In the first quarter, ETF assets disappeared by one trillion, dropping from 6 trillion to 5 trillion. Who is retreating? Who is taking over?

Ask AI · ETF Size Shrinks Rapidly, What Investment Signals Are Revealed by Counter-Cyclical Adjustments?

Cailian Press, April 1st (Reporter Yan Jun) The rapid growth of ETFs has slowed down in 2026.

As of the end of the first quarter this year, the A-share market showed a pattern of rising then falling, with the Shanghai Composite Index dropping 1.94% in a single quarter. Market hotspots were diverse, switching accelerated, and there was a profit-making effect, but at the end of February, geopolitical tensions intensified, global risk assets were impacted, and investment sentiment in March was poor.

Looking at ETF sizes, straightforward data shows a decline from 6 trillion yuan at the end of 2025 to 4.99 trillion yuan, returning below the 5 trillion mark. The “disappearance of the trillion” does not mean ETF business is retreating; instead, there are many highlights.

First, the largest outflows were from broad-based ETFs. In the first quarter, net outflows reached 1.16 trillion yuan, for obvious reasons—large funds showing counter-cyclical adjustments, curbing the hot market sentiment at the start of the year, preventing a crazy bull run. Of course, the pain was mainly felt by large firms managing trillion-yuan ETFs, with some ETF fund companies appearing briefly, and changes in ETF seat allocations at fund companies.

Second, sector-themed ETFs saw net inflows, with combined net inflows of nearly 246.8 billion yuan in sectors, strategies, and styles. Rotation among satellite, gold stocks, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, and power equipment sectors kept related ETFs in continuous favor.

Third, only 17 commodity ETFs saw net inflows of nearly 63 billion yuan. Halo assets became popular, with a surge in bulk commodity price increase sequences, from precious metals leading, industrial metals confirming, energy expanding, to agricultural products at both ends. Gold ETFs, energy and chemical ETFs, non-ferrous metals ETFs, and soybean meal ETFs attracted strong capital inflows.

Fourth, despite tight quotas, QDII ETFs still attracted nearly 74 billion yuan in net inflows. China-Korea semiconductor ETFs and Brazil ETFs became the “new favorites” for funds this year.

Electric grid equipment ETFs, gold ETFs, and Hang Seng Tech ETFs received the most capital inflows

"In the ‘fan’ market, sector-themed ETFs benefited the most.

In the first quarter, 72 ETFs across the market had net inflows exceeding 2 billion yuan, 27 ETFs exceeded 5 billion yuan, and 9 ETFs exceeded 60k yuan. Excluding the China Universal Short-term Bond ETF and China Universal Urban Investment Bond ETF, the remaining 7 were equity ETFs.

China Galaxy Electric Grid Equipment ETF attracted a single-quarter net inflow of 25.73 billion yuan, the only equity ETF with net inflows over 20 billion yuan. Despite a pullback in March, its quarterly return still reached 24%. Huaxia Gold ETF had net inflows of over 49.9k yuan in the first quarter, with its size once surpassing 11.6k. Huatai-PineBridge Hang Seng Tech ETF saw net inflows of 18.08B yuan. Interestingly, Hang Seng Tech became the most concentrated area of increasing purchases during declines. Besides Huatai-PineBridge, related ETFs from Huaxia and E Fund also ranked high in inflows.

ETFs with net inflows exceeding 10 billion yuan in the first quarter also included Yongying Satellite ETF, Guotai Semiconductor ETF, and Guotai Gold ETF. Meanwhile, popular sectors like Huaxia Free Cash Flow ETF, Penghua Chemical ETF, and Southern Non-Ferrous ETF also saw significant growth.

Behind the “disappearance of the trillion,” the ranking of major ETF firms has changed

Indeed, the sharp decline in ETF size in a single quarter does not mean fund companies are not working hard; large-scale counter-cyclical capital adjustments are the main reason. After capital withdrawal, only the “big broad-based ETF companies” suffered.

Private Equity Puhui Data recently disclosed that, according to the top ten holders of ETF funds, at the end of 2025, the national team of A-shares (Central Huijin Investment, Central Huijin Asset Management, E Fund-Huijin Asset Management Plan, Huaxia Fund-Huijin Asset Management Plan) held 38 ETFs with a total market value of about 1.53T yuan, an increase of about 240.5B yuan from the end of Q2 2025.

Among them, Central Huijin Investment held 19 ETFs with a market value of about 792.9B yuan; Central Huijin Asset Management held 14 ETFs with a market value of about 721.7B yuan. The combined ETF holdings managed by public funds E Fund and Huaxia Fund under Huijin Asset Management were about 10.4 billion yuan.

It is these large funds supporting the market that caused the rapid growth of large broad-based ETF fund companies. As the tide recedes, the impact on these fund companies’ ETF sizes is tangible.

Measuring by companies with ETF sizes over 100 billion yuan, there were still 16 in the first quarter, with no companies dropping out or new ones entering. However, there were subtle internal structural changes.

The positions of the “Big Three”—Huaxia, E Fund, and Huatai-PineBridge—remain unshaken, and in the short term, other fund companies have little chance to surpass them. But all three experienced scale changes exceeding 100 billion yuan, with Huaxia and E Fund each decreasing by over 200 billion yuan.

The biggest highlight among the top ten is Guotai Fund, which increased by 35.63B yuan in the first quarter, jumping from seventh place at the end of 2025 to fourth. It overtook Southern Fund, Harvest Fund, and GF Fund, ranking just behind the “Big Three.” Favorable market conditions are more important than effort. In 2025, due to the absence of large broad-based ETFs, Guotai Fund did not handle large capital products, causing its ETF ranking to decline. Now, with normalization and market style alignment, Guotai’s Gold ETF, Semiconductor ETF, Electric Grid Equipment ETF, and Oil & Gas ETF all contributed to its scale.

Southern Fund, Harvest Fund, and GF Fund moved down one place, ranking fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively. Among the top ten ETF sizes, Bosera Fund saw a slight increase of 2 billion yuan, surpassing the 5.45 billion yuan decrease of Fortis Fund, ranking eighth. Hua Bao Fund remained tenth.

Additionally, at the tail end of the 100-billion-yuan ETF camp, fund companies showed strong inflow capacity in the first quarter. Huaxia Fund grew by 35.627 billion yuan, supported by gold ETFs; HFT Fund increased by 40 billion yuan thanks to bond ETFs like short-term and medium-term bond ETFs; Yinhua Fund and Tianhong Fund each increased ETF sizes by over 20 billion yuan, and Penghua Fund’s ETF size increased by over 10 billion yuan.

In just one quarter, ETF sizes and categories have undergone earth-shaking changes, prompting fund managers to exclaim “ever-changing,” with the norm becoming rolling up sleeves and competing fiercely. More companies have reached a consensus: when the market turns back, having products to support is crucial, as building a more detailed and comprehensive ETF product map becomes vital.