Global Investors Return to Hong Kong IPOs After 4-Year Pause
Fidelity, BlackRock, and Temasek return as cornerstone investors in Hong Kong IPOs after 4-year absence. Private global capital replaces state-backed funds, signaling institutional confidence in As...
Global institutional investors including Fidelity International, BlackRock, and Temasek have returned to Hong Kong's IPO market in force, with cornerstone investors covering approximately 50% of the US$1.81 billion raised across the first 11 IPOs of 2026.
Fidelity, BlackRock, and Temasek Anchor 2026 Deals
Fidelity International's last cornerstone commitments in Hong Kong dated to 2021, when it backed Kuaishou Technology's US$5.4 billion IPO and Medlive Technology's US$543.4 million listing. After four years of silence, Fidelity re-entered the market in September 2025 with a cornerstone position in Zijin Gold International's US$3.2 billion listing, followed by commitments to HashKey Group, Busy Ming, and Muyuan Foods.
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BlackRock committed US$35 million to Mingming Busy's January 2026 IPO. Temasek committed US$45 million to the same deal and also participated in Insilico Medicine's HK$2.3 billion (~US$296 million) raise, which drew 15 cornerstone investors including Schroders, Oaktree, Eli Lilly, and UBS, totaling US$115 million in commitments.
"We have seen a robust comeback of international long-only investors, especially European and Middle Eastern sovereign funds, in Hong Kong's IPO market, and we expect that momentum to carry into 2026," said John Lee, Vice-Chairman and Head of Greater China for Global Banking at UBS.
State-Backed Cornerstones Replaced by Private Global Capital
The composition of cornerstone investors has shifted significantly. In 2024, 43 government entities served as cornerstone investors in Hong Kong IPOs. By 2025 and into 2026, private global funds have replaced state-backed capital as the dominant anchor source.
Sectors attracting the broadest institutional interest span AI, biotech, commodities, and consumption. Zhipu AI's IPO, positioned as 2026's largest opener, secured HK$3 billion (US$387 million) in cornerstone commitments from JSC International, Taikang Life, GF Fund Management, and Hillhouse against a total raise of HK$4.3 billion (US$555 million). Qatar Investment Authority has also reappeared in cornerstone books alongside US and Singapore-based funds.
Hong Kong-listed biotech shares have been a key performance driver. The top 10 HK-listed biotech and pharma stocks averaged 140% share price gains year-on-year as of early 2026, with BeOne Medicines rising 294%.
HKEX Reforms and 2025 Volume Growth Underpin Recovery
HKEX implemented new listing rules on August 4, 2025, introducing tiered public float thresholds based on market capitalization and requiring a 40% minimum allocation to the bookbuilding process. The reforms retained six-month cornerstone lock-ups while improving price discovery for large-cap issuers.
The exchange recorded doubled daily trading volumes and 70% deal volume growth in 2025, alongside a more than 220% increase in funds raised year-on-year. Hong Kong and China together captured 32% of the US$90 billion in global IPO proceeds in 2025, representing a 73% year-on-year increase, according to KPMG data. Industry projections point to HK$350 billion (~US$45 billion) in fundraising for 2026.
Outlook Points to Sustained Institutional Participation
Temasek, with a total portfolio of S$434 billion (~US$323 billion) as of March 31, 2025, and 66% exposure to developed Asian economies, has participated across multiple deals and sectors. Its multi-deal activity reflects a systematic allocation rather than a one-off commitment.
DLA Piper analysts have described 2026 as a strategic inflection point for Hong Kong's listing market, citing the combination of regulatory reform, improved liquidity, and returning private institutional capital as reinforcing factors for continued recovery.
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