20 billion funds "precisely bottom-fished"! Who missed the chance during the sharp decline?

Why Have Broad-based ETFs Become a Safe Haven Amidst the Plunge?

Financial Associated Press, March 24 (Reporter Yan Jun) “Be greedy when others are fearful,” and those who bought in yesterday were rewarded by the market.

On February 24, the A-share market rebounded from its lows. Although there was a decline in volume, major core indices turned green again, with many stocks reaching their daily limit up. In the ETF dimension, the Asia-Pacific market faced a “Black Monday” yesterday, experiencing a sharp drop. Market funds did not waste the opportunity of the downturn and once again staged a buying spree during the dip.

Between the rise and fall, there were plenty of market highlights: on one hand, nearly 20 billion yuan of buying funds launched a strong counterattack;

According to statistics from Financial Associated Press reporters, the entire market ETF saw a net inflow of 19.4 billion yuan on March 23, contrary to the market trend. Among them, broad-based ETFs became the top choice for bargain-hunting. The Hu-Shen 300 ETF from Huatai-Pb had a net inflow of over 3.7 billion yuan, leading the pack, while the Shanghai Composite Index ETF from Fortune and the Huaxia SSE 50 ETF had net inflows of 1.82 billion and 1.58 billion yuan, respectively; the CSI 1000 ETF from Southern, Huaxia’s Sci-Tech Innovation Board 50 ETF, and the ChiNext ETF from E Fund all had net inflows exceeding 1 billion yuan.

On the other hand, who pushed the rise? Was it large funds entering the market? The trading volume of ETFs revealed some signals.

Investors hoping for large fund participation may be disappointed. The A500 ETF led the market in trading volume, followed by the ChiNext ETF and the Sci-Tech 50 ETF. The large fund barometer, Hu-Shen 300 ETF from Huatai-Pb, had a total trading volume of 3.784 billion yuan, almost halving from the previous trading day’s volume of 6.799 billion yuan.

The A500 ETF’s trading volume also did not suddenly spike. Since March, the A500 ETF has maintained a high trading volume, with multiple ETFs exceeding 10 billion yuan in daily trading volume. At the end of each quarter, the leading players of the A500 ETF would engage in a fierce competition for scale ranking.

Right Timing! Nearly 20 Billion Yuan Invested During the Plunge, Broad-based ETFs Are the Most Favored.

Looking at the scale of fund inflows, the large funds that the market is hoping for may still be on the sidelines.

From the ETF perspective, the entire market saw a net inflow of 19.4 billion yuan, of which broad-based ETFs had a net inflow of 22.3 billion yuan, while style strategy ETFs saw a net inflow of 7 billion yuan, and industry and thematic ETFs experienced net outflows.

In terms of core broad-based ETFs, the Hu-Shen 300 ETF from Huatai-Pb had a net inflow of over 3.7 billion yuan, leading the way, while the Shanghai Composite Index ETF from Fortune and the SSE 50 ETF from Huaxia had net inflows of 1.82 billion and 1.58 billion yuan, respectively. The CSI 1000 ETF from Southern, the Sci-Tech Innovation Board 50 ETF from Huaxia, and the ChiNext ETF from E Fund all had net inflows exceeding 1 billion yuan.

Among the top ten ETFs by net inflow, there were also the Hu-Shen 300 ETF from Harvest and the Hu-Shen 300 ETF from E Fund, with net inflows of 870 million and 700 million yuan, respectively.

In terms of industry thematic ETFs, the securities ETF from Guotai had the largest net inflow, at 600 million yuan, while investors still have not given up on increasing their holdings in Hong Kong stocks, with the Hang Seng Technology ETF from Huatai-Pb receiving nearly 600 million yuan in net inflows.

Among the top ten ETFs by net inflow, besides core broad-based ETFs like the Hu-Shen 300 ETF and the SSE 50 ETF, the appearance of the Shanghai Composite Index ETF from Fortune surprised the market.

In terms of tracking indices, the ETFs related to the Hu-Shen 300 Index gained nearly 6 billion yuan in net inflows yesterday, while those tracking the Shanghai Composite Index and the Sci-Tech 50 ETFs received net inflows of 2.37 billion and 1.92 billion yuan, respectively.

