Chinese Private Funds Hit Record High of 22.6 Trillion Yuan

The total scale of China’s private funds has reached a historic high of 22.60 trillion yuan by the end of February 2026, data released by the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) on the evening of March 24 showed.

Since January 2025, the industry scale has increased by more than 2 trillion yuan in total. After surpassing 22 trillion yuan for the first time at the end of October 2025, it has set new records for five consecutive months and maintained stable operation at this level.

Broken down by type, as of the end of February 2026, there were 81,500 existing private securities investment funds with a scale of 7.35 trillion yuan; 29,900 existing private equity investment funds with a scale of 11.16 trillion yuan; and 28,100 existing venture capital funds with a scale of 3.80 trillion yuan.

A relevant person in charge of Mengxi Investment analyzed to a reporter from the Securities Daily that from the perspective of the external environment, the recovery of the A-share market and some growth-style assets has increased the "book assets" of private funds. At the same time, with the overall decline in yields such as deposits, some high-net-worth clients and institutional funds have shifted to private equity quantitative neutral, index enhancement or multi-strategy products, forming incremental allocation demand. This has accelerated the fundraising and issuance rhythm of private institutions to a certain extent, directly driving the growth of the total scale of private funds.

From the internal perspective of the industry, some quantitative private institutions have accelerated strategy iteration and technological upgrading, especially in the in-depth integration of artificial intelligence into investment research. This has significantly improved their ability to obtain excess returns.

A FOF fund manager from Shenzhen Rongzhi Private Securities Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. told the Securities Daily reporter that the strong resilience of the economic fundamentals, the deepening reform of the capital market and the continuous standardization of the private fund industry have jointly strengthened the confidence of medium and long-term funds in asset allocation through private funds, thus boosting the total scale of private funds to hit new highs continuously.

While the total scale of private funds keeps setting new records, the internal differentiation of the industry continues — risky institutions are being cleared at an accelerated pace, while the number of 10-billion-yuan-level institutions is increasing. The number of private fund managers has decreased from 20,300 at the beginning of 2025 to 19,100 at the end of February 2026, showing an obvious trend of "survival of the fittest" in the industry.

Meanwhile, the camp of 10-billion-yuan-level private institutions has continued to expand. Data from Private Equity Ranking Network showed that as of the end of February 2026, the number of such institutions had reached 126, a historic high.

"This is an inevitable result of the regulatory authorities’ continuous cleaning up of 'fake, inferior and chaotic' private funds in recent years and promotion of the industry towards high-quality development," a relevant person in charge of Yinnuo Assets said. "At the same time, the long-term accumulation of leading institutions in talent, data, technology, risk control and brand has further strengthened the scale agglomeration effect."

"This reflects that the industry has moved from a relatively extensive development stage to a new stage with refined operation as the core competitiveness, which is also an inevitable result of the industry’s maturity," the relevant person in charge of Mengxi Investment analyzed. With the continuous improvement of relevant laws and regulations and the gradual maturity of investors, institutions with weak risk control, distorted strategies and irregular governance are continuously cleared out; while leading institutions with stable excess return capacity, retracement control capacity, and strong systematic investment research platforms and customer service capabilities are more likely to gain capital favor.

For quantitative private institutions, talent is particularly crucial, according to the relevant person in charge of Mengxi Investment. Institutions that can attract and retain top talents are more likely to gain competitive advantages. Therefore, in recent years, quantitative private institutions have successively strengthened the construction of "soft power" such as corporate systems and corporate culture. At the same time, technology is the "moat" of quantitative private institutions, and more and more institutions will increase investment in technology, especially in the AI field, in the future.