Data reveals that a total of 46 new funds were launched during the first trading week of 2026. Among them, equity-focused funds such as partial-equity hybrid funds and passive index funds dominated, with 16 and 10 launches respectively. Concurrently, a batch of equity products in sectors like technology and consumer goods had their application materials accepted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission at the start of the new year. Looking ahead to 2026 investment trends, several public fund companies indicated that technology remains a crucial long-term theme.
During the first week, 46 new funds were issued. According to Wind data, using the fund subscription start date as the statistical benchmark, a total of 46 new funds (counting only primary codes) were introduced to the entire market in the first trading week of 2026 (January 5th to January 9th). On January 5th alone, 28 new funds were competing for investor attention.
Equity funds continued to dominate the new fund launches in the first week of 2026. Wind statistics show that among the 46 funds launched in the first week, partial-equity hybrid funds led all types with 16 issuances, while passive index funds also reached 10. Additionally, the numbers for hybrid bond-secondary funds, hybrid FOFs, and enhanced index funds were 5, 4, and 4, respectively. The asset allocation of these more numerous fund varieties all involves equity assets.
From the perspective of specific sectors, many new funds focus on currently popular themes. For instance, the core strategy of Western Lead Profit Selection is "pan-insurance dividends +出海 (overseas expansion) dividends." The fund's proposed manager, Zhou Jingjing, stated that in the past, there was strong convergence between the financial and real estate sectors, but currently, their core logics have significantly diverged, with style correlation gradually decreasing, demonstrating good portfolio allocation effects.
Sci-Tech Innovation themes were particularly frequent in the names of various new funds. Specifically, in terms of index funds, products included the Southern SSE STAR Market AI ETF, Guotai SSE STAR Market 200 ETF, and Tianhong SSE STAR Market Chip Design Theme ETF, among others. On the active equity side, products like ICBC Technology Smart Selection, Bank of Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation, and Morgan Stanley Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Technology also began fundraising.
Regarding fundraising periods, the new funds launched in the first week had fundraising durations ranging from 1 day to 89 days. Among them, Orient Hongtai Consumer Research Selection A, Ruiyuan Research Selection Balanced Three-Year Hold, and China Merchants CSI Nonferrous Metals Mining Theme ETF Link A offered only a 1-day fundraising window. In terms of fundraising caps, six funds, including Dacheng CSI Battery Theme ETF, Invesco Great Wall CSI All Share Electric Utilities ETF, and Southern CSI Battery Theme ETF, had fundraising上限 (caps) reaching 8 billion yuan.
While new funds were launched intensively in the first week, another batch of new products was "poised for launch." On January 7th, the application materials for five new funds, including Huaan CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Internet ETF, GF China Securities Consumer Electronics Theme ETF, and ChinaAMC CSI Industrial Nonferrous Metals Theme ETF, were accepted by the CSRC. According to statistics from the CSRC website, as of January 8th, a total of 21 new products from 16 fund companies have had their application materials accepted since the beginning of 2026. In terms of product type, hybrid funds dominated with 12, while index funds ranked second with 6.
Equity products dominate. The "equity fever" in the early 2026 new fund market can be traced back to the entirety of 2025. Reviewing the public fund issuance market in 2025, over 1,500 new funds were successfully issued, with a total issuance share exceeding 1.1 trillion units. Among these, equity products were particularly noteworthy.
Wind data shows that, using the fund establishment date as the statistical standard, a total of 1,555 funds were issued throughout 2025 by December 31st, with a combined issuance share of 1,175.676 billion units. Compared with 1,135 funds and 1,183.833 billion units in 2024, the number of newly issued funds in 2025 increased significantly, while the issuance share remained largely flat with 2024.
From the perspective of issuance structure, against the backdrop of a strong equity market, both the number of stock fund issuances and their share proportion saw significant increases. Simultaneously, bond fund issuance cooled down amid bond market volatility.
Specifically, 279 bond funds were issued throughout the year, with an issuance share of 481.95 billion units, accounting for 40.99% of the total annual issuance share, a clear decline from the previous year's 70.19%. Stock funds issued 847 throughout the year, with a share of 425.63 billion units, accounting for 36.2% of the total annual issuance share; both the issuance number and share proportion saw significant increases compared to previous years. Hybrid funds issued 301, with a share of 160.288 billion units, accounting for 13.63%.
Although the share proportion of hybrid funds remained relatively low, when combined with stock funds, equity-containing funds collectively issued shares totaling 585.918 billion units, accounting for over 49% of the entire market, becoming the mainstay of the 2025 fund issuance market.
Compared to previous years, the growth trend of funds containing equity assets, such as stock funds and hybrid funds, was clearer in 2025. In 2023, the issuance share of stock funds was less than 150 billion units, and hybrid funds were around 150 billion units, with equity funds totaling less than 300 billion units. In 2024, stock fund shares exceeded 250 billion units, hybrid fund shares were about 70 billion units, totaling approximately 320 billion units. In 2025, the combined share of these two types of funds grew by 82.98% compared to 2024 and more than doubled compared to 2023, achieving leapfrog growth over the two years.
In the view of industry insiders, this reflects the continuous release of investors' allocation demand for equity assets against the backdrop of an improving market environment and accelerating industrial upgrading.
"Sci-Tech Innovation Fever" remains the market theme. In 2025, the "Sci-Tech Innovation Fever" was the dominant investment theme throughout the year. Entering 2026, global capital's preference for the technology sector has not cooled down, forming a梯队式 (echelon-style) layout with "multiple points blooming" in sub-sectors like AI computing power, quantum communication, commercial aerospace, and humanoid robots. Multiple public fund companies stated that technology remains a crucial long-term theme.
Invesco Great Wall Fund believes that technology will continue to be the future market theme, emphasizing a focus on areas such as computing power, semiconductors, consumer electronics, humanoid robots, as well as directions like nuclear fusion, energy storage, solid-state batteries, and innovative drugs. Simultaneously, they are optimistic about resource commodities and pro-cyclical sectors. Institutions believe that in a low-interest-rate environment, dividend-paying varieties remain stabilizers for investment portfolios.
CITIC-Prudential Fund also stated that the AI application end is expected to become a key theme for 2026. The focus of the AI industry is shifting from computing power infrastructure to the application end, with empowerment across various industries entering the stage of commercial implementation. Applications close to C-end users or empowering B-end enterprises are more likely to form clear business models and profit growth points, and the wide-ranging empowerment scope of AI applications will continuously generate cross-industry investment opportunities.
When looking ahead to 2026, Harvest Fund stated that five major industrial directions deserve close attention: first, high-end manufacturing centered on smart manufacturing; second, information technology as the industrial application of technology (including next-generation mobile communications, satellite internet, quantum information, etc.); third, the advanced materials industry covering basic upgrades and cutting-edge innovation; fourth, key energy areas focusing on nuclear energy, hydrogen energy, nuclear fusion, etc.; and fifth, the space industry focusing on areas like aerospace and deep sea, with the落脚点 (focus) being the innovative R&D and application of high-end equipment.
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