The disclosure of 2025 fourth-quarter fund reports is now complete, revealing the latest portfolio movements of the "professional shoppers" of the fund industry—publicly offered FOFs.

It was observed that in the fourth quarter of last year, FOFs continued their preference for low-risk products, with short-term financing bond ETFs becoming their top holding. Notably, as international gold prices repeatedly hit new highs, FOFs generally reduced their holdings in gold ETFs, instead significantly increasing their stakes in gold equity ETFs, demonstrating a unique "gold rush" strategy.

Furthermore, driven by strong promotion from banking channels, the total assets under management of FOFs have surpassed the 250 billion yuan mark, establishing them as a significant force in the market.

Short-term financing bond ETFs were the most favored. The 2025 fourth-quarter reports indicate that FOFs' most preferred holdings in the fourth quarter remained low-risk products, represented by short-term financing bond ETFs and short-to-medium-term bond funds.

According to Wind data statistics, as of the end of 2025, Haitong's short-term financing bond ETF was heavily held by 95 FOFs, with a total holding value of approximately 4.17 billion yuan, making it the largest fund holding among FOFs. Following closely, Guotai Lixiang Short-Medium Term Bond C, Bosera ChinaBond 0-3 Year China Development Bank ETF, and Pengyang ChinaBond-30 Year Government Bond ETF were heavily held by 2, 15, and 38 funds respectively, with holding values of approximately 1.793 billion yuan, 1.194 billion yuan, and 1.059 billion yuan.

Taking Haitong's short-term financing bond ETF as an example, as of the end of 2025, several FOFs, including Zhongou Yingxuan Stable 6-Month Hold, Ping An Stable Pension One-Year Hold, and Harvest Leading Gather Profit Stable Allocation 6-Month Hold, all held it as their number one heavily invested fund.

Guotai Lixiang Short-Medium Term Bond C was a product that saw significant FOF buying in the fourth quarter, with a quarterly increase in holdings of approximately 1.491 billion units. It was even increased to the top holding by Guotai Rui Yue 3-Month Hold. The fund manager of Guotai Rui Yue 3-Month Hold stated in the quarterly report that after timely reducing allocations to long-term bond funds early in the third quarter, the portfolio promptly replenished long-term bond fund holdings in October, capturing the rebound in the bond market. Following the downturn in the bond market starting in November, some long-term bond fund allocations were reduced, while a higher allocation to short-term bond funds was maintained to enhance the portfolio's defensiveness.

Gold ETFs were sold, while gold equity ETFs were bought. Another noteworthy phenomenon is that while international gold prices repeatedly reached new highs, gold ETFs saw net selling by FOFs in the fourth quarter.

According to Wind data statistics, as of the end of 2025, a total of 62 FOFs across the market held Huaan Gold ETF as a major position, with a combined holding of 90.8721 million units. This represented a decrease of 40.6584 million units compared to the end of the third quarter of 2025. Several FOFs, including Huaan Ying Rui Stable Preferred 6-Month Hold, Bank of Communications An Xiang Stable Pension One-Year, and Taikang Fu Tai Balanced Pension Target Three-Year Hold, all reduced their holdings.

Furthermore, Bosera Gold ETF, E Fund Gold ETF, and Guotai Gold ETF saw their FOF holdings reduced by 18.4784 million units, 5.2242 million units, and 327,400 units respectively, indicating a broad-based reduction in gold ETF holdings by FOFs.

Conversely, gold equity ETFs gained favor from FOFs in the fourth quarter. Gold equity ETFs managed by Yongwin, ChinaAMC, and Guotai all received increased holdings from FOFs, rising by 50.7386 million units, 24.032 million units, and 19.562 million units respectively. The market value of FOF holdings in Yongwin Gold Equity ETF has approached 300 million yuan.

Specifically, Peng Hua Pension 2045 Three-Year Hold and China Universal Pension 2050 Five-Year Hold primarily added to their positions in Yongwin Gold Equity ETF. GF Pension 2050 Five-Year Hold and CCB Prudent Enjoy Aggressive Pension Target Five-Year Hold mainly increased their stakes in ChinaAMC Gold Equity ETF. Guotai Min'an Pension 2040 Three-Year and Guotai Preferred Navigator One-Year Hold primarily boosted their holdings in Guotai Gold Equity ETF.

Some FOFs held both gold ETFs and gold equity ETFs as major positions. For example, ChinaAMC Pension 2055 Five-Year Hold increased its holdings in ChinaAMC Gold ETF, Huaan Gold ETF, and Yongwin Gold Equity ETF to become its fifth, sixth, and eighth largest fund holdings respectively. The fund manager stated in the 2025 fourth-quarter report that gold-related assets have garnered increasing investor attention over the past two years. Compared to commodity gold ETFs, gold equity ETFs exhibit higher volatility. However, against the backdrop of high gold prices, the potential returns from gold equities could also surpass those of commodity gold. Therefore, while maintaining a long-term bullish view on gold, the fund allocates gold-related assets across both gold ETFs and gold equity ETFs, aiming to balance certainty and offensive potential.

FOF assets under management surpass 250 billion yuan. The growing market attention on FOFs over the past year is closely linked to vigorous promotion by banking channels, including China Merchants Bank and China Construction Bank.

Among them, China Merchants Bank launched the "TREE Changying Plan" in 2024, collaborating with public fund companies to create one-stop asset allocation solutions. This initiative has produced several blockbuster products with initial fundraising exceeding 2 billion yuan each, such as Fullgoal Yinghe Preferred 3-Month Hold Mixed and Huatai-Pinebridge Yingtai Stable 3-Month Hold. At the beginning of 2026, China Construction Bank heavily promoted the "Longying Plan," and its collaboratively created Wanjia Qitai Stable Three-Month Hold was sold out in a single day, becoming the first "single-day sell-out FOF" of 2026.

According to Wind data, since the beginning of the year, six FOFs have ended their fundraising periods ahead of schedule. Besides Wanjia Qitai Stable Three-Month Hold, these include CCB Hongtai Multi-Asset Allocation 3-Month Hold, Pengyang Stable Rongxuan Three-Month Hold, Fullgoal Zhihui Stable 3-Month Hold, and GF Yueying Stable Three-Month Hold. As of now, the total assets under management for FOFs have reached 252.112 billion yuan, breaking through the 250 billion yuan threshold.

Peng Hua Fund's Asset Allocation and Fund Investment Department stated that in an environment of heightened market volatility and faster style rotation, a single asset or strategy struggles to balance returns and risk. Publicly offered FOFs, leveraging their "double diversification" advantage—spreading investments across multiple underlying funds while dynamically allocating among different assets and strategies—are gradually becoming an important tool for investors to achieve stable value appreciation, with their allocation value increasingly prominent.