Beginner Finance | "HALO" Gains Popularity, Which Assets Should Be Focused On?

Since this year, a trading strategy known as “HALO” has spread from the U.S. stock market to the Hong Kong and A-share markets. What exactly is “HALO”? What is the underlying logic? Under the grand plan of the “15th Five-Year Plan for 2026-2030” (“十五五”), which core assets should we focus on?

● What is “HALO”?

“HALO” is an abbreviation for “Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence,” which translates literally as “heavy assets, low obsolescence.” In today’s environment where AI technology is surging ahead and lightweight-asset platform models are emerging one after another, the popularity of this concept may seem counterintuitive. In fact, after the noise settles, the market’s deep craving for certainty and tangible real-world barriers is what’s driving it.

In simple terms, “HALO” assets refer to those assets with hard, tangible forms of moat, whose core value is difficult to overturn or replace through algorithms or digital technology. When AI large models need massive electricity support, and when data centers require stable infrastructure protection, these “heavy” assets—rather than being sidelined—become indispensable “shovel sellers” in the AI era. Therefore, the core idea of “HALO” assets is: embrace those certainty-bearing assets that are hard to build quickly, difficult to replace with technology, and indispensable to daily life and industry.

● “HALO” asset model student—power

If we are to find an industry that best captures the meaning of “HALO,” power is undoubtedly the unquestionable “model student.”

From the demand side, the surge in computing power of AI large models is reshaping the global energy landscape. The electricity required to train a large AI model is equivalent to the annual power consumption of hundreds of households; meanwhile, the continuous operation in the inference stage poses unprecedented challenges to grid stability. “Power anxiety” is no longer a distant concept—it is becoming a real-world situation. It forces the grid to expand capacity comprehensively and upgrade to smart systems, leading to the strategic value of power infrastructure being rediscovered.

From the supply side, the “15th Five-Year Plan for 2026-2030” has injected strong policy momentum into the power industry. The State Grid has already clearly announced that fixed-asset investment in 2026-2030 is expected to reach RMB 4 trillion, up 40% from the “14th Five-Year Plan” period (“十四五”). This is referred to as the “largest-scale power investment in domestic history.” Behind this figure is an upgrade in the grid’s positioning as the “digital infrastructure foundation” in the AI era—no longer just traditional public utility, but a strategic asset that carries national energy security and the digital economy transformation.

Support from the policy front has also landed densely. Since 2022, multiple ministries and commissions have jointly or independently issued major documents such as the “Action Plan to Accelerate Green and Low-Carbon Innovation in Power Equipment Development” and the “Blue Book on the Development of New Power Systems,” focusing on key areas including technological innovation in power equipment, green development, digital transformation, system stability, and new-energy absorption. In January 2026, the State Grid further clarified the key directions for the “15th Five-Year Plan” period: to accelerate the construction of new power systems with the transmission grid and distribution grid as important foundations, smart microgrids as beneficial supplements; to comprehensively advance green transformation and strengthen technology-enabled empowerment.

With leadership from top-level design, the release of policy dividends, and the transformation of investment momentum—the three layers of logic are stacked together, and the power industry is entering a round of value reappraisal with strong certainty and long-lasting durability.

● How to allocate efficiently? Lock onto the CSI All-Share Power & Utilities Index

For ordinary investors, how can they efficiently capture investment opportunities in “HALO” power assets? Index-based investing may be the best solution. Taking the CSI All-Share Power & Utilities Index as an example, this index provides investors with a convenient one-click channel to gain exposure to the entire power industry chain. Its advantages mainly show up in the following four dimensions:

“All-round” power, one-click packaged

The index is composed of stocks from the power utilities sector, enabling it to comprehensively reflect the industry’s overall performance. As of March 5, 2026, the weight of the utilities sector in the index is as high as 95.05%, while the coal sector accounts for 4.31%. Even more worth attention is its sub-sector structure: thermal power, hydropower, and wind power have weights of 33.74%, 19.61%, and 14.17%, respectively. This structure allows investors to enjoy the valuation-repair dividend of traditional thermal power in ensuring energy supply security, while also capturing the long-term potential of new energy growth such as wind and hydropower (Source: Tianfeng Securities Research Institute, “Global Supply Shortage Resonance and the Rise of HALO Trading: Repricing the New Power System”; statistics period: up to 2026.03.05).

Leading companies pooled together, aggregating industry strong performers

The index constituents overall lean toward large-cap style. Among the top ten weight stocks are industry leaders across various fields, with a combined weight of 48.38%. The concentration of weight is moderate, and the average total market capitalization is RMB 166.645 billion. These leading enterprises have deep moats and strong risk-resilience capabilities, making them the best representatives of the “heavy assets” attribute in the “HALO” strategy (Source: Tianfeng Securities Research Institute, “Global Supply Shortage Resonance and the Rise of HALO Trading: Repricing the New Power System”; statistics period: up to 2026.03.05).

Solid earnings quality, highlighted operational resilience

Although the index’s operating revenue experiences a mild slowdown due to cyclical fluctuations, its overall operating scale remains at a high level, demonstrating the defensive base color of utilities and strong operational resilience. As of the cumulative 2025Q3 operating revenue reached RMB 1,286.631 billion. What deserves even more attention is the ability to repair earnings: after a brief decline in the second quarter of 2025, attributable net profit quickly stabilized in 2025Q3 and returned to a positive growth track. The year-over-year growth rate turned positive to 0.96%, and cumulative attributable net profit reached RMB 160.186 billion. In a complex market environment, the index continues to maintain solid earnings quality and a steady recovery trend—this is a vivid reflection of the “HALO” assets’ “low drawdown/value depreciation” characteristics (Source: Tianfeng Securities Research Institute, “Global Supply Shortage Resonance and the Rise of HALO Trading: Repricing the New Power System”; statistics period: up to 2026.03.05).

Steady historical performance, outstanding risk control ability

Using January 1, 2023 to March 5, 2026 as the sample period, the CSI All-Share Power & Utilities Index’s range of gains and losses is 22.67%, with an average annualized return of 8.28%, an annualized volatility of 7.50%, a Sharpe ratio of 0.23, and a maximum drawdown of 16.92%. Compared with broad-market indices such as the CSI 300, CSI 500, and CSI 1000, the CSI All-Share Power & Utilities Index shows significantly lower annualized volatility and maximum drawdown, demonstrating better risk control ability and stability (Source: Tianfeng Securities Research Institute, “Global Supply Shortage Resonance and the Rise of HALO Trading: Repricing the New Power System”; statistics period: up to 2026.03.05. China’s securities market has been in existence for a relatively short time, and past data do not represent all stages of market operation. They cannot represent or predict the future performance of related funds.).

Tianqin CSI All-Share Power & Utilities Index Fund code: A shares 026701 C shares 026702 Starting March 16—Major launch!