Prior to the Spring Festival, the stock market experienced a period of strong volatility above the 4000-point level. During the holiday, both domestic and international markets were surrounded by numerous positive factors. Coupled with the widespread display of hard-tech elements across the country, a new wave of technology enthusiasm is quietly emerging in the post-holiday stock market. Against this backdrop, identifying the best investment opportunities has become a hot topic at the beginning of the Year of the Horse.
As leading institutional players, public funds have drawn significant attention to their focus areas. The companies they researched before the holiday can partially reveal their latest thinking. Wind data shows that from the start of the year until the Spring Festival, exactly 10 public fund companies conducted over 100 research activities each. The top three were Bosera Funds (176 times), ChinaAMC (142 times), and E Fund Management (134 times). From the perspective of the researched targets, the top three companies receiving attention from fund firms during the same period were Tianshun Wind Energy, Dajin Heavy Industry, and Haitong Ruisheng.
Notably, research activities by star fund managers have sparked speculation about potential new positions. During the aforementioned statistical period, Xiao Nan of E Fund Management, Zhao Feng of Ruifeng Fund, Lao Jienan of HTFFUND, and Yan Siqian of Penghua Fund all appeared on the research list. Both Lao Jienan and Yan Siqian researched Haitong Ruisheng.
The chemical sector may become a key focus. Xiao Nan, along with several colleagues, conducted an on-site research visit to Runtu Co., Ltd. As a well-known consumer sector investor who gained fame in the liquor industry, Xiao Nan's entire management product history is with E Fund Management. From 2012 to the present, he has managed 10 funds at E Fund. As of the end of the fourth quarter of last year, he currently manages four funds with a combined size of approximately 27.261 billion yuan. The best tenure return for his managed funds is 307.89%, achieved by the E Fund Consumer Industry Stock fund, which he has managed continuously since 2012.
Besides this fund, another product he manages, the Ruiheng Flexible Allocation fund, has also more than tripled in value. Looking further at the four funds he still manages, three have achieved returns exceeding 25% over the past two years. Based on the top ten holdings of the relevant products in last year's fourth-quarter reports, while the Consumer Industry Stock fund remains heavily weighted in liquor stocks, the other three funds show a diversified range of heavily invested industries.
Taking the aforementioned Ruiheng Flexible Allocation fund, which has the best performance over the past two years, as an example, its top ten holdings at the end of last year included Zijin Mining Group, Kweichow Moutai, XCMG Construction Machinery, Shennan Circuits, Zhongji Innolight, Juhua Group, Industrial Fulian, China Merchants Energy Shipping, Sailun Group, and Ping An Insurance. This list clearly covers multiple sectors, balancing value and growth, consumer blue-chips, and technology growth stocks, though it primarily consists of leading companies, or the second and third largest players, in their respective fields.
Perhaps after nearly a year and a half of a bull market, the valuation attractiveness of some leading stocks has begun to diminish. Consequently, Xiao Nan's focus has shifted towards deeper segments within hot sectors, such as the chemical industry represented by the aforementioned Juhua Group. Wind data shows that before the holiday, Xiao Nan, along with three colleagues, conducted an on-site research visit to Runtu Co., Ltd. in the chemical sector. This stock did not appear in the top holdings of any fund he managed in the fourth-quarter reports.
According to the published research records, on February 5th, Xiao Nan, along with colleagues Yang Xiehe, Jia Jian, Ye Xi, and others, participated in the on-site research of this company, indicating a high level of importance placed on this player in the specialty chemicals segment. The questions raised by the E Fund team primarily revolved around various aspects of the company's fundamentals.
For instance, in response to a question about the company's industrial chain layout, the company stated that by implementing a "backward integration" strategy and extending the industrial chain upstream, it has achieved significant results in building a supporting industrial chain. The company has already established production capacity for key intermediates like reduction agents, effectively ensuring the supply of raw materials. Simultaneously, the company will continue to increase planning, research, and development efforts for key intermediates to ensure the completeness of its industrial chain. Currently, the company's dye industry system has formed a complete industrial chain spanning from thermal power, steam, chlorine gas, and caustic soda to intermediates, filter cakes, and dyes.
When responding to the widely anticipated company performance forecast for the 2025 fiscal year, the company stated: "Based on preliminary calculations by the company's finance department (unaudited by auditing institutions), it is estimated that the net profit attributable to owners of the parent company for the 2025 fiscal year will be between 600 million and 700 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 181.05% to 227.89%. The estimated net profit attributable to owners of the parent company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses for the 2025 fiscal year is between 270 million and 370 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.75% to 73.70%. The specific financial data for the 2025 fiscal year will be subject to the figures disclosed in the 2025 annual report."
