An investor, Ms. Yang, shared the performance of her "CMB Wealth Management Mixed Strategy FOF Daily Open No.1" holding, stating, "I invested 50,000 yuan and earned over 3,000 in 300 days, far better than regular wealth management products." She purchased the product based on her bank's financial advisor's recommendation, noting an unexpected return exceeding 6%. This medium-risk FOF product has achieved a cumulative return of 19.35% since inception.

Recently, propelled by bank distribution channels, FOF products have become a sought-after option in the wealth management market. Multiple investors indicate they choose FOF for its convenience, eliminating the need to select individual funds themselves, with the expectation of returns higher than standard wealth management offerings.

**Bank Channels "Set the Stage," FOF Scale Soars**

FOF, or Fund of Funds, invests in a portfolio of underlying funds, achieving diversified allocation across asset classes like stocks, bonds, and commodities. Compared to single funds, FOF emphasizes secondary risk diversification and multiple sources of return, often described as having a "professional fund selector."

Data shows that as of May 20th, the total number of FOF products reached 608, with an aggregate scale of approximately 353.178 billion yuan. Among these, 81 new FOF products were issued this year, with total issuance shares nearing 96.269 billion yuan, a significant increase from around 23.3 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Of the 81 new products this year, 30 ended their fundraising periods early, with 12 completing subscriptions in just one day, earning the label "single-day sell-out funds." For instance, E Fund Ruyi Anhui 6-Month Holding A, established on May 12th, reached a scale of nearly 3.298 billion shares on its first subscription day, May 8th.

This surge in popularity is closely tied to strong support from bank distribution channels. A channel manager from a securities asset management firm noted that about 50% of the FOF shares distributed by their institution come from bank channels. Data further reveals that among the 81 new FOFs, 74 have banks as their custodians. Out of 26 custodian institutions involved, 20 are banks. China Merchants Bank custodied the most products (15), with a custodied scale of 29.7 billion yuan. China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China custodied 9 and 8 products respectively, each with scales exceeding 10 billion yuan.

Bank mobile apps often feature dedicated FOF sections within wealth or fund modules, recommending curated FOF products to investors based on factors like return targets and risk tolerance.

Beyond distribution, many banks collaborate deeply with fund companies to build systematic FOF brands, such as CMB's "TREE Changying Plan," CCB's "Longying Plan," and Bank of China's "Huitou Plan." The securities channel manager added that private FOF products, in particular, mostly follow a bank-customized model, tailored from product structure to return targets based on bank channel requirements. However, they noted that banks' concentrated push into FOF is relatively recent, and current demand styles across banks are not vastly different.

**Performance is King, Stable FOFs Hold 80% Share**

However, the strong push from bank channels is merely a "catalyst." What truly convinces investors to commit capital is the solid return performance of FOF products.

Data indicates that 15 FOF products have achieved year-to-date returns exceeding 20% so far this year. Five products, including E Fund Advantage Drive One-Year Holding A, E Fund Advantage Return A, and BOCOM Smart Selection Starlight A, have even surpassed 30%. Concurrently, only 19 products show negative year-to-date returns, with the lowest being -2.56%.

A bank salesperson revealed that private FOFs generally offer higher returns but also have significantly higher investment thresholds. Compared to public FOFs starting from 1 yuan, private FOFs typically require minimum investments of 300,000 or 400,000 yuan and have higher requirements for household assets or personal income.

In terms of product type, hybrid funds dominate the current approximately 350 billion yuan FOF market, with a scale over 320 billion yuan, accounting for 91.8%. Further breakdown shows that, according to Western Securities data, stable FOFs primarily consisting of hybrid-bond and bond types accounted for a combined 79.18% of the scale in Q1, nearly 80% of the market share. A China Merchants Securities research report also indicates that low-risk FOFs are the most numerous by risk type, outnumbering medium and high-risk FOFs, with a scale share of about 74%.

This structure aligns well with bank channel demand. The securities channel manager stated, "On average, banks show a preference for stable products." Guosen Securities' financial research team commented that bank channels are the traditional mainstay for public fund sales. As bank clientele generally exhibit risk aversion, these channels favor products with risk dispersion and stable returns, especially FOFs and balanced-style products. The advantage of bank promotion lies in their vast, high-trust client base, where financial advisors can provide face-to-face professional explanations to help clients understand FOF's long-term investment value, lowering the decision-making barrier.

Taking CCB's Longying Plan as an example, it is a customized FOF asset allocation plan launched by China Construction Bank, providing investors with one-stop, full-process asset allocation services through professional schemes developed in collaboration with excellent fund companies. Reportedly, based on different equity allocation targets, the plan is divided into four series: "Low Volatility - Multi-Asset FOF, Medium-Low Volatility - Multi-Asset FOF, ETF-FOF, Global Investment - FOF." Currently, only products from the "Low Volatility" and "Medium-Low Volatility" series are listed.

Among them, the "Low Volatility - Multi-Asset FOF" has a target equity allocation of 10% and an annualized return target of 3%; the "Medium-Low Volatility - Multi-Asset FOF" has a target equity allocation of 20% and an annualized return target of 4%.

A bank salesperson summarized that FOF funds are particularly suitable for three types of people: first, investment novices lacking professional research capabilities; second, busy individuals with no time to manage assets; and third, risk-averse investors seeking stable appreciation.

Investor Ms. Yang, who achieved over 6% holding returns, is a typical representative of these three groups. "The experience has been good; I will continue buying in the future," she said.