Since the beginning of this year, the Hong Kong IPO market has continued to perform strongly, with significant increases in initial public offerings and the number of new shares raised. According to Wind data, as of June 3rd, the IPO fundraising amount in the Hong Kong stock market during the year was HKD 167.431 billion, a year-on-year increase of 112.36%; 62 new stocks were listed, with a year-on-year increase of 121.43%.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, UBS Securities predicts that the total IPO financing for Hong Kong stocks in 2026 will reach HKD 350 billion to HKD 400 billion, with the number of IPOs ranging from 150 to 200. The Hong Kong IPO market will remain active in the second half of the year.
In the past year, the Hong Kong IPO market was mainly driven by H-share issuances by A-share listed companies, but this year technology companies have become the absolute protagonists. ”Introduction by Hu Zhilu, President of UBS Group China. According to data from UBS Securities, technology companies have accounted for 63% of Hong Kong stock IPOs since the beginning of the year, a significant increase compared to last year when technology companies only accounted for 16% of Hong Kong stock IPOs.
The technology sector remains one of the core drivers for China's stock market to generate long-term excess returns. Therefore, it is highly favored by global investors, "said Hu Zhilu.
The proportion of technology companies in the IPO market has exceeded 60%. ”Shen Ge, Co Head of Global Investment Banking at UBS Securities, stated that there are three main driving factors behind this phenomenon: firstly, due to regulatory support and encouragement, more technology companies are preparing for Hong Kong stock listings; Secondly, global investors allocate the AI industry chain based on a "top-down" logic, and China has many high-quality targets; Thirdly, it reflects the development trend of China's economy transitioning towards technological innovation. It is expected that the market activity of technology related sectors will remain high in the next six months to one year.
Shen Ge also mentioned that leading companies in various segmented industries have performed strongly after listing on the Hong Kong stock market, playing a good driving and demonstration effect. Among them, popular projects in the AI semiconductor industry chain have attracted the attention of global investors, especially some international long-term funds and sovereign funds that have never participated in cornerstone investments in history. This year, they have also joined the cornerstone investment ranks of Hong Kong stocks for the first time.
Since 2026, various institutional investors have actively participated in cornerstone investments, including international hedge funds, technology or medical special funds, sovereign funds, international long-term funds, private equity funds, family offices, Chinese funds and other categories. Among them, many high-quality investors completed their first cornerstone investment in Hong Kong stock IPOs this year.
According to Wind data, since the beginning of the year, there have been 62 new listed companies in the Hong Kong stock market, of which 53 new stocks have introduced 568 cornerstone investors during the IPO stage, attracting an average of 10 cornerstone investors per IPO project. Another data shows that the IPO subscription scale of cornerstone investors accounts for 36.4% of the initial IPO fundraising amount, and this proportion is significantly higher than the average for AI big model related targets - for example, the subscription scale of cornerstone investors in Zhipu is 59.7%, while that of Xizhi Technology is 56.6%.
The activity of international investors has significantly increased, with European and Asian investors becoming the main driving force, "said Chen Ge. In recent years, the geographical distribution of cornerstone investors participating in Hong Kong stock IPOs has changed: five years ago, the proportion of US investment was 30% to 40%, but now it has dropped to about 20%; The combined proportion of Europe and the Middle East is 30% to 40%, while the proportion of Asian background cornerstone investors remains at 30% to 40%.
This is because European and American institutions have not only begun to pay attention to Chinese assets, but a large number of their decision-makers and decision-making locations have also moved to the Asia Pacific region such as Hong Kong, China. "Chen Ge gave an example, stating that in the past, global roadshows in the United States took a week, but now they only need to stay in New York and the West Coast for at most one day each.
In addition, the activity of sovereign funds and long-term funds participating in Hong Kong stock IPOs has significantly increased. Shen Ge introduced that many international long-term funds have a strong interest in Hong Kong stock IPO projects and actively join the cornerstone investor camp. For example, in terms of Middle Eastern investors, Qatar Investment Authority participated in the cornerstone investment of Dongpeng Beverage, while Abu Dhabi Investment Authority participated in the cornerstone investment of MiniMax; Fidelity has participated in cornerstone investments in projects such as Xizhi Technology and Muyuan Shares.
These cornerstone lineups reflect the enthusiasm of international long-term funds and sovereign funds to participate in Hong Kong stock IPO projects. ”Chen Ge said.
In addition, heavyweight cornerstone investors can generally determine the issue price within a rough range. At the same time, cornerstone investors usually lock their positions for at least 6 months to provide stable support for the company's stock price after issuance. This "long-term companionship" commitment makes issuers more willing to compromise in pricing negotiations in exchange for stable performance in the secondary market in the future. Some cornerstone investors may also bind with the actual controller as a concerted action person to add a lock up period, which is equivalent to the cornerstone of a company's IPO, ensuring the basic sales volume of the IPO. (Looking into the New Era)