This year,the A-share market has continued to adjust with fluctuations,with the Shanghai Composite Index still hovering around the 3,000 point mark,while public mutual funds continue to distribute dividends.Currently,more than 2,100 fund products have conducted dividend distributions within the year,with a cumulative amount exceeding 94.1 billion yuan.Looking at the product categories,bond funds remain the main force in dividend distribution,while ETF products have become the "new force."

Some industry insiders believe that the essence of fund dividends is "transferring money from the left pocket to the right pocket," which is not very significant.However,some fund professionals argue that for investors,fund dividends can enhance the investment experience and also lock in a portion of the profits,avoiding the risk of a significant reduction in capital when the market declines.

Dividends exceeding 94.1 billion yuan within the year

Wind data shows that as of July 4th,the number of fund products that have implemented dividend operations this year has expanded to 2,130 (calculated separately for different shares,the same below),with a total of 3,086 dividend distributions,involving a total amount exceeding 94.1 billion yuan.Compared to the same period last year,the number and frequency of dividend products increased by 10.36% and 9.7%,respectively,while the dividend amount decreased by 1.08% year-on-year.

In terms of fund categories,bond funds are the main players in both the number and scale of dividends,with more than 2,800 dividend distributions,accounting for over 90%; the amount involved is 80.51 billion yuan,accounting for 85.55% of the total.The proportion of active equity products has further decreased,with a cumulative dividend amount of 2.639 billion yuan from the beginning of the year to the present,accounting for less than 3% of the total,while the same period last year was 9.27%,with an amount exceeding 8.8 billion yuan.

Data shows that there are 254 products that have issued "big red packets" of more than 100 million yuan within the year.Specifically,Huatai-Pine Blossom CSI 300 ETF only conducted one dividend distribution,but with a total dividend amount of 2.494 billion yuan,it ranks first; Southern Zhongzheng 500 ETF follows with a dividend amount of 1.267 billion yuan.

Among the top ten products in terms of dividend amount,there are three equity funds,in addition to the above two,there is Huatai-Pine Blossom Dividend ETF,with only one dividend distribution amounting to 797 million yuan.The remaining seven are all bond fund products,such as China Banking Securities Anjin A and Golden Eagle Tianying Pure Debt C,which also have dividend amounts exceeding 1 billion yuan.

The former has conducted two dividend distributions this year,with a cumulative amount of 1.201 billion yuan; the latter has reached four dividend distributions,with a total amount of 1.149 billion yuan.In addition,products such as Penghua Central Debt 1-3 Year Agricultural Development C and China Banking Fung Ho Regular Open have dividend amounts exceeding 500 million yuan.

In terms of fund companies,this year,Guangfa Fund has the most dividend products,with 82 products implementing dividends,while Bosera Fund and Ping An Fund rank second and third with 67 and 64 products,respectively; in addition,Huaxia Fund,E Fund,China Merchants Fund,and Southern Fund have also implemented dividends for more than 50 products within the year.

In terms of amounts,among the 134 fund companies that have distributed dividends within the year,there are 14 companies with dividend amounts exceeding 2 billion yuan.Among them,Huatai-Pine Blossom Fund leads the industry with a total of 3.655 billion yuan in dividends from the aforementioned two ETFs; Penghua Fund ranks second with a total of 3.007 billion yuan in cumulative dividends from multiple bond funds under its management.New Changes in Dividend Mechanism

Fund dividends are a routine operation of fund management,referring to the distribution of a portion of the fund's earnings to investors in the form of cash or reinvestment of dividends into additional shares.This part of the earnings is originally a component of the net asset value (NAV) per fund unit,and it is returned to investors in advance by reducing the NAV.

This implies that dividends are not an "extra income" from outside the fund's performance,but rather a part of the fund's investment returns."Generally,fund assets are distributed as dividends only when there is a profit," a fund product department person in South China believes that for investors,fund dividends can first lock in a portion of the gains and avoid the risk of significant capital shrinkage when the market declines.

The person further stated that the essence of fund dividends is a part of the fund's net asset value,and using dividends can also reduce the management scale and alleviate the pressure of investors' concentrated redemption.In addition,some fund products have high-frequency dividends because the product contract stipulates certain restrictions on the product's net value or the number of distributions.

The reporter reviewed several fund announcements and found that different products have different conditions and frequencies for fund dividends.For example,a certain equity product stipulates that the product's profit distribution can be up to 4 times a year,with a minimum of 1 time,and each distribution must not be less than 10% of the available profit for distribution.If the "Fund Contract" has been in effect for less than three months,profit distribution may not be carried out.

Another bond fund stipulates that,subject to the relevant conditions for fund dividends,the fund's earnings should be distributed at least 2 times a year,with a maximum of 12 times,and the annual profit distribution ratio should not be less than 90% of the annual distributable earnings.The reporter noticed that some ETF products have begun to "roll" dividends.

ICBC China A50 ETF added a quarterly dividend clause in the fund contract and achieved the first dividend just four days after going public.China Merchants China Securities Dividend ETF amended the contract,adjusting the dividend rhythm from semi-annual to quarterly.In addition,several products such as Guotai Shanghai State-owned Enterprise Dividend ETF and Wanjia China Securities Dividend ETF have clauses for monthly dividends.

So far this year,the intensity and frequency of dividends for ETF products have significantly increased.As of July 4,24 ETF products have distributed dividends 31 times this year,with a total amount exceeding 5.6 billion yuan; while last year at the same period,there were only 10,with a dividend amount of 3.019 billion yuan.

Among them,products such as ICBC China A50 ETF and Wanjia China Securities Dividend ETF,which were established on March 6,and Guotai Shanghai State-owned Enterprise Dividend ETF,established at the end of April,have both distributed dividends twice.It is worth noting that these products do not distribute dividends monthly or quarterly on a fixed basis,but must meet certain conditions,such as when the excess return rate reaches more than 0.01%.

Regarding the "monthly dividend" mechanism,there are also different views in the industry.A fund industry insider told the reporter that,in his view,such high-frequency dividends for ETFs are "marketing gimmicks,not very meaningful." Although dividends can provide investors with capital backflow,the fund's NAV will correspondingly decrease after the dividend,and dividends are not equivalent to the fund's profitability.Proponents argue that this move is aimed at enhancing the sense of gain for retail investors and improving their holding experience.On the other hand,it also strives to provide a more frequent monthly cash flow,which facilitates investors in arranging subsequent financial planning.Additionally,there is a hope to encourage more investors to cultivate the concept of long-term and value investing.

Some fund company insiders also communicated with reporters,indicating that their company had discussed internally whether the product should be modified to "monthly dividend distribution," but ultimately decided to shelve the idea."Monthly (dividend distribution) is a bit too frequent,and it is also difficult to ensure that there is a profit to distribute dividends every month.If we advertise this and fail to deliver,there will be a gap in the investor experience," said a top-tier company's fund professional.