Looking at the secondary market performance, this company, which experienced modest gains (10% and 11.33%) in the previous two years, has achieved a significant rise so far this year, with a year-to-date increase of approximately 98% as of the pre-Spring Festival period. Regarding public fund holdings, based on the top ten circulating shareholders from last year's third-quarter report (as the annual report is not yet available), no fund had entered the top ten list at that time.
Based on the performance forecast released by the company before the holiday, Runtu Co., Ltd. is likely to deliver a surprisingly positive report card in its official annual report. The company's performance forecast indicates a net profit attributable to the listed company's shareholders of 6 billion to 7 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 181.05% to 227.89% compared to the same period last year. After deducting non-recurring gains and losses, the net profit is forecasted to be 2.7 billion to 3.7 billion yuan, an increase of 26.75% to 73.70% year-on-year.
Zhao Feng conducted an on-site research visit to BOE Technology Group, suggesting potential interest in a leading semiconductor display company. Although his tenure of approximately 11 years is shorter than Xiao Nan's 13.5 years, Zhao Feng is also a seasoned veteran. Unlike the former, Zhao Feng has managed only one product since February 2020: the Ruifeng Balanced Value Three-Year Holding fund.
According to Eastmoney.com, Zhao Feng participated in the establishment of Jiao Yin Schroder Funds in 2005, serving as fund manager, deputy investment director, and dedicated portfolio investment director. In 2014, he participated in the establishment of Xingju Investment Management Co., Ltd., serving as deputy general manager and investment manager. He joined Ruifeng Fund in November 2019 and became the fund manager of the Ruifeng Balanced Value Three-Year fund on February 21, 2020. By the end of 2025, the size of his managed fund reached 11.663 billion yuan, with the best tenure return for his managed funds being 73.20%.
Looking at the performance over the nearly two years leading up to the Spring Festival, the net value growth rate of the Ruifeng Balanced Value Three-Year fund approached 60%. Based on the fund's fourth-quarter report from last year, Zhao Feng's selections for the top ten holdings primarily consisted of value blue-chip stocks, specifically including Contemporary Amperex Technology, Tencent Holdings, Midea Group, Weiming Environmental Protection, China Taiping, Luxshare Precision Industry, China Taibao, China Resources Mixc Lifestyle Services, Ping An Insurance, and Gree Electric Appliances. Insurance and appliance stocks collectively accounted for half of the positions. Reviewing the top ten holdings across the four quarters of last year, BOE Technology Group was not present.
In explaining his strategy in the quarterly report, he emphasized: "In terms of specific allocation, we are focusing on leading domestic enterprises undergoing rapid overseas expansion. Chinese companies' overseas expansion is evolving from the past stages of contract manufacturing and product export to a phase involving local overseas manufacturing and local services. The product categories are also shifting from relatively simple products requiring minimal after-sales service to products like construction machinery, automobiles, and HVAC systems that heavily rely on service and after-sales support. The competitive landscape for such products overseas is more stable, with higher profitability. However, establishing a foothold requires a well-developed local network and brand recognition, involving a longer investment period and higher upfront costs. Moreover, it often necessitates building a complete local supply chain system. Therefore, essentially only the industry's leading enterprises, acting as 'chain leaders,' possess the capability for this."
Aligning with this focus on leading enterprises, it is logical that BOE Technology Group, a global leader in semiconductor display, would attract Zhao Feng's attention.
Wind data shows that on February 4th, he conducted a solo on-site research visit to the company. According to the publicly disclosed research records, Zhao Feng asked meticulous questions regarding the company's short-term and long-term fundamental plans, paying particular attention to its breakthroughs in the industrial economy.
For example, in response to the question "What are the latest developments in the company's innovation businesses?", BOE replied that, guided by the "N-th Curve" theory, the company continues to implement its "Screen-centric IoT" development strategy, focusing on innovation businesses such as perovskite photovoltaics and glass-based packaging substrates. In the perovskite business, leveraging its long-term accumulated capabilities in glass-based processing, thin-film preparation processes, encapsulation and equipment advantages, and large-scale intelligent manufacturing from the display industry, the company effectively empowers the research, development, and production of perovskite solar cells. In glass-based packaging substrate technology, the company has completed the construction of a pilot line for large-panel glass substrates and achieved process integration. Perovskite business and glass-based advanced packaging business, as representative initiatives under the company's "N-th Curve" strategic upgrade theory, will continue to drive the company's future growth.
