June 28 (NBD) -- A total of 3,373 private securities funds were liquidated in the first five months of 2018, up 69.3 percent compared with the same period of 2017, according to data from a Beijing-based consulting firm licai.com.

Amid market downturn, private equity funds were in general losing money, except a few which bet on the pharmaceutical sector, 21st Century Business Herald reported citing a person-in-charge at a Beijing-based private equity firm. The average accumulative return rate of private equity products in China stood at -3.11 percent as of June 18 for the year of 2018, according to statistics from a financial service portal simuwang.com.

A source at a private equity firm in Shenzhen told 21st Century Business Herald that private equity funds are now facing enormous pressure and an increasing number of them will be forced into liquidation if the A-share market keeps sliding.  

Besides, the overall asset management scale of private securities funds shrunk continuously in the February-May period this year. As of the end of May 2018, a total of 35,903 registered private securities funds were managing 2.55 trillion yuan (387 billion U.S. dollars), 19.63 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars) less than the figure added up at the end of April.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn