Since the beginning of 2025, strong stock market performance has driven the public mutual fund industry to achieve remarkable growth, with assets under management reaching new heights.

On September 25, the Asset Management Association of China released statistics showing that public mutual fund assets reached 36 trillion yuan for the first time by the end of August 2025, marking the fifth historical breakthrough this year. Following the initial breakthrough of 34 trillion yuan at the end of June and 35 trillion yuan at the end of July, August witnessed another milestone achievement.

Data analysis reveals that driven by favorable stock market conditions, equity funds experienced growth of 628.069 billion yuan in August, while hybrid funds increased by 332.704 billion yuan. These two fund categories demonstrated the largest growth rates, combining for approximately 960.8 billion yuan in increases, representing 81.61% of the total 1.18 trillion yuan growth in public mutual funds during August. Additionally, money market funds and QDII funds also recorded varying degrees of growth.

However, while most fund categories expanded in scale, bond funds experienced a slight decline. Bond fund assets totaled approximately 7.21 trillion yuan at the end of August, decreasing by 28.505 billion yuan from July's 7.24 trillion yuan.

**Capital Flight from Bonds to Stocks**

The latest public mutual fund scale data shows that as of the end of August 2025, the combined net asset value of 164 fund management companies reached 36.25 trillion yuan, setting a historical record and representing a 1.18 trillion yuan increase compared to the end of July.

Throughout 2025, public mutual fund assets have achieved new highs for five consecutive months, with scales at the end of April, May, June, July, and August reaching 33.12 trillion yuan, 33.74 trillion yuan, 34.39 trillion yuan, 35.08 trillion yuan, and 36.25 trillion yuan respectively.

The progression shows public mutual funds first breaking through 34 trillion yuan at the end of June, then 35 trillion yuan at the end of July, and finally 36 trillion yuan at the end of August, achieving a new milestone each month.

Continued economic recovery and sustained stock market warming have supported the continuous climb in total public mutual fund assets. Statistics from the Asset Management Association of China also demonstrate the pivotal role that equity and hybrid funds play in public fund scale growth.

By category, equity funds achieved the largest scale growth in August. Equity fund assets reached 5.55 trillion yuan at the end of August, increasing by approximately 628.069 billion yuan compared to 4.92 trillion yuan at the end of July. In terms of shares, total equity fund shares reached approximately 3.52 trillion at the end of August, increasing by 79.7 billion shares from 3.44 trillion at the end of July. The much smaller growth in fund shares compared to asset scale indicates that equity fund growth was primarily driven by net asset value appreciation.

Besides equity funds, hybrid funds also achieved scale growth in August. Hybrid fund assets reached 4.16 trillion yuan at the end of August, increasing by approximately 332.704 billion yuan from 3.83 trillion yuan at the end of July.

Rough calculations show that equity and hybrid funds combined grew by 960.773 billion yuan in August, accounting for over 80% of public mutual fund scale growth during the month.

Additionally, money market funds, as the largest fund category by scale, also achieved growth in August. Money market fund assets reached 14.81 trillion yuan at the end of August, increasing by approximately 196.349 billion yuan from 14.61 trillion yuan at the end of July. QDII funds, despite being the smallest fund category by scale, similarly achieved growth. QDII fund assets reached 797.317 billion yuan at the end of August, increasing by approximately 67.273 billion yuan from 730.044 billion yuan at the end of July.

However, the stock-bond seesaw effect became prominent. Against the backdrop of favorable stock market conditions, capital demonstrated a degree of "abandoning bonds for stocks." Among the five types of open-end funds, only bond funds experienced decline. Data shows that public bond fund assets totaled approximately 7.21 trillion yuan at the end of August, declining by 28.505 billion yuan compared to 7.24 trillion yuan at the end of July.

Notably, bond fund assets have declined for two consecutive months. Previously, bond fund assets experienced a slight decline of 48.192 billion yuan in July. Industry professionals indicate that bond market volatility has reduced the attractiveness of bond funds, leading some investors to choose redemptions. Additionally, recently issued bond funds have been affected by market conditions, frequently experiencing extended fundraising periods.

