Is the adjustment the "golden pit"? Nearly 20 billion yuan in funds channeling through ETFs for bottom-fishing, with 122 private equity securities funds registered in a single day.

Each Daily Reporter | Yang Jian    Each Daily Editor | Peng Shuiping

Recently, China’s A-share market has been shaken by external factors, leading to a clear pullback. However, for off-market capital, the market adjustment itself has become a window for entry and portfolio planning. On March 23, as the Shanghai Composite Index saw a sharp correction, ETFs across the entire market won net inflows of 19.4 billion yuan in funds, while taking in money opposite the trend; broad-market ETFs became the top choice for bargain-hunting funds.

Of particular note is that news has been circulating in the private fund community: a multi-head strategy product under a quantitative private fund manager with a scale of over 10 billion yuan reportedly raised more than 4 billion yuan of capital in just two days. Data from the China Asset Management Association (AMAC) registration shows that incremental funds are continuing to pour into the capital market. Just on March 23 alone, the number of private securities investment funds that completed registration was as high as 122. According to statistics from Privately Fund Ranking (Paimingwang), the number of newly registered private stock-strategy fund products in February reached 900, accounting for 65.89% of the total number of newly registered private securities investment funds in the same period.

Although the A-share market has experienced volatility and adjustments in the recent period, it has not slowed the pace of off-market capital moving in. AMAC registration data shows that on March 23, a total of 148 private funds across the entire market completed registration, among which 122 were private securities investment funds—accounting for more than 80%. No exception to this trend: on March 20, 122 private fund products also completed registration, and more than 80% of them were private securities investment funds. Multiple sets of data indicate that private securities investment funds have become the absolute “main force” in the private fund issuance market in the recent period.

In fact, since February this year, the private fund issuance market has been steadily active. The latest data from Privately Fund Ranking shows that in February, the number of newly registered private securities investment funds across the entire market increased by more than 150% year over year, and also recorded a notable increase month over month. Specifically, in February, there were 1,366 newly registered private securities investment funds across the entire market (including self-issued products and products managed as investment advisory clients); compared with 543 in February 2025, this represents an increase of 151.57%, and compared with 680 in January this year, an increase of 100.88%. The growth momentum has been especially strong.

Judging by the strategy distribution of newly registered products, stock strategies occupy an absolute leading position. According to statistics from Privately Fund Ranking, in February the number of newly registered private stock-strategy funds reached 900, accounting for 65.89% of the total newly registered private securities investment funds in the same period; in the same period, multi-asset strategy private funds ranked second with 200 registrations, accounting for 14.64%. Despite recent volatility and adjustments in the A-share market, the pace of capital entry has not slowed. News from the private fund community shows that products under a quantitative private fund manager with a scale of over 10 billion yuan raised more than 4 billion yuan of capital in just two days, which fully reflects the market’s optimism toward equity assets.

The concentrated issuance of products by private fund institutions also helps drive a surge in their assets under management. The number of private fund institutions with a scale of over 10 billion yuan has even reached a historical high. Privately Fund Ranking data shows that in January–February 2026, 16 private fund institutions saw their assets under management rise to more than 10 billion yuan; by March 18, the number of private fund institutions with a scale of over 10 billion yuan had expanded to 126—setting yet another historical record. Among them, 11 new institutions reached the 10 billion-yuan tier, while another 5 managers returned to the ranks of 10 billion-yuan tier private funds.

Capital borrows the path of ETFs to “hunt the bottom”

The latest data from Privately Fund Ranking shows that as of the end of February, since the beginning of this year, 200 private fund institutions have seen their assets under management rise to higher levels, including 110 stock-strategy private funds. In fact, the expansion of the 10 billion-yuan tier in this round cannot be separated from the strong boost of the 2025 A-share market. In 2025, the A-share market continued to strengthen, with full-year trading volume exceeding 400 trillion yuan and setting a record. Many private fund institutions, thanks to excellent performance, drove steady growth in their assets under management. Statistics show that in 2025, a total of 24 private fund institutions first entered the “10-billion-yuan club.” In 2026, the expansion pace for 10 billion-yuan tier private funds has accelerated further.

