A novel narrative is gaining traction in capital markets: labeling assets by their "age." A recent quantitative study by Zhongtai Securities, based on public fund managers' holdings, has mapped out the generational distribution behind A-share market assets. The analysis reveals a 9.1-year age gap between the youngest and oldest representative sectors.
Using the fourth quarter of 2025 as a reference point, bond assets are approximately 39–40 years old, placing them near the median age of equity sectors—close to communications and electronics, but younger than food and beverage (41.8 years) and older than defense and military (38.5 years).
More importantly, cross-generational "consensus sectors" are being reshuffled. During the 2019–2021 "consumption-led" period, institutional investors crowded into core assets like food and beverage. By 2025–2026, against a backdrop of rapid AI industry growth and heightened geopolitical competition, the market focus has shifted to "hard tech and resources." Nonferrous metals and communications have emerged as consensus picks across younger, middle-aged, and older fund managers.
This framework implies that the preferred "age range" of assets shifts with industrial trends and valuation anchors. Some seemingly "young" new-consumption stocks may not be young at all, while traditional high-dividend oil and petrochemical stocks could become "youth stocks" favored by investors under 35. Labels alone do not guarantee excess returns.
Generational Mapping of Assets: Who Is Buying, Who Is Holding? With the average age of fund managers across the market at 38.4 years, sector assets display a clear "young, middle-aged, and old" distribution. Bond assets fall in the middle.
As public fund assets have grown to 36.89 trillion yuan, the average age of 4,166 fund managers nationwide stands at 38.4 years. By weighting the largest holdings of each fund by the manager’s age, the "age" of market assets can be precisely quantified.
As of the fourth quarter of 2025, sector distribution falls into three main groups:
Emerging Sectors (Youngest): Oil and petrochemicals (36.66 years), social services (37.1 years), steel (37.2 years), and defense and military (38.5 years).
Core Consensus Sectors (Middle-Aged): Communications (39.2 years), electronics (39.6 years), power equipment (39.7 years), and nonferrous metals (40.8 years).
Value-Holding Sectors (Oldest): Food and beverage (41.8 years), commerce and retail (42.2 years), banking (44.8 years), and coal (45.8 years). Notably, the average age of bond assets is around 39–40 years, near the market median.
Era Imprints and Shifting Themes: From "Consumption Belief" to "Hard Tech + Resources" Changes in sector allocation closely mirror shifts in macroeconomic drivers, with the market theme now fully tilted toward "hard tech and resources."
Fund managers’ allocation strategies are not static but adjust dynamically in line with changes in China’s economic growth momentum.
2019–2021 (Consumption-Led): Inflows of foreign capital and stronger institutional pricing power made "core assets" like food and beverage the preferred choice for institutional crowding.
2022–2024 (Industrial Upgrade-Led): New energy was incorporated into a national framework, and the power equipment sector gained cross-generational allocation due to its clear industrial logic.
2025–2026 (Hard Tech + Resources): Against a backdrop of global geopolitical competition and the AI industry boom, nonferrous metals have risen as long-duration strategic assets, forming a new consensus across young, middle-aged, and older managers alongside the communications sector.
The "Age Code" of Fund Managers: Muscle Memory of the 60s Generation vs. Extreme Belief of the 85s Generation Managers from different generations exhibit significant differences in stock selection due to their distinct backgrounds and experiences.
Data reveals extreme divergence in stock preferences across age groups:
60s Generation (Group G3, ages 55–60) Muscle Memory: As early participants in capital markets, they strongly prefer "monopoly barriers and perpetual operation," significantly overweighting stocks like Kweichow Moutai, Zijin Mining, Tencent Holdings, and Alibaba, while underweighting hard-tech names like Zhongji Innolight.
85s Generation (Group G7, ages 35–40) Extreme Belief: Having experienced the new energy and AI bull markets, they firmly believe in the dividends of hard-tech transformation, significantly overweighting Zhongji Innolight and Cambricon, while underweighting Zijin Mining and Kweichow Moutai.
90s Generation (Group G8, ages 30–35) Cognitive Fusion: The youngest generation is beginning to blend growth and cyclical strategies, overweighting Zhongji Innolight while also renewing focus on traditional sectors like Zijin Mining.
Breaking Stereotypes: New Consumption Turns "Old," Traditional Oil Turns "Young" Asset labels also defy conventional wisdom. Traditional consumption managers chase new-consumption stocks, while younger managers seek high volatility in traditional oil names.
Real trading data challenges entrenched stereotypes:
A new-consumption company is "not young": By the second half of 2025, its average holding age was 40.35 years, above the market average. This reflects FOMO (fear of missing out) among traditional consumption managers facing new trends, as well as veteran investors reappraising the global expansion potential of hit IPs.
An oil company is "not old": Despite being a traditional high-dividend value stock, it has unexpectedly become a "youth stock" favored by managers under 35. The reason lies in the high earnings volatility driven by international oil price fluctuations, which aligns perfectly with younger managers’ pursuit of "high volatility, high returns."
Ultimately, an asset’s "age" label is only superficial—it reflects how industrial themes of different eras are projected onto capital flows. There is no absolute age divide between emerging and traditional sectors. Whether an asset can deliver excess returns will, in the end, be determined by time.
Comments