Gu Yong has been promoted to General Manager of Dongcai Fund, with 10 core executives of public funds already changing at the beginning of the year.

Cailian Press, February 28 — (Reporter Zhou Xiaoya)
Just two months into the new year, 10 public fund managers have changed leadership.

On February 28, Dongcai Fund announced that due to work arrangements, Sha Fugui has stepped down as General Manager and Chief Financial Officer, with other arrangements in place; meanwhile, former Deputy General Manager Gu Yong has been promoted to General Manager and also takes on the role of CFO.

Dongcai Fund, now on its fourth General Manager, experienced over 12 times growth in scale in recent years, primarily driven by bond funds. The company’s internet DNA and its empowerment for development still need to be demonstrated.

This has increased the number of public fund managers changing leadership to 10 so far this year. Based on the operational status of various public fund companies, these management changes mostly occur in small and medium-sized firms ranked outside the top 50, reflecting both efforts to find breakthrough opportunities and concerns about weakening stability.

Dongcai Fund Welcomes Its Fourth General Manager, Over 12x Growth in 5 Years

Sha Fugui, the longest-serving General Manager of Dongcai Fund, will complete his five-year term upon departure, making him the third person to hold this position since the company’s founding. He comes from Dongcai Fund’s shareholder, Eastmoney Securities, where he previously served as Deputy General Manager, General Manager of Tibet Eastmoney Investment Management, Chairman, and Legal Representative. After joining Dongcai Fund, he initially served as Deputy General Manager, then was promoted to General Manager in August 2021.

During his tenure, the company’s scale saw a leap in growth. Wind data shows that by the end of last year, Dongcai Fund managed 57.599 billion yuan in public funds, an increase of 53.234 billion yuan since September 2021, over 12 times growth. Its ranking among public fund managers also rose from 132nd to 84th, a jump of 48 places.

Product offerings were also expanded, with 11 new products launched last year, focusing on technology-themed ETFs and fixed income products. By the end of last year, the product line covered fixed income (FOF), index (and enhanced index), and active equity products, totaling 60. However, stock funds, especially ETFs and their linked funds, remain the key focus, accounting for over half of the product count.

Despite these efforts, equity funds have developed more slowly. Data shows that the growth in Dongcai Fund’s public products in recent years has mainly been driven by bond funds, with stock and hybrid funds adding only 10.947 billion yuan.

As a subsidiary of Eastmoney, the company’s internet DNA and distribution channels through Tiantian Fund are seen as unique advantages, and its product layout demonstrates a strong focus on index business.

In the increasingly competitive field of index funds, this advantage remains to be fully realized. By the end of last year, the company’s total index fund assets reached 21.708 billion yuan, with the Dongcai CSI 1-3 Year Treasury ETF alone exceeding 6 billion yuan. However, due to continuous net redemptions at the start of the year, the fund’s size shrank rapidly to below 3 billion yuan.

The new General Manager, Gu Yong, was promoted from within, but his previous role as Deputy General Manager lasted less than a year. In March last year, Gu Yong resigned from his position as Deputy General Manager at Huaxia Securities for personal reasons, and in the same month, Dongcai Fund announced his appointment as Deputy General Manager.

His quick transition and rapid promotion suggest that the future development of Dongcai Fund under his leadership is worth watching. His past experience includes roles at both buy-side and sell-side institutions, such as Fuguo Fund, China Dadi Property & Casualty Insurance, and Yong’an Property & Casualty Insurance. On the sell side, he also worked at DeBang Securities as Senior President Assistant and Head of the Technology Finance Department, and has experience at Fosun High Technology Group in Shanghai.

Additionally, at the end of last year, two bond-oriented public products under Northeast Securities’ asset management arm, Dongzheng Ronghui Asset Management, officially transformed into Dongcai Xinxiang 30-day and Dongcai Xiyue 90-day bond funds managed by Dongcai Fund.

These two products have not yet disclosed quarterly reports, so they are not included in the previous public fund scale calculations. However, as of the end of Q3 last year, their combined assets totaled 9.244 billion yuan, which will likely contribute to Dongcai Fund’s growth going forward.

Ten Companies Have Changed Leadership This Year

This management change has increased the number of public fund managers with leadership changes to 10 so far this year. Most of these changes occur in small and medium-sized firms ranked outside the top 50, reflecting both efforts to seek breakthroughs and concerns about stability.

Internal promotions or transfers are quite common. For example, on February 13, Li Yunliang, former Compliance and Risk Control Head at Quanguo Fund, was transferred to General Manager due to work arrangements. Zhongke Wotu Fund also completed a leadership change in early February, with the previous General Manager, Yu Jianwei, leaving for personal reasons, and the company’s Assistant General Manager, Zhong Guangzheng, promoted to General Manager. However, Zhong Guangzheng’s tenure as Assistant General Manager was less than five months.

In January, Huatai Securities Asset Management and Allianz Funds also saw internal promotions of Chairman and General Manager. Huatai Securities Asset Management’s former General Manager, Jiang Xiaoyang, was promoted to Chairman, while Vice General Manager Zhu Qian was promoted to General Manager. Signs of this leadership change had appeared earlier, with Cui Chun leaving as Chairman of Huatai Securities Asset Management in October last year due to work changes, and Jiang Xiaoyang taking on the role temporarily.

For Allianz Funds, this marked the second core leadership overhaul since its establishment. Former General Manager Shen Liang and former Vice General Manager Zheng Yuchen were both transferred to Chairman and General Manager positions respectively due to work arrangements. Shen Liang had already served as Acting Chairman for nearly half a year before his promotion, and the previous Chairman had left for personal reasons.

It is noteworthy that, as a foreign-funded public fund company established less than three years ago, Allianz Funds’ frequent leadership changes have attracted market attention. On February 28, the company announced another leadership change, with Lu Rong appointed as Chief Information Officer, just over ten days after the previous CIO, Luo Ruihong, resigned for personal reasons. Luo Ruihong’s departure marked the second CIO change. Over the past two years, other senior roles such as Vice President and Inspector General have also seen turnover.

Chunhou Fund also experienced simultaneous changes in Chairman and General Manager in January, influenced by shareholder changes. The main shareholder was approved in January, with Shanghai Changning State-owned Assets Operation Investment Co., Ltd. becoming the major shareholder and controlling entity. The leadership team was also refreshed, with Chen Hong appointed as Chairman, replacing Jia Hongbo, who was deemed unsuitable by regulators and resigned. Zuo Jiqing was appointed as General Manager; he previously served as General Manager of China Life Asset Management’s Bond Investment Department, Fixed Income Department, and as General Manager of Guoshou Anbao Fund.

Some former General Managers, such as Shen Zhong of Guoxin Guozheng Fund, Han Guanghua of Xinghua Fund, and Li Ji of Hexu Zhiyuan Fund, resigned due to personal reasons. Looking at performance, some departures may hint at issues. For example, Shen Zhong, who was appointed through open recruitment, served as General Manager of Guoxin Guozheng Fund for about a year and a half, during which the company’s public fund scale grew slightly but remained in the hundreds of millions range. Li Ji continued as a fund manager after leaving Hexu Zhiyuan Fund’s General Manager role, but by the end of last year, he managed only one public fund with 0.12 billion yuan, the only hybrid fund in the company.