The latest quarterly reports from public mutual funds have shed significant light on their performance, revealing shifts in profitability, asset allocation, and overall fund sizesAfter facing operational losses for three consecutive quarters, public mutual funds have turned the tide, reporting profits totalling approximately 22.335 billion yuan in the first quarter of this yearThis turnaround can largely be attributed to the strong performance in interest-bearing products, which have continued to be the primary profit generators, while equity funds saw their losses lessen, albeit still remaining in the red by several hundred billion yuan.

The total scale of public mutual funds has witnessed an upsurge, benefitting from a rebound in the marketAs of the end of the first quarter, the cumulative fund size reached 29.21 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 9.4%. Despite varied performance among different fund management companies during the recent market fluctuations, some even managed to record growth in the realm of hundreds of billions

Interestingly, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and bond products emerged as the two key drivers for this stable growth in scale.

The profitability in the first quarter is particularly noteworthySince the beginning of this year, the A-share market has shown a "V"-shaped recovery, after an initial downturnData reflects that as of April 25, the Shanghai Composite Index has surged by 12.98% since its rebounding point on February 6. This rejuvenation of market conditions not only influenced the net values of various funds but also contributed positively to overall fund profitsAccording to Wind data, at the end of the first quarter, the cumulative profits from all public fund managers amounted to 22.335 billion yuan, signaling a significant recovery from losses that had persisted for the previous three quarters.

In analyzing contributions by different fund categories, fixed-income products stand out as the major source of profits for the quarter, with bond funds alone generating profits of 91.66 billion yuan

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Following closely were money market funds, which contributed 63.175 billion yuanThese two categories had also been the primary profit sources the previous year, garnering profits of 242.9 billion yuan and 231 billion yuan, respectively.

On the other hand, equity funds, which had experienced substantial losses last year, continued to struggle in the first quarter, though the scale of losses did begin to narrowAfter incurring losses exceeding a billion yuan in the last three quarters, mixed funds and stock funds recorded losses of 87.068 billion yuan and 49.778 billion yuan this quarter, leading to a combined loss of approximately 136.847 billion yuan.

Furthermore, funds of funds (FOFs) and international QDII funds also registered minor losses in the first quarter, reporting profits of -1.21 billion yuan and -0.203 billion yuan, respectivelyIn contrast, REITs and alternative investment funds exhibited positive performance, reporting profits of 520 million yuan and 5.24 billion yuan, respectively

Amid a staggering array of 11,560 funds within the market—accounting for all share classes—the profits from this quarter were positive for 6,877 funds, constituting almost 60% of the totalNotably, among the 19 funds that surpassed 1 billion yuan in profit throughout the year, index funds held a dominant position, with prominent examples including the Huatai-PB CSI 300 ETF, E-Fond CSI 300 ETF, and others each recording over 5 billion yuan in profit for the quarter.

If we delve into more detailed categories, traditional equity-type, partial equity mixed, balanced mixed, and flexible allocation funds remained heavily impacted, with active equity funds losing an additional 113.83 billion yuan this quarterCumulatively, the loss over the past four quarters for these active funds has surpassed 888 billion yuanFrom the 4,344 active equity funds presently documented, 1,515 were profitable this quarter, a mere 34.86% of the total

Of these, only two funds—E-Fond Consumer Industry Fund and Yinhua Wealth Theme Fund—exceeded profit margins of 1 billion yuan.

The dynamics of loss are equally staggering, as nearly two-thirds of active equity funds were still unable to generate profits for their investors this yearTwelve funds have suffered losses over the 1 billion yuan mark, including notable fallbacks like the China Europe Medical Health and Nuode Growth Funds, which posted losses of 6.865 billion yuan and 2.19 billion yuan, respectively.

From a management perspective, within the landscape of 199 fund managers, more than 60% succeeded in delivering positive returns in the first quarter to their investorsHowever, compared with the prior year’s results—where five firms amassed over 10 billion yuan in earnings—this year the highest recorded profit was for Southern Fund, which achieved a total of about 9.626 billion yuan in profits

Last year, E-Fond had set a high-water mark of nearly 28.984 billion yuan.

Other notable firms including Huatai-PB Fund, E-Fond Fund, and Hua’an Fund all reported profits exceeding 5 billion yuan, reaching figures of 9.469 billion yuan, 8.453 billion yuan, and 5.262 billion yuan, respectivelyData from the top ten fund companies showcased a cumulative profit of 55.104 billion yuan, significantly lower than the 123.18 billion yuan figures seen in the previous year.

Examining the tools behind this growth, one cannot overlook the pivotal role of ETFs and bond fundsAs the market rebounded, the scale of public mutual funds advanced, reaching a total of 29.21 trillion yuan by the end of the first quarter—a rise of 9.4%. Within this growth, six fund management companies have joined the "trillion yuan club," including industry leaders such as E-Fond, Huatai-PB Fund, and others.

Excluding money market funds, E-Fond stands alone as the sole company with over 1 trillion yuan in scale, managing non-money market products sizeable enough to account for 1.14 trillion yuan

Following closely are Huatai-PB Fund and Guotai Junan Fund, each managing 975.2 billion yuan and 690.9 billion yuanThis growth is a testament to the robust competition among prominent fund companies; while the rankings among the top three have remained stable, companies like E-Fond and Huatai-PB have notably boosted their non-money fund scales by 121.564 billion yuan and 101.282 billion yuan, respectively.

It is also worth noting that the performance of bond funds has surprised many with 12 companies experiencing single-quarter growth exceeding 10 billion yuanE-Fond and others have excelled, surpassing growth of 20 billion yuan in bond fund products during this periodProducts from firms such as Guotai Junan, which include Guangfa Twin Bonds and E-Fond Stable Joy Fund, have all reported sizes exceeding 10 billion yuan.

"While ETFs are indeed the easiest to scale, competition against top-tier firms remains tough