Over 70% of Billion-Dollar Private Funds are Fully Invested, Grasping Both Technology and Cyclical Sectors

Source: Shanghai Securities Journal Author: Ma Jiayue

Recently, market volatility has increased, but private equity funds are becoming more active in their holdings. The latest data from Private Equity Ranking Network shows that as of March 6, the stock private equity position index rose to 82.64%, hitting a new high in nearly 10 weeks. In terms of size, large private equity funds (over 100 billion yuan) are showing a clear advantage. As of March 6, over 70% of large private equity funds (with positions above 80%) were fully invested, an increase of more than 15 percentage points compared to the previous week (February 27).

Data shows that as of March 6, the stock private equity position index rose to 82.64%, up 4.02 percentage points from the previous week. The index has returned above 80% for the first time in three weeks and reached a new high in nearly 10 weeks, indicating a recent positive change in institutional outlook for the market.

In terms of scale, leading private equity funds are showing significant momentum. As of March 6, the large private equity stock position index was 87.01%. Among them, over 70.71% of large private equity funds (with positions above 80%) were fully invested, a substantial increase of more than 15 percentage points from the previous week. The proportion of medium-position funds (50% to 80%) slightly increased to 24.01%. In other words, among large private equity funds, managers with positions over 50% account for nearly 95%.

Starstone Investment, in an interview with reporters, analyzed that although overseas geopolitical conflicts have temporarily affected domestic market sentiment, historical experience since 2000 shows that after risk appetite declines due to geopolitical tensions, market performance tends to differentiate across sectors, potentially creating oversold opportunities. Additionally, in the longer term, as incremental funds continue to enter, domestic policies are steadily implemented, and policy effects gradually become evident, the probability of price recovery and corporate earnings realization in China will increase, and a profit-driven market trend may further unfold.

With high-position operations, private equity funds’ profitability effects are further highlighted, which also constitutes an important driving force for the inflow of incremental funds.

Data shows that by the end of February 2026, the average return of 12,270 private equity securities investment funds with performance records across the market was 6.89%, with the top 5% percentile achieving 23.16%.

Statistics indicate that by the end of February, there were 7,881 stock strategy funds with performance records, of which 6,657 funds achieved positive returns this year, accounting for 84.47%. The average return for these funds was 7.78%, with the 5% percentile return at 24.33%, both significantly higher than the market average.

Additionally, in February this year, a total of 193 private fund managers with products (at least 3 products) that disclosed performance reached new historical highs in net value. Among them, 118 fund managers managing at least three products and with nearly one year of performance disclosure on Private Equity Ranking Network. Of these, 26 managers are from large private equity funds over 100 billion yuan. From a strategy perspective, there are 21 private equity fund managers managing large-cap stock strategies.

Sources close to the matter revealed that with continued inflow of incremental funds, private equity is focusing on cyclical and technology sectors.

Panjing Investment Fund Manager Zhan Hongfeng told reporters that the rapid development of AI will remain a key focus this year, especially in upstream core areas such as computing power and semiconductors, as well as the implementation of various AI application scenarios. Meanwhile, although precious metals require attention to valuation and performance matching in the short term, under the resonance of macro, industrial, and monetary logic, precious metals have long-term allocation value, and strategic deployment can be considered at appropriate opportunities.

(Edited by: Wen Jing)

Keywords: Fund Private Equity