Which institutions hold the most influence in China's A-share market? Traditionally, this group includes mega-sized state-owned investment entities representing the "national will," the social security fund, large insurance conglomerates, major public fund houses, top-tier foreign institutions, and leading quantitative investment firms. Now, a new category has emerged: mega-sized private equity institutions. An analysis of the ultimate holders of public fund ETFs at the end of 2025 reveals that top-tier private equity firms have begun to make substantial, collective, and large-scale entries into related products. The leading firm's holdings have reached a scale of nearly ten billion yuan. Considering the disclosure rules for public fund products, this often indicates that these institutions possess even more impressive holding scales, positioning them alongside existing mega-institutions as dominant market forces. While the majority of investors remain focused on the inflows and outflows of northbound capital and the subtle shifts in public fund positioning, a "storm" has been quietly brewing within the "teacup" of the private equity circle.
The "Stealth Whale" Surfaces In the 2025 fund annual reports, a private equity firm named "Beijing Chengyang Investment Co., Ltd." (hereafter "Chengyang Investment") quietly appeared, ascending to become the most significant private equity investor in the ETF market. Third-party data shows that Chengyang Investment appeared on the list of top ten holders for at least 21 ETFs, with staggeringly large holdings. According to research from China Securities, by the end of 2025, a total of 193 private equity firms appeared in the top ten holder lists of 390 ETFs, holding approximately 14.532 billion units in total. Among them, Chengyang Investment topped the list with 7.876 billion units, commanding nearly half of the private equity holdings. Further analysis reveals that Chengyang Investment's heavy holdings in the fund market are quite broad. They include representative broad-based ETFs like the CSI 300 ETF, CSI 500 ETF, and ChiNext ETF, as well as thematic ETFs focused on technology sectors such as semiconductors, the digital economy, consumer electronics, and robotics—the latter being among the year's top performers. Additionally, the firm holds resource-focused ETFs like non-ferrous metals, rare earths, and rare metals; Hong Kong market-focused ETFs like the Hang Seng Internet, Hang Seng China Enterprises, and Hang Seng Consumption ETFs; and even ETFs covering sectors like gaming and securities. Whether considering the number of held products, the scale of asset allocation, or the sectors and proportions, all point to one possibility: this institution wields significant influence over the market.
What is its Background? The sudden emergence of Chengyang Investment, dominating the ETF market with holdings valued in the tens of billions, has garnered significant attention within investment circles. According to filing information from the Asset Management Association of China, Chengyang Investment was established in 2017 and only completed its private fund manager registration in August 2020. Its current registered management scale has exceeded 10 billion yuan—the maximum filing caliber for private equity firms, though not necessarily the actual managed amount. As a third-party observer, it's evident that this seemingly low-profile private equity firm has a "substantial background." Its ultimate controlling shareholder is China Chengtong Holdings Group Co., Ltd. Official information shows that Chengtong Group was established in 1992 through the merger of state-owned logistics enterprises directly under the former Ministry of Materials. It was once responsible for the procurement, allocation, warehousing, and distribution tasks of important state-mandated production materials. In 2005, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission designated China Chengtong as a pilot for state-owned asset management companies. Currently, this central state-owned enterprise group is positioned as a "market-oriented professional platform for the flow, restructuring, and layout adjustment of state-owned capital." In other words, Chengyang Investment is not an ordinary secondary market private equity firm. It boasts a powerful shareholder background and may even bear the mission of preserving and increasing the value of state-owned assets. Furthermore, Chengyang Investment's legal representative is Wang Lingli, who previously served as the General Manager of the Equity Management Department at Chengtong Group, possessing deep experience in state-owned equity operations. This explains how Chengyang Investment could mobilize such vast funds in a short period and strategically position itself across major ETFs. It is indeed backed by one of the most formidable "central SOE aircraft carriers" in China's capital market.
Portfolio Highlights "Signals" A detailed breakdown of Chengyang Investment's portfolio structure further reveals that broad-based indices occupy an absolute core position for the institution. Based on data from the end of last year, Chengyang Investment's key holdings in broad-based index-related products included 4 CSI 300 ETFs, 3 CSI 500 ETFs, and 1 ChiNext ETF. Taking the year-end holder status of the three largest CSI 300 ETFs by industry scale—Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, E Fund CSI 300 ETF, and ChinaAMC CSI 300 ETF—as an example, Chengyang Investment appeared four times across these three key funds at year-end, holding nearly 600 million units in total, with a value comparable to holdings from top-tier insurance asset managers.