**CATL Remains Top Holding**

With the completion of 2025 interim report disclosures, public mutual fund portfolio distributions have been revealed.

According to data, manufacturing, finance, and information transmission, software and information technology services rank as the top three sectors by holding market value, accounting for 52.62%, 11.62%, and 6.58% respectively.

In key holding areas, technology sectors including semiconductors and internet have attracted significant capital inflows, with stocks like Zhongji Innolight and Cambricon being heavily held. In high-end manufacturing, new energy industry chain companies such as CATL and BYD, along with industrial automation companies like Lianying Laser, have become new allocation directions. In the consumer sector, traditional consumer stocks like liquor and home appliances have been partially reduced, but Tencent Holdings and Kweichow Moutai maintain relatively high holding market values.

In holding market value rankings, CATL continues as the top holding of public mutual funds, with 1,776 funds holding heavy positions in the stock, totaling 142.659 billion yuan in market value. Notably, this holding market value has decreased compared to 170.837 billion yuan at the end of 2024. From a stock price perspective, CATL showed significant gains in 2025, indicating that while it remains the top holding of public mutual funds, funds have somewhat reduced their positions compared to previous levels.

Additionally, Kweichow Moutai and Tencent Holdings ranked as the second and third largest holdings with market values of 126.454 billion yuan and 102.308 billion yuan respectively. 399 funds hold heavy positions in Cambricon worth 37.985 billion yuan.

In the list of stocks with increased fund holdings, Zhongji Innolight topped the list with 394 additional funds holding heavy positions in the interim report. The stock was held by 201 funds in the first quarter of 2025, increasing to 595 in the interim period, with total holding market value reaching 28.64 billion yuan. Funds holding heavy positions in Neophotonics, Shenzhen Kinwong Electronic, Sheng Hong Technology, and Ping An Insurance all increased by more than 200 compared to the first quarter report. In the second quarter, public mutual funds significantly increased positions in leading technology stocks.

Notably, technology stocks including Zhongji Innolight, Neophotonics, Shenzhen Kinwong Electronic, and Sheng Hong Technology have experienced substantial price gains this year. Since the beginning of 2025, capital markets have been actively traded, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising from 3,351.76 points at the beginning of the year to 3,828.11 points on September 25, an increase of 14.21%.

In the top 50 stock reduction list, XCMG Construction Machinery was reduced the most by public mutual funds. In the first quarter of 2025, funds held 815 million shares of the stock, decreasing to 427 million shares in the interim period, a reduction of 388 million shares. Bank of China was reduced by 370 million shares, while Aier Eye Hospital and Alibaba Health were both reduced by over 300 million shares.

With rising stock markets, the market value of listed company stocks held by public mutual funds has also reached new highs. Data shows that as of June 30, 2025, public mutual funds collectively held various types of listed stocks worth 7.19 trillion yuan, setting a historical record. This marks the first time in the industry that public fund stock holdings exceeded 7 trillion yuan, compared to 6.9 trillion yuan at the end of the first quarter and only 5.7 trillion yuan a year ago.

Since the beginning of 2025, public mutual fund dividends have been quite generous. Data shows that as of September 26, 2025, public mutual funds distributed dividends 5,513 times during the year, with total dividend amounts reaching 181.613 billion yuan, compared to 141.528 billion yuan in the same period last year, representing a 28% year-over-year increase.

In terms of dividend amount proportion, bond funds continue to dominate dividend distributions. Since the beginning of 2025, bond funds have distributed dividends 4,353 times, with total dividend amounts reaching 133.644 billion yuan, representing approximately 10% year-over-year growth in total dividend amounts. For equity funds, total dividend amounts since the beginning of 2025 reached 39.778 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 165% compared to the same period last year.

Specifically regarding funds with the highest dividends, the top 10 by dividend scale are mainly stock index funds, including 1 medium-to-long-term pure bond fund and 9 passive index funds, primarily CSI 300 ETFs. Among these, Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF distributed dividends totaling 8.394 billion yuan.