The ETF industry has experienced significant contraction this year, with total scale shrinking by over one trillion yuan. Data from Wind indicates that during the period from August 17 to August 21, the industry's scale continued to decline, albeit at a much slower pace, decreasing by 2.28 billion yuan.
Last week, funds tracking Hong Kong equities dominated the top five outflows. The Guangfa CSI Hong Kong Innovative Pharma ETF, Fullgoal CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Internet ETF, Huatai-PineBridge CSI A500 ETF, China Universal CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovative Pharma ETF, and E Fund CSI 300 Non-Bank Financial ETF saw net redemptions of 2.137 billion yuan, 1.641 billion yuan, 1.411 billion yuan, 1.272 billion yuan, and 1.161 billion yuan, respectively.
Conversely, semiconductor-related products led the inflows. Among the top five ETFs by net inflow, three were from the technology sector: the ChinaAMC SSE STAR Market Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Theme ETF, the Guotai CSI Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Theme ETF, and the Guotai CSI All-Share Communication Equipment ETF.
New fund launches were spread across various sectors. Last week, eight products across the industry extended their subscription periods, comprising six equity funds, one bond fund, and one FOF. Among the six equity funds, four were ETFs, including the China Merchants CSI Rare Metals Theme ETF, the Southern CSI A-Share ETF, the Maxwealth CSI Green Power ETF, and the Harvest CSI STAR Market Chip Design Theme ETF.
A total of 32 funds issued offering announcements last week, originating from 26 fund companies. Notably, Fullgoal Fund, China Merchants Fund, Wanjia Asset, China Asset Management, and Tianhong Fund each had more than two products in the pipeline. Concurrently, 36 new funds entered their fundraising phase, including products managed by prominent fund managers with assets under management exceeding ten billion yuan, such as the GF Industry Select fund led by Su Wenjie and the CSV细分化工产业主题ETF from Invesco Great Wall, managed by Gong Lili.
Personnel changes within the public fund industry remained frequent. Last week, 47 fund managers stepped down from their roles, with seven making complete exits, including Cui Changfeng from Yuanxin Yongfeng Fund, Gan Chuanqi and Wu Gang from Guolian Fund, Jin Li from China Merchants Fund, Liu Jia from Hongde Fund, Yan Yao from ICBC Credit Suisse Fund, and Zhao Qiang from New China Fund.
On August 21, Manulife Fund announced the departure of General Manager Ding Wencong due to a job transfer. Ding's tenure as general manager lasted two years. Li Hui was appointed as the new general manager, also serving as acting compliance officer, a role left vacant since the previous officer's departure in June. Additionally, on August 20, Taixin Fund announced that Liu Xiaofang resigned as compliance officer for personal reasons, with Li Gaofeng succeeding her. Liu's tenure spanned five years and seven months.
Performance-wise, data from Wind shows that 7,976 funds posted negative returns last week, with 200 products experiencing net value declines exceeding 5%. The East Money Jingqi Driver A fund recorded the worst performance, with a return of -9.09%. As of the end of the second quarter of 2026, its largest holding was Shanghai Hanxun, accounting for 10.82% of the fund's net asset value, which has hit the regulatory red line. The fund's top ten holdings also included ST Zhenlei, a stock that has been held for three consecutive quarters. Zhenlei Technology received administrative penalties from the CSRC on April 17 due to false records in its annual report, and its shares were subjected to other risk warnings (ST designation) starting April 21. Companies facing regulatory penalties typically show early warning signs, raising questions about why the investment decision committee and risk control department of East Money Fund continued to include this stock in their core holdings.
Following a recent penalty imposed on Tianhong Fund by the foreign exchange regulator, GTHT Asset Management also faced sanctions last week. On August 17, the Shanghai branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) issued a penalty notice after inspecting the former Guotai Junan Securities. The Shanghai GTHT Securities Asset Management Co., Ltd. was found to have violated regulations concerning foreign exchange administration for qualified domestic institutional investors' overseas securities investments and failed to comply with indirect reporting requirements for balance of payments statistics. The company was given a warning, ordered to surrender illegal gains, and fined, with the total penalty amount reaching 52.5474 million yuan. In contrast, the previous fine for Tianhong Fund was merely 40,000 yuan, primarily for failing to submit reports on time. The severity of the penalties imposed on GTHT Asset Management, exceeding 50 million yuan, clearly indicates that the violations were far more serious than those of Tianhong Fund.