Embrace the era of equity funds?
5 Ants Matching Funds Over 10 Million People Subscribed
Many industry insiders explained the conflict of interest
After only 4 trading days and 10 holidays on the line, the 5 ant match funds were all sold out in advance, with a fundraising scale of 60 billion yuan, with more than 10 million ordinary investors participating, and the most inclusive fund was born.
However, there have been rumors in recent days that the Securities Regulatory Commission’s investigation into the conflict of interest of the Ant Match Fund may cause the Ant Group’s IPO to be postponed. Ant Group denied this and stated that the listing approval process has made steady progress.
Many people in the industry also said that the fund complies with the principles of fairness and openness, and there is no conflict of interest.
All people participate in 5 battle matching funds
All ends early
On the evening of October 8, following E Fund, Penghua, China Europe and China Universal Asset Management, China Innovative Futures closed hybrid fund for the next 18 months also ended early during the National Day holiday.
The 5 funds accumulatively subscribed by more than 10 million people, which is equivalent to 8 people buying every second.
According to the total scale of 60 billion, the per capita investment of the fund is only 6,000 yuan, making it the most inclusive new fund in history. It is also considered by the industry to be the next large-scale equity fund science and education under the new asset management regulations.
Starting from September 25, five fund companies, namely E Fund, China Universal, China Asset Management, Penghua, and China Europe, have launched a new fund plan to subscribe for Ant stocks at the issue price on Alipay. The closed period is 18 months and the minimum purchase starts at 1 yuan.
This also means that before Ant is listed, ordinary investors can invest in Ant in the form of a fund, with a zero threshold to achieve "cloud innovation".
In the early morning of the fundraising day, the Ant Match Fund sold 10.2 billion in one hour, setting a new history for public funds.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the page of E Fund's Innovation Future Fund showed that it was sold out. On the evening of September 26, Penghua related products showed that it was sold out.
Subsequently, CEIBS and China Universal also closed their fundraising ahead of schedule.
On the evening of October 8th, China Innovative Futures closed hybrid fund for the next 18 months also ended early during the National Day holiday.
Inclusive
Forty% of buyers are "Xinjimin"
This time, the three funds of Penghua, China Universal and China Asset Management exceeded the historical record of 1.99 million subscriptions. The highest China Asset Management fund had more than 3 million subscriptions, setting a new high for newly issued funds and hybrid funds.
Ant data shows that more than 80% of subscribers are from non-first-tier cities.
The number of people buying equity funds on the platform for the first time accounted for 40%, of which 70% invested less than 500 yuan on average, making it the most inclusive new fund in history.
An industry insider said that new customers can gradually try to invest in equity funds starting with small amounts of money, and gradually cultivate users' financial management habits, and they are not easily disturbed by market sentiment. This is the characteristic and advantage of Internet platforms.
The analysis believes that unlike banks, brokerages and other consignment channels that mainly serve high-net-worth individuals, the Alipay wealth management platform mainly serves small, high-frequency long-tail investment groups. The average investment of this match fund is less than 6,000 yuan.
In addition, 5 funds were sold out in only 4 trading days and 10 holidays, during which over 10 million people received the services of Zhi Xiaobao, a smart financial assistant.
The “light model” of the Internet platform is different from the offline agency sales model. The development of technology has greatly reduced the threshold and weakened the offline dependence on people. It is not limited by time and space, and investor operations are more convenient. On non-trading days such as the National Day holiday, the match fund can quickly conclude user transactions.
A post-90s "new foundation" said that he figured out how to buy the match fund through the live broadcast of the Internet platform. The live broadcast of the professionals dispelled financial worries.
According to Ant data, 5 ant strategic allotment funds opened 118 live broadcasts on Alipay for the new fund roadshow, and they watched over 70 million people. They also took turns to answer questions for investors during the holidays.
The National Day of China Fund was broadcast continuously for 8 days, 4 hours a day, and China Universal Fund was broadcast live for 11 hours on September 25. The fund manager also personally visited the live broadcast room, setting a record for the longest single live broadcast of wealth management.
In fact, this is the largest face-to-face exchange between fund managers and users.
In the past, offline activities generally included hundreds of people, mainly for high-net-worth or quasi-high-net-worth individuals, and the public lacked ways to participate.
On the Internet wealth management platform, with the help of innovative forms such as live broadcast, fund managers can directly face first-line users, can serve tens of millions of investors at the same time, and greatly reduce the limit on the number of viewers.
