Hedge funds linked to Liang Wenfeng, the billionaire founder of DeepSeek, emerged among the biggest beneficiaries of the record-breaking initial public offering of Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT according to a report by Bloomberg.
The funds reportedly received the largest allocation of shares among domestic private fund managers.
The report cites industry data as showing that Liang’s investment firms – High-Flyer Quant Investment Management and High-Flyer Asset Management – were allocated a combined 20.2 million shares in the IPO, the largest allocation among more than 100 Chinese hedge funds and private investment managers participating in the offering.
CXMT’s shares surged 466% on their market debut, lifting the value of High-Flyer’s allocation by an estimated RMB820m (approximately $121m) on paper, highlighting the strong demand for semiconductor-related listings in China’s equity market.
The IPO has become a focal point for investors seeking exposure to China’s rapidly expanding artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors. The flotation, the second largest in China’s history, is widely viewed as an important milestone in Beijing’s efforts to build a self-sufficient domestic semiconductor industry.
Other quantitative investment firms receiving sizeable allocations included Ubiquant, which secured 15.4 million shares, alongside Yanfu Investments, and Century Frontier Asset Management.
Chinese quantitative hedge funds have increasingly used IPO allocations as a source of returns, capitalising on the strong first-day performance that has historically characterised many domestic A-share listings.
While hedge funds secured significant allocations, mutual fund managers received the majority of shares available to institutional investors. Around 100 mutual fund companies were collectively allocated approximately 1.3 billion shares, with E Fund Management receiving the largest individual allocation.
The offering also attracted exceptional demand from retail investors. The retail tranche was more than 200 times oversubscribed, reflecting continued enthusiasm for companies operating in strategic industries such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, sectors that have received strong policy backing from Chinese authorities.