Regarding the "future shareholder return plan," which is of greater concern to investors, BOE's response was: "In 2025, the company completed the cancellation of nearly 1 billion yuan worth of treasury shares by the end of May, completed the 2024 profit distribution in June with a cash dividend amount of approximately 1.87 billion yuan, completed an A-share repurchase plan exceeding 1.5 billion yuan within the year, and fulfilled the commitment outlined in the 'Shareholder Return Plan for the Next Three Years (2025-2027)'. In the future, the company will continue to implement the shareholder return plan and effectively enhance shareholder returns."
Lao Jienan and Yan Siqian researched Haitong Ruisheng, indicating broad public fund interest in this AI data specialist. In the era of artificial intelligence, sub-sectors directly related to AI elements are bound to continue attracting widespread institutional attention in the Year of the Horse. Taking Haitong Ruisheng, one of the top three researched companies mentioned at the beginning, as an example, it attracted research from a total of 242 institutions via two online meetings during the aforementioned period. The most active participants were 79 private funds and 63 public funds.
This list naturally includes renowned institutional figures, such as Lao Jienan, the current Research Director of HTFFUND, and Yan Siqian, the Investment Director of Penghua Fund. Like the previous two fund managers, they are also battle-hardened veterans with extensive experience. Eastmoney.com shows that the former has accumulated tenure of over 10.5 years, while the latter has accumulated tenure of over 8 years. Both currently manage assets exceeding 10 billion yuan.
Looking at the four funds managed by Lao Jienan, the top holdings in last year's fourth-quarter reports were still predominantly dividend blue-chip stocks. This is reflected in their respective top holdings being Zijin Mining Group, Tencent Holdings, XCMG Construction Machinery, and Ping An Insurance. At that time, Haitong Ruisheng did not appear in the top holdings of any of his funds. His funds maintained their consistent steady style, with returns over the nearly two years leading up to the Spring Festival all exceeding 35%.
In contrast, examining the seven funds managed by Yan Siqian, who is known for her skill in identifying robotic concept stocks, her fourth-quarter reports from last year largely continued this style, especially evident in the actively managed equity products she solely manages. For instance, her Penghua Carbon Neutrality Theme fund, which ranked highly last year, primarily maintained a portfolio heavily weighted in robotic concept stocks. Similarly, Haitong Ruisheng was not present in the top ten holdings of any of her funds at that time.
The shared interest of these two renowned managers in Haitong Ruisheng is likely related to several positive aspects of its fundamentals. Analyzing its strategic layout, the company focuses on new "AI + Industry" scenarios, aiming to create a second growth curve. Specifically, the company has clearly shifted its strategic focus for 2026 towards vertical industries such as embodied AI, smart tourism, and smart healthcare, promoting deep penetration from general large model services to industry-specific vertical models.
According to the disclosed research records, both managers showed particular interest in the company's developments in the training data field and its embodied AI business. For example, in response to the question "How does the company view the embodied AI data business?", the company stated: "The company is very optimistic about the embodied AI data field as a high-growth emerging sector. It has established a dedicated embodied AI data team to develop related business and has begun site selection for specialized companies in multiple cities across the country. On one hand, the country has listed embodied AI as a future industry for key cultivation. On the other hand, the 'brain' controlling robot cognition and decision-making is still in its early stages of development, and large models still have shortcomings in generalization capabilities. Therefore, achieving large-scale implementation will rely on vast amounts of high-quality, fine-grained training data, indicating immense market potential in this field."
When institutions further inquired about specific plans in this direction, the company emphasized: "Currently, several leading domestic and international technology companies have initiated large-scale procurement of embodied AI data. The demand encompasses interaction data of robots in real scenarios, data required for building simulated world models, etc. Simultaneously, some local governments are actively planning the construction of embodied AI training grounds, aiming to engineer the production of high-quality embodied data to empower scientific research and industrial applications. Presently, the company has initiated cooperation with multiple robot manufacturers and has started order demand discussions with several leading technology giants and local governments. It is advancing the delivery of sample data and the design and implementation of training ground solutions, laying a solid foundation for the accelerated development of its embodied AI data business."
(Mentioned funds and individual stocks are for illustrative analysis only and do not constitute investment advice.)