Active management, fixed income plus, and ETFs—the three major tracks: a concise guide to this year's big winners in public funds

2025 will see accelerated growth in the public fund market. While the ETF investment craze continues, multi-asset allocation has become another key trend. According to the CITIC Securities report, fluctuations and upward movement in the equity market have driven a rebound in active equity fund size, but the pace of passive investing is accelerating. “Fixed income +” products have expanded significantly in a low interest rate environment, giving the industry a more diversified growth pattern. The overall scale of equity funds has rebounded, but growth is still mainly led by passive index funds. By the third quarter of 2025, the scale of passive index funds has increased by over 1.1 trillion yuan, and ETF assets have surpassed five trillion yuan. Although active equity funds have seen a clear recovery in excess returns, growth in scale has been mainly driven by NAV appreciation. The overall number of shares has still declined, reflecting investors’ tendency to take profits as the market recovers. Fixed income products have shown clear polarization. In a weak bond market in 2025, medium- and long-term pure bond funds have shrunk by over 600 billion yuan, and short-term pure bond funds by nearly 250 billion yuan. In contrast, “fixed income +” funds have found opportunities for growth, with secondary bond funds increasing by 625 billion yuan. With low interest rates causing traditional fixed income yields to stay low, raising the proportion of equities has become market consensus. Multi-asset allocation strategies provide investors with a “steady progress” solution. The newly issued FOF (Fund of Funds) market has warmed significantly, with over 80 new FOFs issued in 2025 and total new issuance reaching 80 billion yuan. The scope of new FOFs increasingly reflects multi-asset allocation, covering not just equity and fixed income funds but also commodity funds, QDII funds, Hong Kong Mutual Recognition Funds, public REITs, and more. Active Equity: Diversified Breakthrough Paths CITIC Securities’ report provides statistics on growth in active equity funds (general equity, equity-biased hybrid, and flexible allocation/balanced hybrid funds with average positions above 60% in the past year) managed by major fund managers in 2025. Yongying Fund, China-Europe Fund, E Fund, and Fuguo Fund have all seen active equity fund scale increase by over 35 billion yuan this year. Yongying Fund broke through scale with its “Smart Choice” series, with active equity funds growing by more than 76 billion yuan in 2025, over four times last year’s figure. The Smart Choice series, with 16 products, accounts for 57.6 billion yuan in growth, 66% of the company’s total active equity lineup. Yongying Fund’s success is mainly due to a forward-looking layout in segmented tracks. Most Smart Choice series products were established from the second half of 2022 to the first half of 2023, investing counter-cyclically in themes matching new productivity trends, such as robotics, cloud computing, semiconductors, domestic computing, and innovative medicine. These products gained excess returns through concentrated investment and active management, meeting investor demand for segmented arena tools. For example, Yongying Technology Smart Choice grew by 192% in 2025, and Yongying Advanced Manufacturing Smart Choice achieved a 70.07% return. China-Europe Fund and E Fund’s scale expansion focused mainly on technology-flexible products, while high-performing dividend funds also gained. China-Europe Fund’s active equity funds increased by over 70.5 billion yuan in 2025—up 42.44%. Products run by TMT fund managers including Feng Ludan and Du Houliang saw returns above 100%, driving obvious scale growth by both NAV and shares. E Fund’s active equity fund scale increased by more than 40.3 billion yuan, as managers Liu Jianwei, Zheng Xi, and Ouyang Liangqi each posted annual gains above 100% in tech-growth funds. Newly launched floating-rate products by both companies drew considerable market attention. China-Europe Core Smart Choice raised over 2.1 billion yuan, E Fund Value Return over 2 billion, each offering a three-tier rate structure: 1.2% (benchmark), 1.5% (upper band), 0.6% (lower band). Fuguo Fund’s active equity style has tilted balanced as a whole, with Von Yan’s joining in 2024 clearly boosting scale. Fuguo Steady Growth expanded by 7 billion yuan in 2025, and