Industry theme ETF heat rises, two main lines strongly attract capital

Our reporter Wang Ning

Since the beginning of this year, industry-themed ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) have seen significant growth in scale, with semiconductor-themed ETFs and innovative drug ETFs becoming the main "attractors" of capital.

Wind data shows that as of July 2, the scale and net asset value of semiconductor-themed ETFs have both increased this year, with scale growing by nearly 75 billion yuan and the net asset value growth rate of 30 products exceeding 110%. Specifically, the total scale of ETFs linked to the semiconductor materials and equipment index is 88.16B yuan, with an increase of nearly 75 billion yuan year-to-date; among them, the scale increase brought by net inflow from subscriptions is 36.49B yuan, and the scale increase brought by changes in net asset value is 38.23B yuan. The total scale of ETFs linked to the Sci-Tech Innovation Board semiconductor materials and equipment index is 35.61B yuan, with an increase of 30.75B yuan year-to-date, net inflow from subscriptions bringing 17.29B yuan and net asset value changes bringing 13.47B yuan. Overall, the year-to-date scale growth of multiple semiconductor-themed ETFs in the market mainly comes from net purchases by investors.

From the perspective of fund managers, leading fund companies have a significant advantage in overall ETF scale, with high market concentration. Guotai Fund, HFT Fund, Yongying Fund, Tianhong Fund, and Boshi Fund all saw their ETF scale increase by over 10 billion yuan year-to-date; among them, Guotai Fund topped the list with an increase of 87.13B yuan, and HFT Fund ranked second with an increase of 41.68B yuan.

He Mingxiao, fund manager of Harvest Frontier Innovation Fund, told a reporter from Securities Daily that since the beginning of this year, sector differentiation in the A-share market has been evident, with "hard technology" leading the gains. Sectors such as communications, electronics, and semiconductors have significantly outperformed software and application sectors. This round of structural market movement mainly stems from three major industry changes: first, changes in the AI paradigm have driven demand growth; second, the supply-demand gap has triggered a "price increase" wave, with limited supply coupled with demand explosion leading to widespread and substantial price increases in upstream materials such as memory and optical fiber cables; third, domestic AI investment demand is strong, and technological breakthroughs have been observed on the supply side.

In addition to the semiconductor track, the innovative drug sector has also attracted capital inflows this year. Data shows that as of now, the total scale of ETFs linked to the innovative drug index is 32.28B yuan, an increase of 10.89B yuan year-to-date; the total scale of ETFs linked to the Sci-Tech Innovation Board innovative drug index is 3.78B yuan, an increase of 2.65B yuan year-to-date.

A relevant business director of Guotai Fund told a reporter from Securities Daily that the valuation of domestic innovative drugs deviates significantly from the international market, and there is a demand for capital to cover short positions and go long. In particular, as an innovative product, Sci-Tech Innovation Board innovative drugs have strong price elasticity and sustainability. Currently, the style and sector rotation of the A-share market have fluctuated compared to before, and high-risk appetite funds may shift to sectors with good long-term fundamentals. For example, the fundamentals of the innovative drug industry are sound, and the market is expected to emerge from the emotional trough, returning to the technological attributes of innovative assets and the "going global" pricing logic. In addition, as the interim report season for A-share companies approaches, the sector is expected to continue to oscillate upward under solid performance guidance, driving a performance-driven market.

(Editor: Xu Nannan)

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