With recent A-share market adjustments, off-market capital has seized opportunities to hunt the bottom. Multiple data points show that incremental funds are continuing to pour into the A-share market. On March 23, against the backdrop of a major market adjustment, the ETF “bottom-hunting” move was especially pronounced: ETFs across the entire market recorded net inflows of 19.4 billion yuan, even against the trend. Among them, broad-market ETFs became the top choice for bottom-hunting funds. The Huatai-PB CSI 300 ETF saw net inflows of over 3.7 billion yuan, ranking first. The Franklin SSE Composite Index ETF and the Huaxia SSE 50 ETF recorded net inflows of 1.82 billion yuan and 1.58 billion yuan, respectively. Judging by the indices tracked, ETFs related to the CSI 300 Index received nearly 6 billion yuan of net inflows on the day.

Regarding the phenomenon that the daily registration volume of private securities funds reached 122, insiders told reporters that there are mainly two core logics behind it. On one hand, from the capital side, there is pressure from “a shortage of assets,” forcing an upgrade in asset allocation. With risk-free interest rates continuing to fall, low-yield assets such as bank deposits and traditional wealth management products have been expiring one after another, leaving funds urgently needing to find investment targets with higher returns. Under the policy guidance of “no speculation on housing” and in the context of volatility in the bond market, equity assets with long-term appreciation potential naturally become the “safe havens” for funds. In addition, the continuous entry of allocation-oriented funds such as FOF further diverts funds that prefer stability, jointly pushing up the issuance heat for private securities investment funds.

On the other hand, the market side presents an opportunity to plan around “golden pits.” After the A-shares went through a cycle of consolidation and decline, valuation bubbles were effectively squeezed out, and many high-quality underlying assets have already developed relatively high price-to-value and a margin of safety. At this time, private fund institutions, leveraging their professional investment research capabilities, actively absorb high-quality chips at lower prices. Meanwhile, high-net-worth clients also recognize this “chip-picking” window and choose to increase their allocation to private fund products. This kind of counter-cyclical convergence of “market lows plus abundant capital” is precisely the core reason behind the recent surge in registrations of private securities investment funds.

Hei Qi Capital’s Chen Xinwen told reporters that the recent adjustment in China’s A-share market, in essence, is the release of sentiment under the simultaneous impact of external geopolitical conflict and a global decline in risk appetite. Historical patterns show that geopolitical conflict affects markets with a pronounced short-term nature; as the situation eases, asset prices will return to the fundamental track led by industry and policy. China’s capital market is accelerating its rise to become a “safe haven” for global capital. Since March, although external volatility has intensified, northbound funds have maintained resilience overall. Some allocation-oriented funds have even added positions against the trend—this is absolutely not coincidental, but a rational choice in the wave of global asset rebalancing.

Domestic resilience provides a solid “ballast stone” for the market. The government work report clearly states that the capital market is transitioning from a “financing market” to an “investment market.” With trillion-yuan incremental allocations from insurance funds running in parallel with the normalization of delistings, it drives the reconstruction of valuation systems and a premium for high-quality assets. While economic recovery is not at a steep pace, structural highlights such as AI computing power, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing are clearly visible, and the industrial trend has not changed. We firmly believe that the current adjustment provides a rare “golden pit” layout window for rational capital.

Fund flow is the most truthful vote of confidence. Data from AMAC shows that in the two days of March 20 and March 23, more than 240 private fund products were registered, and the share of securities funds was over 80%. With private funds—considered “smart money”—entering in large numbers, it is a deep acknowledgment of the allocation value after market adjustments. The focus is on three major themes: technology growth, consumption recovery, and advanced manufacturing. Strategically, in the short term the emphasis is on building momentum through volatility, focusing on the defensive value of high-dividend and dividend-growth assets and opportunities created by mispricing of technology leaders; in the medium term, it holds tightly onto innovation-driven momentum where industry orders—such as computing power, semiconductors, and robots—are being realized at new highs; in the long term, it benefits from the deepening of capital market reforms and the institutionalization trend, as A-shares are moving into a new ecosystem of “long-term slow bull.”

Cover image source: Each Daily Media Database

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