As of March 23, the latest scale of the Shanghai Composite Index ETF from Fortune was 10.702 billion yuan, breaking the 10 billion mark again after the “924” market in 2024. A public fund person pointed out that the funds entering during the drop prefer broad-based ETFs because historical experience shows that the impact of geopolitical conflicts on the stock market often follows the path of “short-term shocks - desensitization - return to fundamentals.” With the release of panic emotions, the market welcomed a rapid rebound.

In addition, gold-related thematic ETFs, non-ferrous ETFs, and chemical ETFs all experienced varying degrees of net outflows, but the extent was not large, with the Hua’an Gold ETF having the largest net outflow of 1.2 billion yuan.

The Market Is Concerned About Whether Large Funds Will Enter?

On March 23, the market experienced indiscriminate selling, reflecting a liquidity squeeze caused by panic selling. The entire market is concerned about whether national team-type stabilization funds will enter?

Dongfanghong Asset Management pointed out that the operation of national team-type stabilization funds has matured, becoming the “ballast” for counter-cyclical adjustments. The cash return in January was not a signal to exit but a “cooling” operation during a heated market, reflecting the positioning of “counter-cyclical adjustment.” In the current window of abnormal market fluctuations, the role of the “market stabilizer” is expected to be reactivated.

From the ETF perspective, the A500 ETF giants dominate the trading volume rankings for broad-based ETFs.

The A500 ETF from Huatai-Pb led the market with a total trading volume of 7.401 billion yuan, while the A500 ETFs from Huaxia, Southern, and Guotai all had daily trading volumes exceeding 6 billion yuan.

Considering the current quarter-end timing, the familiar rhythm has returned, and each A500 ETF fund has started a new round of competition for quarter-end rankings.

Since October 2025, when the market heard the news that “each of the two exchanges would select one CSI A500 ETF to include in the options targets,” the competition for A500 ETF rankings has been intense at the end of each quarter. However, with the news lingering without resolution, the competition has intensified, extending the frontline of the ranking battle from the last week of each quarter to now throughout March, with the A500 ETF constantly dominating trading volume.

From the competitive landscape of scale, it seems to be becoming clearer, with a “small giant” pattern beginning to take shape, with two listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and two on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The A500 ETF from Huatai-Pb continues to lead with a scale of 37.782 billion yuan, while the A500 ETF from Southern closely follows with a scale of 36.7 billion yuan, with both products listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, respectively.

The A500 ETFs from Guotai and Huaxia have scales of 29.015 billion and 28.817 billion yuan, respectively, with not much difference in scale, and are listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai exchanges.

Since March, all four A500 ETFs have exceeded 100 billion yuan in trading volume, far surpassing the trading volume of the Hu-Shen 300 ETF, indicating a clear intention to grow in scale.

In addition, in terms of scale, the A500 ETF from E Fund is ranked fifth with a scale of 25.088 billion yuan, also belonging to the first tier. However, from the trading volume perspective, its trading volume of 46.455 billion yuan since March seems not to have participated in this trading volume contest.

Industry insiders noted that there is institutional fund participation in the major counterattack, but the likelihood of national team-type stabilization funds entering is low. “Current market liquidity is not poor, and in this round of adjustment, the A-share decline is far less than that of markets in Japan and South Korea,” pointed out another public fund professional.

“The recent rapid decline in the A-share market has released a lot of risks in advance, with the dividend yield of the Hu-Shen 300 rising to 2.8%, further enhancing its attractiveness compared to the yield of ten-year government bonds, while the downside risk may be relatively limited,” believes JingShun Great Wall Fund, noting that the market’s medium-term logic remains unchanged. The underlying logic of this round of revaluation of Chinese assets is, on one hand, the reconstruction of international order and the weakening of dollar hegemony, with geopolitical conflicts likely reinforcing the logic of dollar credit weakening; on the other hand, the trend of AI industries brings productivity advancements and drives growth in many sectors, with China achieving innovative breakthroughs in several fields.

Some fund companies also pointed out that market funds judge that “price is more important than time,” and under the background of corporate profit recovery and adequate domestic liquidity, the win rate of equity assets remains high for the year. The current shock may instead provide a golden window for second-quarter layout.

(Financial Associated Press Reporter Yan Jun)