Public offerings achieved a record high profit of 2.61 trillion yuan last year; market logic may shift from valuation recovery to profit improvement.

Securities Times reporter Li Mingzhu

With the disclosure of annual reports by public funds complete, the industry’s total earnings reached RMB 2.61 trillion, setting a new all-time high in one fell swoop. Judging from the earnings performance of individual funds, broad-market index ETF has become the undisputed “main force.” Among them, the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF topped the list of the “most profitable funds of 2025,” thanks to earnings of RMB 78.516 billion.

Public-fund earnings hit a record high

In 2025, China’s public fund market delivered a historic achievement. According to data from Tianxiang Investment Consulting, 163 public fund management companies collectively earned RMB 2.61 trillion from public funds in 2025, setting a new historical high. Compared with earnings of RMB 1.28 trillion in 2024, this represents a doubling.

In terms of fund type, in overall earnings, stock funds in 2025 annual reports generated total earnings of RMB 1.13 trillion, becoming the biggest contributor. Mixed funds ranked second, contributing RMB 0.87 trillion in earnings, which, compared with the same period last year, represents a significant increase. Earnings from bond funds, QDII funds, money-market funds, and commodity funds all exceeded RMB 1 trillion. Both bond funds and money-market funds saw total earnings of over RMB 180 billion, and compared with the same period last year, both fell by a relatively large margin.

Commodity funds had the highest earnings growth rate. In 2025, 63 commodity funds generated earnings of RMB 103.794 billion, up sharply by 551.07% from 2024. Their growth rate ranked first among all categories. FOF funds also showed very significant growth: 979 FOF funds generated earnings of RMB 18.685 billion, up 267.38% from 2024. In terms of average earnings, commodity funds were RMB 1.648 billion; overseas investment funds were RMB 205 million; stock funds were RMB 200 million—ranking in the top three.

Broad-market ETFs are the “most profitable”

Focusing on the earnings performance of individual funds, the advantages of broad-market index ETFs are especially pronounced. Among the top 20 public funds by earnings, 19 are stock-type and commodity-type funds. ETFs take 18 seats. Of these, 12 are broad-market ETFs. Meanwhile, the commodity-fund products that rank near the top in earnings are all gold ETF products.

Among them, the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF became the “most profitable fund product,” with earnings of RMB 78.516 billion. Next is the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, with earnings of RMB 55.988 billion. The Huaxia CSI 300 ETF and the Huatai-PineBridge ChiNext ETF both had earnings exceeding RMB 40 billion. The Southern CSI 500 ETF and the Jiashi CSI 300 ETF both had earnings exceeding RMB 30 billion. In addition, there are four ETFs with earnings exceeding RMB 20 billion. Across the whole market, a total of 15 ETF funds recorded earnings exceeding RMB 10 billion in 2025.

For active equity funds, the Ruoyuan Growth Value Mix A became the most profitable active fund with earnings of RMB 9.454 billion, and is also the only active equity fund ranked within the top 20 by earnings. The second-ranked position goes to Xingquan Global Runhe Mix A, whose earnings in 2025 were RMB 7.034 billion. Noah Growth Mix A ranked third with earnings of RMB 6.103 billion.

It is worth noting that the surge in the gold price brought significant returns to funds focused on related themes. Among them, gold ETFs became one of the standout products in 2025. The AEG Gold ETF, with earnings as high as RMB 23.69 billion, not only ranked tenth on the overall market’s fund earnings leaderboard, but also became the most profitable gold ETF of the year. Boshi Gold ETF and E Fund Gold ETF also performed well, with earnings of RMB 10.955 billion and RMB 9.558 billion respectively, jointly demonstrating the strong earnings-generating ability of gold-theme funds.

Fund managers collectively bullish on A shares

Based on the already disclosed 2025 annual reports, most public fund managers are optimistic about the 2026 A-share market. They believe the market overall has an upward foundation and that full-year performance is worth looking forward to.

Fu Pengbo, fund manager of Ruoyuan Fund, pointed out that although recent changes in the Middle East geopolitical situation and the East Asian scenario after Japan’s election have to some extent suppressed A-share risk appetite, the situation has not changed that China’s domestic economy has strong resilience and investors’ confidence continues to recover. Looking ahead to the market, current expectations for improvement in capital flows are somewhat positive. However, under the combined impact of accelerating credit issuance, residents’ savings gradually transforming into investment, and the policy push in the opening year of the “15th Five-Year Plan and 5th Five-Year Plan”—A shares still have a solid performance foundation.

Liu Jun, fund manager of Huatai-PineBridge Fund, said that the mid-term allocation value of China’s assets in 2026 is expected to continue rising, and the upward pattern of A shares may continue. Against this backdrop, the driving logic for A-share markets this year may gradually shift from valuation repair in 2025 to earnings improvement, with core assets likely becoming the leading force behind the market. On one hand, as the domestic economy steadily rebounds and corporate earnings progressively improve, the profitability and growth resilience of core assets are expected to stand out further. On the other hand, under the leadership of “industrial technology + expanding domestic demand,” core assets with advantages in core technology and deeply tied to the domestic demand market are expected to continue to receive key allocations of global funds and domestic institutional funds, and may become one of the core engines driving the market.

Xie Zhiyu, fund manager of Xingzheng Global Fund, believes that in 2026, non-linear growth brought by AI remains the main highlight. After the macro economy stabilizes and rebounds, the differentiation and recovery of traditional industries are also worth looking forward to. On the international front, “black swan” events occur from time to time, leading to large swings in commodity prices and market risk appetite. But unlike 2022, when the world economy was in a downturn, 2026 is a dividend period backed by the wave of the technological revolution and industrial policy support. International “black swans” are more disturbances in short-term trading. Over the full year, the development of AI and the macro economy stabilizing and rebounding will be the main storyline.

Xu Zhiyan, fund manager of Hu’an Fund, said that in 2026, the global macro economy will present a favorable environment characterized by fiscal expansion and monetary liquidity easing, giving large classes of asset allocation good opportunities. Specifically regarding the performance of gold assets, three key pricing storylines are the focus. First is the traditional U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy cycle. Second is the issue of U.S. dollar credit and the gold-buying pace by global central banks triggered by it. Before the mid-term elections, geopolitical conditions and tariff policies may still carry uncertainty, stimulating demand for gold’s defensive allocation. Third is the low correlation among gold, stocks, and bonds. In the current low interest-rate environment, gold allocation has attracted greater attention from both institutions and individual investors. The influence of this portion of capital on gold’s pricing power is also increasing day by day.

(Editor: Dong Pingping )

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