The investor base of public REITs continues to grow. Caixin noticed that recently, several newly established mixed secondary bond funds have included REITs in their investment scope. Currently, the total market value of the public REITs secondary market is approximately 220 billion yuan. According to institution calculations, the potential incremental funds brought by the secondary bond funds to REITs this year is around 18 billion yuan. Industry analysis believes that the incremental funds that bond funds can bring to REITs may be limited, but the significance of signaling potential incremental investors is clear, and to some extent, it can help boost the liquidity of the current secondary market. In addition, including REITs in the investment scope of secondary bond funds will enrich the investment portfolio of fixed income + funds and improve asset allocation efficiency. Several newly established mixed bond funds include REITs in their investment scope Next week, the Fuguo Steady Bond Fund will begin issuing on April 22nd. According to incomplete statistics from Caixin, this is the 5th newly established or currently issuing bond fund that can invest in REITs recently. Taking the Yifangda Heng'an Stable 6-month Holding Period Bond Fund established on April 8th as an example, the total amount raised for A and C shares is 2.306 billion yuan. This is a mixed secondary bond fund, and according to the prospectus, the fund invests in bonds accounting for not less than 80% of the fund's assets, and the proportion of investment in equities and convertible bonds ranges from 5% to 20% of the fund's assets. In terms of investment strategy, the prospectus states that the fund will comprehensively consider factors such as the macroeconomic situation, fund asset allocation strategy, underlying asset operation, liquidity, and valuation level to conduct in-depth research on the investment value of public REITs and select REITs with high investment value to include in the pool of targets. Depending on the investment strategy needs or changes in market conditions, some of the fund's assets may be invested in public REITs, but investing in public REITs is not mandatory. Currently, the main institutional investors in public REITs are securities proprietary trading and insurance funds. According to the statistics of Mingming, Chief of FICC at CITIC Securities, securities proprietary trading holds a total market value of 53% of the circulating shares of public REITs in 2025, and insurance institutions hold a total market value of around 20% of the circulating shares of public REITs. Other institutional investors in REITs include securities asset management, bank wealth management, industrial capital, etc., and the main ways for public funds to participate in REITs investment are fund separately managed accounts, FOFs, and proprietary funds. It is rare for bond funds to directly invest in REITs. In addition, the Fuguo Jiahui Bond Fund was established on March 19th with a raised amount of 323 million yuan. The fund specifies that the holding of other funds should not exceed 10% of the net asset value of the fund, that is, the proportion of investing in public REITs should not exceed 10% of the net asset value of the fund. Guojin Anyu and Tianhong Anze 90-day holding bond funds started issuing on April 7th and have not yet closed, and both can invest in REITs. Secondary bond funds have limited incremental funds for REITs, but are more significant as a signal On December 31, 2025, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the "Notice on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Market" (CSRC No. 63, 2025), which clearly stated "supporting eligible public funds to include REITs in their investment scope." In addition, Document 63 also calls for the study and exploration of exchange-traded open-end index funds tracking REITs indices and other innovative products. Zeng Yu, Chief of CITIC Securities Fixed Income, believes that gradually including REITs in the investment scope of newly issued secondary bond funds is a concrete manifestation of regulatory policy, and is expected to introduce new investors to the REITs market and gradually enhance liquidity, helping the high-quality development of the REITs industry. Mingming calculates that assuming that the issuance of mixed bond-type secondary funds in 2026 remains consistent with that of 2025, and the proportion of funds allocated to public REITs is 1%, it is estimated that the potential incremental funds brought by mixed bond-type secondary funds to the public REITs market from April to December 2026 will be around 18 billion yuan. As of the latest data, there are a total of 79 public REITs listed in China, with a total market value of the secondary market of approximately 220 billion yuan (including additional issuances) and a circulation market value of over 120 billion yuan. However, some REITs investors believe that the incremental funds that bond funds can bring to REITs may be limited. "The aforementioned bond funds include REITs in the investment scope, but the prospectus mentions that they can choose not to invest in public REITs, and the performance benchmark does not include REITs." Mingming believes that although the progress of capital investment in the public REITs market by mixed bond-type secondary funds still needs to be observed, the clear significance of potential incremental investors can help strengthen market confidence and to some extent boost liquidity in the current secondary market. According to Wind data, since March, the secondary market trading of REITs has been sluggish, with a daily turnover rate hovering around 0.30%. Image: REITs Market Interval Daily Turnover Rate (Data source: Wind data, compiled by Caixin) In addition, as the same fund manager may manage multiple public REITs or bond funds, the above-mentioned REITs researchers point out that bond funds investing in public REITs need to pay attention to conflicts of interest with related parties. Among the above-mentioned bond funds, Guojin Anyu explicitly cannot invest in public REITs products under the fund manager, Yifangda Heng'an Stable 6-month Holding, Fuguo Steady Bond Fund, and Fuguo Jiahui indicate that they can invest in the entire market of public REITs, while Tianhong Anze 90-day holding does not have clear provisions. From the perspective of fixed income +, Zeng Yu believes that REITs have low correlation with stocks and bonds, effectively diversify portfolio risks, and improve the Sharpe ratio. Including REITs in the investment scope of secondary bond funds is expected to further enhance the asset allocation efficiency of fund products and improve the risk-return profile of portfolios. This will help enrich the investment portfolio of "fixed income + " funds and enhance their core function in individual wealth management. Mingming also believes that in the context of broad low-interest rate operation and asset shortage environment, the positioning of public REITs as part of the "fixed income +" strategy is gradually clearer, and the market for continuous growth is promising.The model also has the potential to gradually support its important role in the allocation of major asset classes.This article is reprinted from Caijing Media, GMTEight Editor: Chen Wenfang.