new product Fuguo Balanced Investment raised nearly 2 billion. Alongside balanced styles, managers focused on technology and pharmaceuticals broke through—Fuguo Emerging Industries, Fuguo Small/Midcap Selection, and Fuguo Innovation Technology all grew by more than 3 billion yuan this year. Fuguo Fund’s Hong Kong equity team also boasts a stellar track record, with Fuguo Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Performance Driven growing from 4.4 billion yuan at the end of 2024 to 7.9 billion yuan by Q3. Fixed Income+ Funds: Institutional Preference for Steady Strategies The report notes that “fixed income +” funds are clearly growing, using samples such as low-/mid-position flexible allocation, bond-biased hybrid, secondary bond funds, primary bond funds, and convertible bond funds. Among these, Invesco Great Wall Fund leads in growth. By Q3 end, Invesco Great Wall’s “fixed income +” fund scale rose by over 110 billion yuan in 2025, contributing 78% of the firm’s non-cash growth. Its “fixed income +” product line covers a range of risk-reward characteristics, with excellent medium/long-term risk-return ratios, favored by institutional investors. “Fixed income +” funds posting over 10 billion yuan scale increases in 2025 are mainly secondary bond funds, most of which ranked among the strongest in peer performance over the past two years. Yongying Steady Enhancement, Invesco Great Wall Jinyi Fuli, Fuguo Optimized Enhancement, and Penghua Double Bond Plus all have high equity positions, with returns above 15% in 2025. Most funds hold heavy positions in technology, cyclical, and manufacturing sectors—tilting toward large-cap balance/growth, reflecting market preference for growth styles and high-prosperity sectors. Meanwhile, funds leading in scale growth are mostly institutionally held—averaging nearly 70%. For example, Yongying Steady Enhancement, China-Europe Fuli, and Invesco Great Wall Jinyi Fuli all saw institutional ownership above 90% in mid-2025 reports. Among funds mainly held by individual investors but posting high growth, notable examples include Ruiyuan Steady Enhancement 30-Day Hold, Bosera Steady Growth Plus, Southern Jinxiang Steady Plus, and Harvest Steady Plus 6-Month Rolling—these have relatively low central positions (around 10-15%) and are steadier in approach. ETF Market: Top Heavy and Innovation in Parallel According to the report, the ETF market features significant concentration at the top. China Asset Management, E Fund, and Huatai-PB Fund each account for more than 10% market share, all surpassing 600 billion yuan in ETF assets. China Asset Management ETF scale stands at 941.686 billion yuan (16.52%), E Fund at 872.963 billion (15.32%). 2025’s main scale increases come from gold ETFs, mainstream broad-based ETFs, and Hong Kong stock ETFs. Huaan Gold ETF grew by almost 66 billion yuan, and Bosera Gold ETF by more than 26 billion. Among stock ETFs, mainstream broad-based ETFs heavily held by long-term institutional investors such as Central Huijin kept increasing—Huatai-PB CSI 300 ETF up 64.2 billion, China Asset Management CSI 300 ETF up 63.9 billion, and E Fund CSI 300 ETF up 52.5 billion. Cross-border ETFs saw marked growth in Hong Kong stock ETFs. Fuguo CSI HK Stock Connect Internet ETF rose over 59.1 billion yuan. ICBC National HK Stock Connect Technology ETF and China Asset Management Hang Seng Technology ETF also posted sizeable increases. GF CSI HK Stock Connect Non-Bank Finance Theme ETF grew over 25.8 billion. Within sub-categories, large-cap broad-based ETF assets grew most (over 200 billion yuan). Industry theme ETFs also saw significant growth, mainly in TMT and manufacturing, driven by AI and robotics arena activity. Among style strategy ETFs, Dividend Low Vol and Free Cash Flow performed as steady medium- to long-term strategies, attracting funds; Free Cash Flow ETF scaled up 25.45 billion. Newly launched in the year, benchmark market-making credit bond ETFs and Sci-Tech bond ETFs drew high attention, with single-product fundraises of about 3 billion. Recent filings by fund managers focused on new ETF categories like non-ferrous metals, innovation and startup boards, dividend quality, Hong Kong tech, etc. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market entails risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider if the opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their particular circumstances. If you invest based on this information, you do so at your own risk.