Fourteen more small and mid-sized fund companies have jumped into a popular product category.
According to the securities regulator's website, on November 2, BlackRock, Boda, Soochow, Rosefinch, Neuberger Berman, Guorong, Suxin, Dongxing, Huiquan, Pengan, Morgan Stanley, Yuanxin Yongfeng, Zheshang, and Huatai Baoxing — 14 fund companies in total — filed for the fourth batch of amortized cost bond funds since the strategy's relaunch, all structured as 63-month closed-end bond funds. The filings are currently in the "materials received" stage.
As a key measure supporting differentiated development for smaller fund managers, amortized cost bond fund filings reopened on August 14. Three earlier batches totaling 44 such funds have already been approved and are progressively entering the issuance phase. With this latest collective filing, the cumulative number of amortized cost bond funds filed across four batches has reached 58 in under three months.
Fourth batch filed after relaunch
Judging from the product contract design, the fourth batch follows the same framework as the previous three, each featuring a 63-month closed operation period that terminates at maturity, with a maximum fundraising cap of 8 billion yuan per product.
Looking back at the overall filing timeline: on August 14, the first day the window opened, 15 small and mid-sized fund companies including Baijia, BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Allianz, AllianceBernstein, Hongtu Innovation, Shangzheng, Rosefinch, Pengan, Caixin, Guorong, Huaxi, Yimi, Xinghe, and Xinghua filed applications ahead of the pack.
On September 11, another 13 fund companies — including Huiquan, Boyuan, Orient Alpha, Quanguo, Yimin, Taixin, Huibaichuan, Ruida, Zhonghai, Boda, Hengyue, Dongcai, and Suxin — filed for the same type of fund.
On October 8 and 9, 16 small and mid-sized fund companies filed in a concentrated push, including Caixin, Jinyuan Shunan, Jinxin, Quanguo, Hongta Hongtu, Yimi, Huibaichuan, Baijia, Allianz, Xinghua, Hongtu Innovation, AllianceBernstein, Guoxin Guozheng, Huaxi, Xinghe, and Shangzheng, seizing product development opportunities.
Under regulatory requirements, each fund company may in principle file for at most two amortized cost bond funds. Within the less than three-month filing window, over ten institutions — including BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Caixin, Quanguo, Hongtu Innovation, Yimi, Huibaichuan, Baijia, Allianz, Xinghua, AllianceBernstein, Huaxi, Xinghe, and Shangzheng — have already hit the two-product filing ceiling. If both products raise the maximum 8 billion yuan each, a single small or mid-sized fund company could gain roughly 16 billion yuan in additional assets under management.
That increment is highly significant for smaller fund managers.
Strong subscription demand on the issuance side
Alongside heated subscriptions, the 63-month closed-end bond funds under BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Hongtu Innovation, AllianceBernstein, Caixin, and Huaxi have all closed fundraising ahead of schedule and successively announced establishment, with five products reaching the 8 billion yuan cap.
For example, on September 22 and September 23, the BlackRock Wenli 63-month closed-end bond fund and the Hongtu Innovation Ruize 63-month closed-end bond fund were the first to announce early closure, with fundraising periods of just two days and three days respectively, launching a "lightning campaign" for amortized cost bond fund issuance. Establishment announcements showed both funds raised 8 billion yuan.
On September 24, the Neuberger Berman Anrui 63-month closed-end bond fund decided to end fundraising early, moving the subscription deadline up to September 23 from the originally planned December 18. Net subscriptions during the offering period amounted to 8 billion yuan.
On October 27, the AllianceBernstein Huijia 63-month closed-end fund sold out in a single day, also raising 8 billion yuan, and was established on October 29.
Amortized cost bond funds currently in issuance include products from 12 companies: Orient Alpha, Zhonghai, Taixin, Boyuan, Shangzheng, Baijia, Quanguo, Suxin, Yimi, Xinghe, Guorong, and Xinghua.
In June, the chairman of the securities regulator stated at the Lujiazui Forum that a package of measures would be introduced to support the standardized and healthy development of small and mid-sized fund companies, giving appropriate preference in product layout and business access, and actively supporting their differentiated development. The rapid advancement of amortized cost bond funds is a vivid embodiment of this policy direction.
Industry participants say amortized cost bond funds deliver tangible operational benefits to smaller fund managers. The products lock in a closed period of more than five years, providing extremely strong capital stability. Although the management fee is relatively low at just 0.15%, the long-term lock-up generates a sustained and stable management fee cash flow that can effectively improve the revenue structure of small and mid-sized fund companies.
Several smaller fund managers said regulators have handed them a "big gift package," and that amortized cost bond funds could bring more support in distribution channels or institutional access if they use them to scale up — but ultimately, success still depends on their own efforts.
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