The big cornerstone comeback: what’s driving investors back to Hong Kong IPOs?

AdvertisementHong Kong stock marketBusinessBanking & FinanceThe big cornerstone comeback: what’s driving investors back to Hong Kong IPOs?After four subdued years, the cornerstone investors that anchor Hong Kong’s IPO market are returning in force, reshaping the deal landscapeReading Time:6 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPJulie ZhangandYulu AoPublished: 10:00am, 28 Feb 2026Updated: 10:08am, 28 Feb 2026Until last year, Fidelity International’s most significant cornerstone commitments on the Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) market dated back to 2021, when Chinese short-video platform Kuaishou Technology raised US$5.4 billion and healthcare firm Medlive Technology completed a US$543.4 million listing.Then for the next four years, the asset manager went quiet.Late last year it returned to Chinese assets in force. It backed gold miner Zijin Gold International’s US$3.2 billion listing in September 2025, followed by crypto platform HashKey Group, snack retailer Busy Ming and pork giant Muyuan Foods.AdvertisementFidelity’s comeback is not an isolated case.Heavyweight global investors such as BlackRock, Temasek and Qatar Investment Authority are reappearing in cornerstone books, signalling a shift in sentiment – and raising the question of what has changed in Hong Kong’s favour.Advertisement“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.The return is not limited to Europe and the Middle East, with US and Singapore-based funds also re-emerging as cornerstone backers in major listings, particularly across consumption, industrial and hi-tech sectors.AdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x