Over 90% of dividend-paying funds are showing positive returns this year, with broad-based ETFs leading large-scale dividends

Reporter Peng Yansong

Since the beginning of this year, public funds have continued to deliver real returns to investors, with frequent large-scale dividend payouts supported by solid performance. On March 3, Southern Fund announced that its Southern Changli Open-ended Bond Fund would distribute dividends. The distributable profit as of the base date is 1.891 billion yuan. The dividend plan is 1.6 yuan per 10 fund units, with no dividend distribution fee. Investors choosing dividend reinvestment will have their converted fund units exempt from purchase fees.

Wind Information data shows that as of March 5, a total of 457 funds (main codes only) have distributed dividends this year, with a total payout of 33.814 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.81%. Notably, this round of public fund dividends is positively linked to performance growth. The average year-to-date net asset value growth rate of these 457 funds is 2.67%, with 413 funds achieving positive returns, accounting for over 90%.

In terms of single dividend amounts and product structure, broad-based index ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) have become the main force in this dividend round. Data shows that several funds have paid out over 1 billion yuan in dividends in a single instance this year. Among them, Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, E Fund CSI 300 ETF, Southern CSI 500 ETF, and Southern CSI 1000 ETF rank among the top in the market, with single dividends of 9.811 billion yuan, 4.591 billion yuan, 1.161 billion yuan, and 1.038 billion yuan, respectively. It is worth noting that 16 broad-based index ETFs have distributed dividends this year, with a total of 16.947 billion yuan, mainly tracking the CSI A50 and CSI A500 indices.

Wang Fanglin, Assistant Analyst at Morningstar China Fund Research Center, told Securities Daily that broad-based ETFs rely on the stable profitability and dividend-paying ability of core A-share assets, accumulating sufficient distributable earnings and having a natural advantage for sustained and stable dividends. “Overall, this pattern aligns with regulatory policies aimed at enhancing long-term investor returns and reflects the industry’s shift from scale expansion to high-quality development centered on real returns and investor experience.”

Regarding product types, as of March 5, the total dividends for equity, bond, and mixed funds this year are 20.059 billion yuan, 7.15 billion yuan, and 5.691 billion yuan, respectively. The dividend scale of equity funds has significantly increased compared to 2025’s 7.79 billion yuan.

Tian Lihui, Professor of Finance at Nankai University, told Securities Daily that the active dividend distribution by public funds results from multiple factors, including policy guidance, performance support, market environment, and institutional transformation. The new “National Nine Rules” strengthen the focus on investor returns, promoting the industry’s shift from “scale-focused” to “return-focused,” prioritizing investor interests. The good overall performance of dividend-paying funds indicates solid performance support. Additionally, dividends help investors lock in gains, ease redemption pressures, and meet the needs of long-term capital such as insurance funds for stable cash flows, marking the industry’s accelerated move toward a high-quality development stage centered on “return as the core.”

Industry insiders say that normalized, performance-backed dividend distribution is not only a concrete measure for public funds to implement regulatory requirements and improve return mechanisms but also a key way to protect investors’ interests and enhance holding experience. It will continue to attract long-term capital into the market and promote the long-term healthy development of the public fund industry.

(Edited by Wen Jing)

Keywords: Fund