A-share markets concluded the Lunar Snake Year week with major indices posting volatile gains. The CSI 300 Index rose 0.36%, while the CSI A500 Index advanced 0.84%. The ChiNext Index gained 1.22% for the week, and the STAR 50 Index climbed 3.37%. Hong Kong markets also saw mixed performance, with the Hang Seng Index edging up 0.03% and the Hang Seng Tech Index increasing 0.27%.

Despite the rebound in A-shares, capital flows shifted direction. Although conditions improved compared to previous weeks, equity ETFs continued to see outflows, with assets tracking the CSI 300 Index halving since the start of the year. In contrast, bond ETFs attracted significant inflows of 22.582 billion yuan this week, ending a previous losing streak.

Year-to-date, gold ETFs have emerged as the top performers, claiming the top three spots in net asset growth. Combined with the strength in bond ETFs, this suggests investors are adopting a defensive strategy ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Listed ETFs overall halted their consecutive declines, with total assets increasing by 37.484 billion yuan for the week. The total market value of ETFs rebounded to 5.36 trillion yuan, driven largely by bond and cross-border ETFs. In terms of product count, Wind data shows that as of February 14, five new ETFs were launched this week—four equity ETFs and one cross-border ETF—bringing the total number of listed ETFs to 1,435.

In terms of weekly asset changes, bond ETFs and cross-border ETFs contributed the most to growth, adding 22.582 billion yuan and 12.836 billion yuan, respectively. The former ended a five-week decline, reflecting cautious investor sentiment before the holiday. Equity ETFs saw a slight decrease of 7.27 billion yuan, bringing their total assets to 3,133.982 billion yuan. Money market ETFs and commodity ETFs increased by 1.159 billion yuan and 8.176 billion yuan, respectively.

Since the beginning of the year, equity ETF assets have shrunk by over 707.837 billion yuan as of February 14. Bond ETFs and money market ETFs also declined by 76.578 billion yuan and 11.995 billion yuan, respectively. On the other hand, cross-border ETFs and commodity ETFs saw steady growth, attracting 52.241 billion yuan and 79.928 billion yuan in net inflows.

Among ETFs linked to major indices, broad-based index products continued to see outflows, though at a slower pace, while sector and thematic ETFs mostly experienced growth. Outflows from broad-based ETFs moderated but did not reverse. ETFs tracking the CSI A500 Index decreased by 13.757 billion yuan, and those linked to the CSI 300 Index fell by 9.145 billion yuan. ETFs tied to the SSE 50 Index also declined by 3.886 billion yuan.

In contrast, ETFs tracking the SGE Gold 9999 Index grew by 6.414 billion yuan, and those linked to the Hang Seng Tech Index increased by 5.79 billion yuan, showing strong weekly performance. Thematic ETFs focused on robotics and artificial intelligence also saw inflows exceeding 2 billion yuan.

Year-to-date, ETFs tracking the CSI 300 Index have seen the largest outflows, shrinking by 597.529 billion yuan. Their current assets stand at 588.028 billion yuan, roughly half of their early-year value. ETFs linked to the CSI 1000 Index and SSE 50 Index also declined by over 100 billion yuan each, falling 119.41 billion yuan and 102.614 billion yuan, respectively. Meanwhile, ETFs tied to the SGE Gold 9999 Index, specialized chemicals, Hang Seng Tech Index, and STAR Chip Index all grew by more than 10 billion yuan, increasing 66.43 billion yuan, 32.449 billion yuan, 20.344 billion yuan, and 13.047 billion yuan, respectively.

Among fund managers, outflows from broad-based ETFs stabilized, and asset fluctuations among top institutions eased. The top 20 fund companies saw no change in rankings this week. In terms of weekly asset changes, no institution experienced outflows exceeding 10 billion yuan, unlike previous weeks. Haitong Fund capitalized on the rebound in bond ETFs, growing its ETF assets by 14.418 billion yuan in a single week. E Fund and Bosera Funds also increased their ETF assets by over 4 billion yuan each.

Meanwhile, Huatai-PineBridge and China Asset Management saw their ETF assets decrease by 4.064 billion yuan and 1.332 billion yuan, respectively. Other leading institutions recorded outflows of less than 1 billion yuan.

Year-to-date, Guotai Fund, Bosera Fund, and Huaan Fund led in ETF asset growth, increasing by 35.362 billion yuan, 23.086 billion yuan, and 19.051 billion yuan, respectively. Penghua Fund and Haitong Fund also grew by more than 10 billion yuan. In contrast, China Asset Management, Huatai-PineBridge, and E Fund saw the largest declines, with outflows of 218.637 billion yuan, 193.563 billion yuan, and 189.211 billion yuan, respectively. Harvest Fund and Southern Asset Management decreased by 98.168 billion yuan and 90.501 billion yuan.

Among leading products, the top-tier and second-tier ETFs showed divergence. Only two products in the top 10 saw asset growth, while eight of the products ranked 11th to 20th gained, largely because top-tier products are mostly broad-based ETFs, while second-tier products include more sector and thematic ETFs.

Rankings among leading products saw little change this week. E Fund Gold ETF rose one spot to 17th place, while Southern CSI A500 ETF fell out of the top 20. In terms of weekly asset movements, Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF declined by 5.421 billion yuan. ChinaAMC SSE 50 ETF and Huatai-PineBridge CSI A500 ETF decreased by 3.577 billion yuan and 2.265 billion yuan, respectively.

Among the top 20 products, gold ETFs led weekly gains. Guotai Gold ETF, Huaan Gold ETF, and Bosera Gold ETF each grew by over 1 billion yuan. Huatai-PineBridge Hang Seng Tech Index ETF and E Fund China Internet ETF increased by 1.538 billion yuan and 1.657 billion yuan, respectively.

Year-to-date, four products have seen outflows exceeding 100 billion yuan: Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, E Fund CSI 300 ETF, ChinaAMC CSI 300 ETF, and ChinaAMC SSE 50 ETF, which declined by 206.826 billion yuan, 154.357 billion yuan, 134.914 billion yuan, and 101.498 billion yuan, respectively. Harvest CSI 300 ETF also neared a 100-billion-yuan outflow.

Gold ETFs dominated the year's top gainers, with Huaan Gold ETF, Guotai Gold ETF, and Bosera Gold ETF increasing by 25.137 billion yuan, 13.473 billion yuan, and 9.784 billion yuan, respectively.