In the past, the first-mover advantage in the ETF market was achieved by launching pioneering products and concentrating resources, allowing firms to secure a foothold in a competitive landscape marked by product homogeneity. However, as the market scale continues to expand, product differentiation diminishes, and investor demands evolve, the 5 trillion yuan ETF market can no longer rely solely on competing with hit single products. The industry is transitioning from scaling individual products to systematic operations, shifting from "selling products" to "building ecosystems." Recently, fund companies have accelerated efforts to construct ETF ecosystems, signaling a fundamental shift in competitive dynamics.

ETF ecosystem development is gaining momentum, with public fund companies taking frequent actions. Recently, firms such as Harvester Fund, China Merchants Fund, Southern Fund, and Ping An Fund have implemented strategies across multiple dimensions—including enhancing product families, building brand IP, and upgrading service systems—demonstrating their commitment to deepening ETF ecosystem development.

Harvester Fund is leveraging brand IP to create an immersive investor education ecosystem, extending ETF outreach directly to investors. On March 14, the 2026 Harvester Fund Super Index Festival concluded successfully. The event featured creative ETF-themed markets, outdoor open classes, and online live streams, offering investors an immersive index investment carnival. By designing interactive experience zones, the festival engaged investors more closely, breaking away from traditional investor education models and integrating product promotion, knowledge dissemination, and user experience—setting a reference example for industry-wide ETF ecosystem development.

On March 13, China Merchants Fund held its 2026 Spring Investment Strategy Conference, bringing together securities firms, public funds, private funds, and third-party platforms to jointly build an "ETF ecosystem" and launch its dividend family brand. Southern Fund introduced the "First Trend E-Index" mini-program on March 12, Arbor Day, using a homophone play on "tree planting" and "index" to convey the philosophy of long-term investment and dedicated companionship. The tool aims to simplify the complex fund investment process, providing users with a convenient and trustworthy decision-making assistant for long-term engagement.

On March 20, Ping An Fund hosted a brand renewal conference for its ETF division, marking the start of a new journey in ETF branding. In collaboration with Ping An Securities, the company is building a one-stop ETF investment ecosystem spanning from product creation to trading services.

Clearly, developing distinctive product matrices, enriching tool-based offerings, and enhancing comprehensive service capabilities are becoming core strategies for public funds in ETF ecosystem development. The ultimate goal is to strengthen brand recognition and competitiveness. Previously, ETF products had low differentiation, with investors focusing primarily on tracking error and fee rates. Today, brand perception and competitiveness have become critical variables influencing investment decisions.

This shift is further amplified by the industry-wide standardization of ETF naming conventions. As the late-March deadline approaches, all ETFs in the market will adopt a uniform naming format: "core investment elements + ETF + fund manager abbreviation." This change will further highlight the importance of fund manager brands in investor decision-making.

Reflecting on the ETF industry's evolution, early competition centered on "first-mover advantage"—being the first to launch products aligned with market trends allowed firms to quickly capture market share. At that time, China's ETF market was relatively small, product types were limited, and investor demands were concentrated. For fund companies, accurately deploying a single popular product could lead to rapid asset growth.

The significant first-mover advantage was particularly evident among small and medium-sized public fund institutions. For example, Pengyang Fund's 30-year government bond ETF ranks among the largest in its category; Haitong Fortis Fund's short-term financing ETF exceeds 80 billion yuan, and its urban investment bond ETF surpasses 30 billion yuan; while Fullgoal Fund has established a leading semiconductor ETF.

However, as the ETF market expanded rapidly, the drawbacks of competing with single products became apparent. On one hand, product homogeneity intensified, with multiple fund companies crowding into popular sectors, yet only a handful of products managed to secure a market position. For instance, since 2024, over 30 CSI A500 ETFs have been launched, but most faced investor sell-offs shortly after inception, with only a few achieving scale growth. Many products became "mini-funds," leading to market resource wastage.

On the other hand, as investors awakened to asset allocation concepts, they grew dissatisfied with the mere utility of single products, demanding service support and diversified solutions. Single products could no longer meet market needs.

"When the ETF market transitions from incremental to存量 competition, the first-mover advantage of single products becomes unsustainable. The real core competitiveness lies in brand influence and comprehensive service capabilities—the ability to build a complete ecosystem covering products, services, and investor education, achieving a shift from 'selling products' to 'building ecosystems,'" a fund evaluation expert from South China noted.

Against this backdrop, the competitive logic of the ETF industry has fundamentally transformed, moving from product-centric competition driven by first-mover advantage to all-round ecosystem competition. The core of ETF ecosystem development lies in constructing a synergistic system integrating products, operations, services, and investor education, breaking down barriers across segments to enable full-chain value enhancement.