Such a holding account structure, based on currently disclosed accounts, shows that Chengyang Investment includes at least several large accounts such as the Chengyang Flexible Allocation Private Fund, Chengyang Intelligent Allocation Private Fund, Chengyang No.1, Chengyang No.2, and Chengyang Strategic New Industry Fund. This also hints at another possibility: given the limitations on the disclosure level of holding accounts, the currently published holdings of Chengyang Investment in ETFs and equity assets might represent just the "tip of the iceberg," with its actual positions likely far exceeding the disclosed figures.
Potential for Significant Market Impact Moreover, this "wide dispersal" method and strategy of portfolio allocation closely resemble the approaches of historical quasi-stabilization funds and large insurance asset managers. Considering Chengyang Investment's strong state-owned background and its appearance alongside institutions like Central Huijin in holder lists with holdings valued in the tens of billions, the potential functions this institution might undertake are thought-provoking. This phenomenon sends a clear signal: as various long-term funds gradually enter the market, the concept of institutions undertaking "stabilizing functions" is expanding—the stabilizing forces within the capital market are continuously strengthening. When "state-affiliated" capital heavily invests in these broad-based ETFs, it also seems to represent the growing importance of ETFs within the market stability system. In simple terms, broad-based ETFs are like a "super fruit basket" filled with leading companies across various industries. Buying them is equivalent to purchasing the core assets of the Chinese economy with one click, providing a "floor" for the capital market and further boosting long-term investor confidence. This approach is being adopted by an increasing number of long-term institutions.
A "Newcomer" in Money Market Funds Apart from the distinctly state-affiliated Chengyang Investment, another noteworthy investment institution emerged among the ETF holding institutions in the 2025 annual reports. Holding the second-largest position is Hengyi Chiyin (Shenzhen) Private Fund Management Co., Ltd. (hereafter "Hengyi Chiyin"), with holdings reaching 1.963 billion units, second only to Chengyang Investment. Observation reveals that Hengyi Chiyin's investment approach differs markedly from Chengyang Investment's. It focuses its attention on money market ETFs. Data shows that this private equity firm appears among the top ten holders of the Yinhua Daily Interest ETF and the HuaBao Tianyi ETF, with the Yinhua Daily Interest ETF's scale exceeding 70 billion yuan. This allocation clearly indicates that Hengyi Chiyin is using money market ETFs as a "reservoir" for its substantial funds, balancing liquidity management with basic returns. This private equity firm also has a "substantial background." Information shows that Hengyi Chiyin was wholly established by the Ping An Insurance Group and officially completed its registration in August 2025. Currently, the firm has only 5 full-time employees, yet its registered management scale has surpassed the 10 billion yuan mark, and it has only filed one product. This "minimalist" team structure paired with a "massive" fund scale is a typical characteristic of insurance-affiliated private equity firms. Insurance-affiliated private equity has previously been confirmed to possess the potential for enormous capital bases. For instance, the joint venture between Xinhua Asset Management and China Life Asset Management, Honghu Fund (managed by Guofeng Xinghua), was confirmed to potentially exceed 100 billion yuan in scale.
A Wealth of "Vehicles" and Strategic Intent Interestingly, in the holder list of the Yinhua Daily Interest ETF, Hengyi Chiyin and Chengyang Investment are "in agreement," both appearing among the top holders. This reflects that, in the current market environment, both the "new national team" with industrial central SOE backgrounds and those with insurance backgrounds are, without prior arrangement, stockpiling ammunition through high-liquidity instruments, quietly awaiting market opportunities.
It is worth noting that over the past year, securities-focused private equity firms under large listed insurance groups have become a significant force in China's private equity landscape. A prominent example under the spotlight is the Honghu Fund, jointly established by China Life Insurance and New China Life Insurance, which has aggressively entered the core shareholder groups of several large-cap blue-chip stocks. Another interesting finding is that this "insurance shadow" is reflected in the Yinhua Daily Interest ETF through a firm named "Beijing Lexi Private Fund." This Beijing-based private equity firm holds a substantial 7.38 million units in this money market ETF. Based on the net asset value per unit at the end of December last year, the holding value amounts to approximately 738 million yuan. More crucially, Lexi Asset Management ranked third among private equity firms holding ETFs in the 2025 annual reports. The firm's legal representative and investment head, Yang Yang, worked at Taikang Asset Management from 2002 to 2015, serving as the Managing Director of Equity Investments in the firm's equity investment department.
This raises an important question: Whether it's Hengyi Chiyin or Chengyang Investment, their willingness to deploy billions of yuan into money market funds—a defensive posture of "hoarding ammunition"—could it be in preparation for a potential major market reversal in the future?