The 2025 annual reports of public funds have been fully disclosed, revealing the top ten holders of various funds. Unlike the previous dominance of institutional investors in ETFs, a growing number of individual investors are now holding significant positions in ETFs.
Notably, several prominent retail investors have entered the top three holder rankings, highlighting their pricing influence. Furthermore, some investors concentrate their holdings in just a single ETF, demonstrating a clear strategy of heavily betting on specific sectors.
In terms of sector distribution, healthcare, technology semiconductors, and overseas indices have become key investment focuses. Industry insiders suggest that compared to the traditional style of prominent retail investors heavily investing in small and mid-cap stocks, ETFs offer distinct advantages in liquidity, return stability, and low fees, creating conditions for low-cost, steady investing.
Recent data from the completed 2025 public fund annual reports shows that individual investors are notably prominent among the top ten holders of closely-watched ETFs. They not only frequently appear in the "top ten" lists but several prominent retail investors have also secured positions within the top three holders.
Wind statistics indicate that, based on the number of shares held and the closing market value among the top ten investors, several prominent retail investors are featured, including Ge Suqin, Zhang Junhong, and Di Yanping.
Ge Suqin's investment choices are particularly representative. This investor holds 1.051 billion shares, making her the second-largest holder of the GF Hong Kong Innovative Drug ETF. Previously, Ge Suqin frequently appeared among the top ten circulating shareholders of A-share companies, with significant positions in technology stocks like Far East Transmission, Changxin Bochuang, and Jiaxun Feihong, for instance, newly entering their top ten circulating shareholder lists in the third quarter of 2023.
A key difference now is her heavy allocation to an ETF focused specifically on the Hong Kong innovative drug sector. Regarding the difference in investment vehicles, using an ETF allows her capital to be dispersed across multiple innovative drug companies within the sector, significantly diluting the impact of volatility in any single constituent stock. Wind data shows the GF Hong Kong Innovative Drug ETF achieved a full-year gain of 64.69% in 2025.
Similarly, Zhang Junhong, holding 414 million shares of the Huabao Medical ETF, and Di Yanping, heavily invested with 339 million shares of the Guolian An Semiconductor ETF, have both chosen to gain exposure to promising sectors through industry-specific ETFs rather than betting on individual stocks. In the third quarter of 2025, Zhang Junhong newly became a top ten circulating shareholder of Hongbo Shares, while Di Yanping appeared as the fourth-largest circulating shareholder of Taiji Co., Ltd. in the 2025 interim report.
Many other prominent retail investors are also focusing heavily on ETFs, but there are significant differences in the scale of their holdings. Several individual investors, including Ge Suqin, Zhang Junhong, and Di Yanping, hold over 300 million shares each, with Di Yanping and Ge Suqin's total holdings each exceeding 1 billion shares. Conversely, many other investors maintain more dispersed portfolios, with some holding between 1 million and 5 million shares.
Furthermore, based on shareholding statistics, among the top ten individual investors or prominent retail investors ranked by shares held, many are positioned within the top three holders of their respective ETFs, underscoring their pricing influence. Industry insiders believe this shift in investment preference among prominent retail investors is not accidental but a rational response to changing market conditions.
In the past, prominent retail investors often achieved excess returns by investing heavily in individual stocks, relying on deep fundamental research and sharp market intuition. However, with the comprehensive implementation of the registration-based IPO system, increased market volatility, and frequent "black swan" events affecting single stocks, the risk-reward ratio of traditional stock-picking has continuously declined. Consequently, the advantages of ETFs have become increasingly prominent, turning them into a "new favorite" for these investors.
Compared to the style of heavily concentrating in small and mid-cap stocks, ETFs offer superior liquidity and return stability, along with low fees, facilitating low-cost, steady investment strategies.
In fact, many public Fund of Funds (FOFs) currently employ strategies primarily investing in ETFs, particularly using combinations of broad-based ETFs and sector ETFs to implement a "core-satellite" investment approach. Based on the 2025 annual reports, many prominent retail investors' ETF allocations also reflect this strategy.
For example, Di Yanping's disclosed holdings include the China SSE STAR Market 50 ETF, the Guotai Communication ETF, and the Guolian An Semiconductor ETF, covering both broad market and sector indices. Su Weidong, while holding products like the HSBC Hang Seng Tech ETF and the Ping An Hang Seng ETF, also holds the China Merchants Bank AH Premium ETF, and is its largest holder. Additionally, investors like Li Jiandong and Teng Wei also hold multiple ETFs and frequently appear as top ten circulating shareholders.
Of course, some investors specialize in a single sector, with the healthcare sector being a major focus. Zhang Junhong and Zhang Shaofen both concentrate exclusively on the healthcare sector, employing a "all-in on a single ETF" strategy. Zhang Junhong holds 414 million shares, making him the third-largest holder of the Huabao Medical ETF, while Zhang Shaofen holds 236 million shares of the E Fund Pharmaceutical ETF, ranking as the seventh-largest holder of that product.
Shangyin Fund analysis points out that within the pharmaceutical sector, innovative drugs are likely to remain the main theme, with the sector still in a rapid growth phase, potentially leading to more companies achieving profitability this year. The recovery trend in CXO and upstream scientific services is relatively certain. Simultaneously, as policy disruptions gradually subside, domestic demand for some medical device companies is expected to recover, and their international expansion logic is likely to continue materializing.
Naturally, some investors build "Hang Seng-related ETF portfolios." As mentioned earlier, Su Weidong holds a significant number of Hong Kong stock-focused ETFs. Additionally, sectors like robotics, internet, and semiconductors also see heavy allocations from individual investors (or prominent retail investors), indicating a shared optimism regarding valuation recovery opportunities in the technology and internet sectors.
Looking ahead, as the variety of ETF products continues to expand, the allocations by prominent retail investors are likely to become more refined. Based on current holdings, core directions of focus for these investors will likely remain semiconductors and artificial intelligence within technology; innovative drugs and medical equipment within healthcare; and the internet and tech sectors within the Hong Kong market. Industry insiders caution that while ordinary investors can learn from the sector selection logic of prominent retail investors, they must control their position sizes according to their own risk tolerance and avoid blindly following concentrated allocation trends.
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