent times. Both the 鹏华基金 and 华夏基金 have launched ETF products tracking the CSI Hong Kong-Stock Connect Information Technology Composite Index—namely, the 鹏华中证港股通信息技术综合ETF and the 华夏中证港股通信息技术综合ETF, respectively. These provide convenience for investors to allocate to technology leaders in the Hong Kong stock market. 富添富基金 has also launched the 汇添富中证港股通医疗主题ETF. Although the theme is healthcare, since biotechnology is an important component of hard tech, it also reflects a focus on technological innovation.

Additionally, among the “hard-tech” theme funds issued since March, several companies have assigned seasoned fund managers to manage their products. For example, the 中银基金 has launched the 中银中证科创创业人工智能指数A managed by fund manager 李念. The 银河基金’s 银河中证电池主题指数A is managed by 黄栋. Fund managers from 易方达基金 such as 常锐, from 华夏基金 such as 刘蔚, and from 鹏华基金 such as 闫冬 also have many years of research and investment experience in fields including technology and new energy.

In terms of product formats, this batch of “hard-tech” funds mainly consists of passive index funds and ETFs, such as the multiple battery and information technology theme ETFs mentioned above. These products generally have relatively low fee rates and transparent holdings. They are designed to closely track the underlying index, serving as an efficient tool for investors to build positions in specific tracks. At the same time, there are also enhanced index products and equity-tilted hybrid products—for example, 创金合信上证科创板综合指数增强A, 国泰产业智选A, and others—seeking to obtain excess returns based on tracking the index.

In addition, 易方达基金, 华宝基金, 景顺长城基金, 前海开源基金, and others have also launched broad technology or sub-sector index products such as oil and natural gas (energy technology) and 科创100, indicating that public funds generally favor the long-term investment value of technological innovation, while accelerating the improvement of related product lines.

(Editor: Wen Jing)

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