New asset management regulations are in progress
A large-scale equity fund science popularization
The ant match fund is a mixed fund with medium and high risks, allowing more people to start accessing equity funds from small amounts.
Industry insiders believe that, in the context of the promotion of new asset management regulations, match funds have important investor education significance.
In 2018, the new regulations on asset management began to advance. In addition to breaking the rigid exchange and encouraging the transformation of net worth, it also encourages investment in equity markets through funds.
War matching funds have moved from cargo-based funds to equity funds, and even closed-end equity funds. Compared with the previous products with a closed period of more than 12 months, five funds with a closed period of 18 months have set a new high in scale and speed of raising.
Xu Yang, dean of the Beta Financial Research Institute, believes that this is a successful practice of ant and fund company's cooperation and the implementation of new asset management regulations. It is also a large-scale equity fund science and education after Yu'ebao.
In recent years, with the continuous advancement of new asset management regulations, equity funds are indeed becoming the focus of more and more investors.
Public data shows that equity funds raised a total of 1.5 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of this year. Together with the performance of the Ant Match Fund during the National Day, it has broken the 2015 historical record and set a new high.
Wang Jun, general manager of the wealth business group of Ant Group, said: “Under the wave of new asset management regulations, Alipay’s wealth management platform hopes to work with partners of asset management institutions to help investors build a more scientific and healthy way through various forms of investor education. The concept of financial management can better help them achieve advanced financial management."
Ant denies
The listing process is affected by the fund
However, there were rumors earlier that the CSRC's investigation into the conflict of interest of the Ant Match Fund may cause the Ant Group's IPO to be postponed. The spokesperson of the Ant Group immediately denied this, saying that the Ant Group's listing approval process has made steady progress.
"Any speculation about the timetable has no factual basis."
As for whether there is a conflict of interest, the above-mentioned spokesperson said that the relevant fund companies and Ant Group have fully disclosed.
The newly issued funds participating in the strategic placement of Ant's IPO this time abide by regulatory requirements in investment decision-making and sales operations and operate independently.
Ant stated that, as one of the relevant fund sales channels, Ant does not underwrite its own listings. The fund manager decides on the direction of fund investment. The highest proportion of participation in the IPO strategic placement of Ant Group shall not exceed 10% of the funds raised by itself.
Based on this calculation, the five matchmaking funds have a scale of 60 billion. Even if the top 10% subscribes for the shares of Ant Group, the amount of ant matchmaking funds involved is only 6 billion.
This has little impact on Ant’s current total of nearly 240 billion IPO financing.
In fact, in addition to Alipay agency sales, fund companies also provide direct sales channels, and after the closure period expires, fund companies also have the right to increase fund sales channels.
Investors can also understand the relationship between Ant Group and these funds from publicly disclosed information, and have full rights to know and to choose.
By Ding Guohui, our reporter
Dispel doubts
Expert: There is no conflict of interest
Senior financial analyst Meng Ke believes that the core principle of avoiding "conflicts of interest" is fairness, requiring fairness in the transaction process and transaction price, and the ant match fund conforms to this principle.
In fact, public funds have long been precedents for strategic placement investors. The most recent is the strategic placement fund on the Science and Technology Innovation Board that began in 2019.
The participation of public funds in strategic allotment is the same as other strategic allotment institutions. For example, it needs to hold allotment stocks for one year and the transaction process is the same.
At the same time, public funds participate in strategic placements rather than inquiries, and the transaction price is also a fair price.
Meng Ke believes: "These are enough to show that the ant match fund has met the principle of fairness and avoided conflicts of interest."
Professional investor Wu Jianfeng said that another important requirement to avoid conflicts of interest is full disclosure. Whether it is the strategic placement of Ant Group or Ant's agency fund, it is fully disclosed to the public in legal documents such as the prospectus and fund announcement. Disclosure fully reveals information on strategic allotment and fund agency sales.
Financial expert Lu Xinzhi believes that public funds were originally an important tool for China's small and medium investors to participate in investment in the securities market.
"Ant serves the largest number of small and micro users in China. With fair fees, transparent information, and compliance with regulatory requirements, it is obvious that fund companies can easily choose Ant to sell funds on their behalf, which can better meet the needs of small and micro investors. "He believes that allowing more ordinary investors to share Ant IPO investment opportunities through funds is also in line with the inclusive concept that Ant Group has always adhered to.