Public Fund New Issuance Pace Slows, Hong Kong Stocks Become Layout Focus

Our Reporter Chang Xiaoyu

According to data from Public Offering PaoPao Network, based on the subscription start date, a total of 24 new public funds are planned to be issued across the market this week (March 23 to March 29, 2026). This is the second consecutive week that the number of issuances has fallen below 30.

Li Chunyu, FOF fund manager at Shenzhen Rongzhi Private Securities Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd., told Securities Daily: “Since mid-March, the public fund issuance market has cooled down, mainly because both supply and demand sides have become more rational. On one hand, as the A-share market experienced adjustments in mid-March, the profitability of equity assets weakened, investor risk appetite declined, and the willingness to actively subscribe to new funds decreased; on the other hand, fund managers have also slowed down issuance pace to wait for more favorable market windows.”

From the product type perspective, equity funds remain the main force of issuance this week. Data shows that among the 24 planned new funds, 20 are equity products, accounting for 83.33%, including 14 stock funds and 6 hybrid funds. Among the stock funds, passive index products dominate, with 11, accounting for 78.57% of all stock funds.

Additionally, two new products each will be launched for FOF (fund of funds) and bond funds.

Further observation of the new funds scheduled for issuance this week reveals that four products include the term “Hong Kong stocks” in their names, namely Huatai-PineBridge Hong Kong Stock Connect Cycle Select Hybrid, Huatai-PineBridge CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Medical Theme ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund), Penghua CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology Composite ETF, and Penghua Hang Seng Hong Kong Stock Connect Automotive Theme ETF. Li Chunyu believes this reflects the high level of attention from public fund institutions to the Hong Kong stock market’s future prospects, with forward-looking layout through product offerings.

Previously, Guohai Franklin Fund released market insights indicating that the current phase is still an upward cycle centered on AI (artificial intelligence) technology. Meanwhile, the market generally expects the Federal Reserve to continue cutting interest rates this year, and the overseas liquidity environment is expected to become more relaxed over the next year. Coupled with the continued preference of southbound funds for core assets in Hong Kong stocks, the tech sector in Hong Kong stocks has strong support in valuation recovery and earnings growth, and is expected to perform well.

Regarding investment opportunities in the new energy vehicle sector, a relevant person from Penghua Fund told Securities Daily that recently, the cost advantages of new energy vehicles throughout their entire lifecycle in overseas markets have become more prominent, and China’s new energy products’ global competitiveness has further strengthened. From January to February this year, China’s passenger car exports reached 1.174 million units, a year-on-year increase of 53.3%, with leading automakers showing strong momentum in “going global.” Meanwhile, overseas business is accelerating from a single “product export” to an upgrade of “capacity and ecosystem export,” with high-margin export growth continuously opening profit margins for vehicle manufacturers.

From the perspective of issuing institutions, the 24 new funds planned for issuance this week come from 20 public fund institutions. Among them, Huatai-PineBridge Fund, Penghua Fund, Huabao Fund, and Bank of China Fund each have two new funds issued; another 16 institutions each launched one new product.