How to invest after the holiday? Signals emerge, fund managers focus on the domestic demand trend, AI enthusiasm remains high

During the Spring Festival, the strategy teams of brokerages conducted roadshows for seven consecutive days, and fund managers went “to the countryside” for on-the-ground research. After the holiday, their most concerned questions are what to buy and how to invest.

In fact, reporters learned that amid the volatile market environment of January and February this year, besides paying close attention to the progress of new productive forces industries represented by AI, many fund managers also turned their focus to the domestic demand sector.

Fund Managers Focus on the Major Direction of Domestic Demand

As early as the beginning of the year, at the Harvest Fund 2026 Investment Strategy Conference, Fang Han, Director of Equity Strategy Research at Harvest Fund, publicly stated that he holds a rationally optimistic attitude toward the equity market in 2026, but market style and structure may undergo significant shifts. He emphasized that attention should be paid to companies with rising profits under the “anti-involution” background and targets benefiting from expanded domestic demand measures. These sectors may determine the annual index level.

Wu Yue, Director of Consumer Research at Harvest Fund, also said that the consumer industry has entered a critical turning point. With the release of residents’ wealth effects driving upgrades in high-end consumption and service demand, 2026 is expected to see a resurgence of consumption investment opportunities. When market sentiment is low and “rarely visited,” it may be the right time to position.

“After the past year and a half of gains, valuations of equity assets have already risen significantly, and fundamentals are slowly improving. However, catching up with valuations will still take some time. In this situation, volatility is unavoidable,” a senior asset allocation officer from a large Shanghai-based fund company told the Shanghai Securities News. “In traditional industries, there are still many good targets. For example, in liquor, besides fundamental factors, dividend payout ratios are also good. Some real estate companies have gradually improved this year, and downstream real estate sectors like building materials may rise faster. I will pay more attention to these companies.”

New Consumption: “Structure is King”

Can the so-called “longest Spring Festival holiday in history” boost consumption stocks? In response, Xue Yiran, fund manager of Xingquan He Yi Fund, believes that even though the full recovery of the consumer market still awaits time, a vigorous new consumption wave has already swept in. She identified three growth-oriented investment clues: recovery and expansion of offline commerce, domestication of high-end consumer goods, and the overseas expansion of domestic brands.

“We currently have three core logics for offline commerce: First, online e-commerce penetration has entered a plateau, and the online encroachment on offline in multiple categories has stabilized; second, commercial real estate rents have declined in recent years, providing a low-cost expansion window for offline chain brands; third, the sinking market has strong demand for branding and chain operations, and digital management tools and chain management levels have made qualitative leaps compared to ten years ago. These factors combined have led to a healthy nationwide expansion period for catering, retail, and other offline chain brands.”

“In high-end consumer goods, we have observed a clear category in outdoor sports. From overseas experience, once per capita GDP reaches a certain level, the public’s instinctive demand for health and professional equipment erupts. Domestic brands in these categories, built on solid product strength, are no longer just imitating but demonstrating competitive advantages in R&D investment, local pain point insights, and brand positioning. There are also notable performances in cosmetics, sports apparel, and gold jewelry.”

“China’s consumer products going abroad previously relied on extreme cost performance and supply chain advantages. Now, it also involves the export of culture, service systems, and management capabilities. For example, trendy toys are cultural IP exports that have gained global youth cultural recognition; tea drinks and restaurants are outputs of management systems and standardization. China has an advanced consumer goods supply chain, and when combined with brand operation, cultural exploration, and service management, it forms a foundation for international expansion.”

In addition to the above, Xue Yiran also mentioned the fundamental changes in aviation stocks and liquor stocks. “The aviation sector is one we are paying close attention to. Its core logic lies in the reversal of supply and demand, and the industry’s ‘anti-involution’ will promote continuous improvement in airline revenue management strategies. The supply-demand reversal combined with improved revenue management gives airline stocks strong profitability elasticity and sustainability expectations. For leading liquor companies, after the core products’ market prices decline, the consumer base expands, significantly digesting historical inventory. We are actively watching the investment value of these cycle-bottom leading blue-chip stocks.”

AI Remains Hot

Besides focusing on domestic demand, technology stocks represented by AI remain the most favored sector among fund managers after the holiday.

“From the perspective of technological industry trends, I still believe AI is the most important structural direction in investment,” said Wang Yong, Chief Asset Allocation Officer at Invesco Great Wall Fund. He believes AI will be implemented into applications this year, divided into hardware and software. He is very optimistic about the performance of consumer electronics and robotics. Because AI is energy-consuming, breakthroughs in related fields such as coal, oil, photovoltaic, nuclear fusion, solid-state batteries, and energy storage are also worth attention.

Wang Guizhong, Director of Big Technology Research at Harvest Fund, stated that the core factors driving the current technology market will continue to exert influence into 2026. Rapid iteration of AI technology and the capital expenditure by giants form an industry trend that cannot be ignored. Both software and hardware will continue to present important opportunities in 2026. Wang Xinchen, manager of Harvest’s Hong Kong-listed internet industry core assets fund, believes that the AI industry is still in its early stages. Despite fluctuations, the long-term outlook remains optimistic, with continued focus on AI applications, intelligent driving, and semiconductors.

(Article source: Shanghai Securities News)