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

Securities Times reporter Wang Minghong

In March, the “degree of exposure to technologies” in the public fund issuance market is still rising. Driven by multiple factors—such as the structural rally in technology stocks boosting the performance of related themed funds, and regulators concentrating approvals of new products—“hard-technology” themed funds represented by artificial intelligence (AI), new energy, and information technology have become the absolute main line for fund issuance in March. From the battery industry chain to Hong Kong stock technology leaders, from index products to active management, a group of technology-themed products steered by veteran fund managers has gone on the market in large numbers.

According to Wind data, as of March 29, several actively managed “hard-technology” themed funds have performed strongly since the beginning of the year. For example, 广发远见智选A’s return rate is 55.30%, temporarily ranking near the top in the entire market. The fund mainly invests in hard-technology areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, 5G, and consumer electronics, and its portfolio covers the full industrial chain from chip design to AI application. Artificial intelligence themed funds are also performing robustly. For example, 国寿安保数字经济A has a return rate of 40.47%; 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, among others, all have return rates exceeding 27%.

Judging from the new fund raising situation, the fund issuance market has been active overall since March. According to Wind data, as of March 29, the number of newly established funds during the month reached 139, with a total fund-raising scale of approximately 1098.83 billion yuan. Against the backdrop of overall market expansion, “hard-technology” themes have become the main line running through March. According to statistics, since March, the number of products clearly focusing on the technology sector (including artificial intelligence, chips, new energy, software, etc.) has exceeded 20, reflecting a concentrated deployment of capital toward the technology-innovation track.

In addition, amid a rising demand for certainty in the market, fund products targeting steady performance have become a mainstay of March’s issuance. Among the top ten funds by issuance size ranking, there are multiple products that anchor “stable returns” strategies.

Specifically, hybrid FOF (funds-of-funds) products have attracted particular attention. The issuance scale of 中欧基金’s 中欧盈欣稳健6个月持有A reached 5.125 billion yuan; fund-of-funds products 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 scales exceeding 3 billion yuan each. In addition, “fixed income+” strategy products have also achieved excellent issuance results. For example, 南方逸享稳健添利A’s fund-raising scale reached 4.988 billion yuan, and 天弘弘华A’s reached 4.087 billion yuan.

Worth noting is that the CSRC has recently centrally approved 15 “hard-technology” themed funds. The products focus on growth directions in core technologies and strategic emerging industries, including 7 passive funds tracking the 中证科创创业人工智能 index and 8 active funds benchmarked against the 中国战略新兴产业综合指数. After approval, these “hard-technology” funds quickly entered the fundraising stage. 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 their offering, opening their subscriptions on March 23 and March 27, respectively.

Among the funds currently being raised, batteries and new-energy manufacturing remain key directions. 银河基金’s 银河中证电池主题指数A and鹏华基金’s 鹏华中证电池主题ETF have both already started their issuance, providing precise coverage of the battery industry chain. In addition, products issued by 华夏基金—such as the 华夏中证全指家用电器ETF—and those issued by 华泰柏瑞基金—such as 华泰柏瑞中证全指指数增强A—also offer investors configuration tools in areas such as smart home appliances and industrial upgrading.

Information technology is also an important direction for “hard-technology” new fund issuance in the recent period. Both 鹏华基金 and 华夏基金 have launched ETF products tracking the 中证港股通信息技术综合指数, namely 鹏华中证港股通信息技术综合ETF and 华夏中证港股通信息技术综合ETF, respectively, making it more convenient for investors to allocate to Hong Kong-listed technology leaders. 汇添富基金 has also launched 汇添富中证港股通医疗主题ETF; although the theme is healthcare, biotech as an important component of hard technology also reflects an emphasis on technological innovation.

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

In terms of product format, this batch of “hard-technology” funds mainly consists of passive index funds and ETFs, such as the battery and information-technology themed ETFs mentioned above. These products have relatively low fees and transparent holdings. They are designed to closely track their underlying index, serving as efficient tools for investors to build track allocations. At the same time, there are also enhanced index-type and stock-leaning hybrid products—for instance, 创金合信上证科创板综合指数增强A and 国泰产业智选A—aiming to seek excess returns on the basis of tracking an index.

Furthermore, funds such as 易方达基金, 华宝基金, 景顺长城基金, and 前海开源基金 have also launched broad or segmented technology-sector index products such as oil and natural gas (energy technology) and 科创100, indicating that public funds generally see long-term investment value in technology innovation and are accelerating the improvement of relevant product lines.