Unlike traditional single-product competition models, ecosystem-oriented strategies emphasize synergy—using product matrices as the foundation, supported by service systems, and linked through investor education and refined operations. Through comprehensive coordination, this approach aims to achieve win-win outcomes for fund companies and investors.

China Asset Management further proposed opening its ecosystem wider, collaborating with partners to build an "index investment community," ultimately forming synergies across assets, capital, and services to establish ETFs as foundational tools for inclusive finance.

ETF ecosystem development is exhibiting four major trends based on current public fund initiatives, spanning products, operations, services, and investor education.

Product ecosystems are upgrading toward portfolioization and differentiation, serving as critical carriers for ETF ecosystem development. Leading public funds are no longer confined to single products in hot sectors but are focusing on diverse needs, building family-based, chained, and hierarchical product matrices to achieve differentiated competition. Compared to single products, differentiated matrices can better form core competitiveness and precisely deliver ecosystem value.

In product portfolio branding, for example, Huatai-PineBridge Fund's "Dividend Family Bucket" includes dividend-themed ETFs such as Huatai-PineBridge Dividend ETF, Huatai-PineBridge Low-Volatility Dividend ETF, Huatai-PineBridge Hong Kong Stock Connect Dividend ETF, Huatai-PineBridge Central SOE Dividend ETF, and Huatai-PineBridge Hong Kong Stock Connect Low-Volatility Dividend ETF. The "Dividend Family Bucket" transcends being a mere product collection, evolving into a market-influential brand representing professional, diversified, and reliable dividend strategy investing.

GF Fund is reconstructing ETF product power by linking previously isolated products into interconnected value chains based on industrial logic, such as energy chains and artificial intelligence chains. GF Fund's energy chain product matrix includes upstream ETFs covering rare metals, energy, and materials; midstream ETFs for power, grid equipment, and photovoltaic leaders; and downstream ETFs for batteries, energy storage batteries, and automobiles. This approach moves beyond traditional single-product thinking toward systematic construction of industrial investment ecosystems.

For investors, such systematic professional frameworks facilitate participation in an increasingly complex ETF investment era. China Asset Management advocates "Lego-thinking" for multi-asset allocation—creating finer-grained asset categories to meet diverse investor needs, embedding this approach throughout ETF product layout, and ultimately forming an ecosystem matrix covering "all assets, all scenarios."

ETF managers are achieving cross-entity resource integration and business collaboration through multi-party operational linkages. Recently, Ping An Fund and Ping An Securities synergized to comprehensively upgrade their ETF brand strategy. In ETF business, Ping An Securities stated it would collaborate with multiple market participants to build a win-win ETF ecosystem. Currently, an open online operation platform is being developed, aggregating content and strategy inputs from various fund companies, integrating data and tool capabilities from third-party service providers, and actively exploring AI applications to create an intelligent "Wealth Xiao An-ETF Investment Expert" entity, partnering with ecosystem players to optimize ETF advisory services.

Service ecosystems are extending toward "refinement and full-process" support. Public fund institutions are increasing service investments by building platforms and professional advisory teams to provide investors with end-to-end services—from product selection and portfolio configuration to risk alerts—lowering participation barriers. Nearly all leading ETF companies have established service systems via dedicated mini-programs. For instance, E Fund launched "Index Express," China Asset Management created "Red Rocket," Harvester Fund introduced "Super Jia Bei," Southern Fund built "First Trend E-Index," GF Fund operates "Index Investment Thermometer," Fullgoal Fund released "E Qi Fu," Guotai Fund developed "Guotai ETF Toolbox," Bosera Fund launched "ETF Wisdom Home," and Huabao Fund introduced "ETF All-Know," forming distinctive index investment service matrices.

Some mini-programs not only offer convenient ETF service access but also incorporate professional advisory suggestions and market references. If mini-programs are permitted to enable fund trading in the future, this will further amplify fund companies' brand value and user loyalty.

Investor education ecosystems are transitioning toward "scenario-based and engaging" formats. Public funds are breaking away from traditional investor education models by using offline events, online livestreams, and interactive activities to integrate ETF knowledge into life scenarios, enhancing investor participation and satisfaction. Initiatives like Harvester Fund's Super Index Festival represent innovative典型案例 in investor education.

Of course, ETF branding upgrades are not merely about name changes or mini-program launches. Sustainable competitive advantage requires synergistic upgrades across products, operations, services, and investor education. "ETF ecosystem development is not a short-term marketing tactic but a long-term strategy. Only by deeply integrating brand with product features and service capabilities can investor loyalty be cultivated," the fund evaluation expert emphasized. The ecosystem-building model centers on investors, addressing not only "buying" but also "continuous buying," testing companies' value output and ecosystem operation capabilities.