According to a research report released by China Merchants Securities Co.,Ltd. (ASX: 600999), in 2026Q3 both active and passive equity-oriented fund scales contracted, with active funds seeing a larger decline and passive fund scale once again surpassing active funds; positions across all types of funds generally declined, holdings concentration fell back, and Hong Kong stock allocation ratio rebounded somewhat.
Holdings allocation rebalanced, with main board allocation rising and STAR Market plus ChiNext allocation declining; technology was trimmed, while allocations were increased to low-position sectors (pharmaceuticals and consumer) and dividend defensive sectors (banks, coal, oil and petrochemicals), though technology sector holdings remain at elevated levels.
In 2026Q3, both active and passive equity-oriented fund scales declined, with passive fund scale once again exceeding active funds. In Q3 2026, A-shares fluctuated downward, and public fund market value contracted overall. Q3 active fund scale decreased by 939.177 billion yuan to 4.06 trillion yuan, while passive funds decreased by 120.3 billion yuan to 4.20 trillion yuan.
Positions across all types of funds generally declined, with the average position of active equity-oriented funds dropping to 85.72%, down 1.54 percentage points from the previous quarter; holdings concentration of active equity-oriented funds also fell back in tandem.
From the perspective of subscription and redemption of existing funds, net redemptions of active funds narrowed, while passive funds shifted from large net redemptions to large net subscriptions; combining existing fund subscriptions/redemptions with new fund issuance, equity-oriented funds shifted from net outflow to net inflow in 2026Q3, contributing 404.1 billion yuan in incremental capital in Q3, mainly driven by passive funds.
Fixed income plus funds increased positions against the trend in Q3. From a total perspective, Q3 bond fund heavy holdings scale slightly declined to 210 billion yuan, still the second-highest historical value, and the decline in holdings scale was mainly due to stock price declines; we estimate that Q3 bond funds net bought 23.4 billion yuan of stocks against the trend, with telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and banks being the directions with more significant position increases.
Overall, the repositioning path of active equity-oriented funds in 2026Q3 shifted from previously concentrated allocation toward rebalancing. On the addition side, capital flowed back toward low-holding sectors and dividend directions. Pharmaceutical and biological products share increased 3.90 percentage points in a single quarter, of which medical services rose 2.52 percentage points; banks and coal rose 1.06 and 0.61 percentage points respectively. On the reduction side, the previously crowded technology hardware and new energy chains saw the most obvious position cuts, with electronics and power equipment falling 6.88 and 1.38 percentage points respectively, of which semiconductors and batteries fell 5.31 and 0.99 percentage points respectively. At the same time, food and beverage, home appliances, and automobiles rose 0.70, 0.50, and 0.88 percentage points respectively, with baijiu, white goods, and auto parts becoming the main replenishment directions. TMT share remains above fifty percent, with electronics and telecommunications both at the 98th percentile of the past decade, and technology holdings still at elevated levels.
In terms of holdings changes of passive funds, pharmaceutical and biological products and banks saw slight increases in share, while electronics and telecommunications shares declined. In 2026Q3, the main board share in passive fund heavy holdings rebounded, while STAR Market and ChiNext shares declined. In terms of style preference, SSE 50, CSI A50, and Guozheng Growth heavy holding shares ranked highest in month-on-month increases, while TMT, STAR 50, and ChiNext Index ranked highest in declines. Relative to active funds, passive funds remain overweight in non-bank financials, food and beverage, and banks, while underweight margins in electronics, building materials, and machinery equipment narrowed.
In 2026Q3, the Hong Kong stock allocation ratio in active fund heavy holdings rebounded. In 2026Q3, the total heavy holding scale of active funds in Hong Kong stocks reached 213.7 billion yuan, with its share in total heavy holding market value rising from 8.73% in 2026Q2 to 10.74%, up 2.01 percentage points quarter-on-quarter. The number of heavily held Hong Kong stocks increased from 355 to 386, with the number of Hong Kong stocks among the top 50, 100, 300, and 500 heavy holdings all rebounding somewhat, and the allocation ratio of Hong Kong stocks in active fund heavy holding portfolios improved significantly.
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