This year, the wealth-creation effect of new stock listings has been remarkable, with a succession of highly lucrative "hard tech" offerings making their market debut. Fund managers have actively participated in the IPO subscription wave, with a total of 4,975 public offering products joining the fray, collectively amassing tens of billions of yuan in first-day paper profits.
Industry experts caution that the high returns from IPO subscriptions may be a temporary phenomenon. For ordinary investors seeking to benefit through funds, careful product selection and a rational approach to potential volatility risks are essential.
According to statistics from the Shanghai Securities Fund Evaluation and Research Center, as of August 20th, 50 new stocks had completed their allotment this year (with one yet to be listed). A total of 4,975 products from 120 fund companies participated in IPO subscriptions, with combined allotment amounts reaching 14.383 billion yuan. Based on closing prices on the first day of trading, these new stocks generated a total paper profit of 54.74 billion yuan, with a weighted average first-day return of 460%.
Leading fund houses have been at the forefront of this subscription drive. Companies such as E Fund Management, GF Fund Management, China Asset Management, Southern Fund, and Fullgoal Fund Management each had over 200 funds participating in IPO subscriptions, with allotment amounts exceeding 600 million yuan per firm.
The market has seen a surge in blockbuster listings this year. Data reveals that 15 new stocks posted first-day gains exceeding 400%. Changjin Photonics and Zhenbao Technology saw their shares soar by 1,510.52% and 1,212.84% respectively on debut, with 2,491 and 2,691 funds securing allotments in these two stocks. The IPO of CXMT served as a catalyst for the subscription boom, with 100 public fund institutions participating in offline placements, securing a combined allotment of 5.22 billion yuan. The stock surged 465.82% on its first trading day.
The listing of Unitree Robotics, dubbed the "first humanoid robot stock," on the STAR Market on August 19th further ignited market enthusiasm. Priced at 150.8 yuan per share, the stock touched an intraday high of 1,100 yuan before closing up 460.34%. A total of 92 public funds received allotments worth 830 million yuan.
The red-hot market has boosted participation across the board. By the end of June, the number of online subscription accounts across the three Shanghai and Shenzhen board segments had exceeded 10,000, returning to near historical highs. On the online subscription front, the average number of participating accounts on the STAR Market rose from 5.28 million in Q4 2025 to 6.74 million in Q2 2026, with similar increases seen on the Main Board and ChiNext. While the success rates for both online and offline subscriptions have declined slightly due to increased participation, they remain broadly stable.
The impressive first-day performance of new listings has drawn significant market attention. A representative from Bank of China Investment Management noted that "the valuation discount of new stocks relative to industry averages has widened considerably, with many IPOs priced at P/E ratios significantly below their secondary market peers. The issuer's proactive pricing leaves room for upside, which is the most direct basis for high first-day gains."
Additionally, the IPO review process has strengthened the emphasis on technological innovation, leading to an overall improvement in the earnings growth of listed companies. Many new stocks belong to high-growth sectors such as semiconductor equipment, optical communications, and AI hardware. Given the long-term expectation of domestic substitution, the secondary market is willing to offer growth premiums. A fund manager from a mid-sized firm in South China added that the normalization of IPO issuance, coupled with encouragement for tech enterprises to list, has resulted in a market characterized by "fewer but higher-quality listings." The supply of high-tech innovative companies has increased notably, concentrated in machinery, electronics, automobiles, power equipment, and basic chemicals, with many new stocks offering solid long-term investment value.
Golden Eagle Fund attributes this wave of enthusiasm to the "wealth-creation effect" of IPO subscriptions in a low-interest-rate environment. With yields on traditional fixed-income products declining and safe-haven assets becoming scarce, the stable IPO issuance pace and the increased supply of quality "hard tech" stocks, coupled with impressive listing gains under optimized pricing mechanisms, have continuously reinforced market sentiment, attracting substantial capital to participate.
Fund managers have also refined their subscription strategies. For Main Board new stocks, the focus is on issuance valuation discounts, ROE, cash flow, fundraising scale, and comparable company valuations, accepting lower but more stable returns. For ChiNext stocks, which offer higher growth elasticity, the emphasis is on business growth potential, innovation capability, and earnings quality. STAR Market companies are valued for their "hard tech" scarcity and technological barriers, requiring strict risk control with attention to technical moats, R&D commercialization, domestic substitution potential, cash burn and commercialization paths for unprofitable companies, and lock-up arrangements. The Beijing Stock Exchange serves "little giant" enterprises specializing in niche sectors, with subscriptions focusing on profitability, industry prospects, and technological barriers.
Fund managers are also upgrading their tools to evaluate the flood of new stocks. Many are integrating AI into their assessment processes. A fund industry source in Shanghai mentioned that AI is being used to conduct quantitative comparisons of listed companies' performance as a key reference for new stock evaluations.
Given the heated subscription market, many retail investors are looking to participate through mutual funds. A Beijing-based fund company representative advised that when selecting funds, investors should first consider scale—too large a fund dilutes subscription returns, while too small a fund may fail to meet the market value requirements for offline subscription quotas, with an ideal range between 200 million and 1 billion yuan. Secondly, the manager's pricing capability is crucial, with "allocation rate" and "success rate" serving as important indicators. Past track record in managing the underlying portfolio and fund net value stability should also be evaluated.
Bank of China Investment Management recommends prioritizing hybrid bond-biased and flexible allocation funds with moderate equity exposure, favoring blue-chip broad-based indices and high-dividend, low-volatility stocks as the underlying portfolio. Golden Eagle Fund cautions that equity products with high underlying portfolio volatility can easily erode the incremental returns from IPO subscriptions, making net value stability and drawdown control essential criteria for evaluation.
Multiple industry insiders remind investors that the current wealth-creation effect from IPO subscriptions may be temporary and does not guarantee high returns for all future listings. The risk of post-listing price volatility should not be underestimated, and investors should avoid blindly chasing market hotspots.