July 8 (CLS) — Reporter Li Di This year, the public fund industry has seen an accelerated flow of talent, with not only many veteran fund managers with years of experience leaving but also a wave of newcomers who have created double-return funds departing. "So many people are leaving public funds this year!" industry insiders lament.
Yu Guang, a fund manager at Invesco Great Wall Fund with 16 years of experience in managing public fund products, has recently seen frequent co-manager appointments for his products. Currently, he has no products managed solely by himself, and industry sources suggest he may leave in the future. Additionally, veteran fund managers such as Ye Yong of Wanjia Fund, Jia Chengdong of SYWG BNP Paribas Fund, and Wu Yuanyi of GF Fund have also recently left. Among the new generation fund managers, Yan Kun of China Life AMP Fund recently resigned for personal reasons; Rong Zhineng of Baoying Fund has seen many of his products recently appoint co-managers, suggesting he may leave.
Talent flow in the industry has accelerated this year, with 225 fund managers leaving so far, an increase of nearly 20% year-on-year, a record high for the same period. Major public fund firms are now stepping up efforts to recruit talent, with top-performing fund managers who have captured the tech rally becoming targets of active poaching by institutional firms. Some new generation fund managers even hold more than ten job offers.
Multiple veteran fund managers resign recently
This year, talent mobility in the public fund industry has accelerated, with a number of seasoned fund managers also resigning.
Take Yu Guang, a fund manager with 16 years of experience in managing public fund products. On June 18, Yu Guang's Invesco Great Wall Core Competitiveness Hybrid A appointed fund manager Nong Bingli, Invesco Great Wall Core Preferred One-Year Holding Hybrid appointed Zhang Jing, and Invesco Great Wall Core Key Stocks Hybrid A appointed Zhou Hanying. After these appointments, Yu Guang has no funds managed solely by himself, leading industry insiders to speculate that this veteran may leave.
Yu Guang joined Invesco Great Wall Fund in 2005 and has worked there for over 20 years. As of the end of the first quarter this year, his management scale reached 7.004 billion yuan.
Veteran fund manager Ye Yong, with nearly 8 years of experience, also recently resigned. On June 19, Wanjia Fund announced that Ye Yong resigned for personal reasons, stepping down from several fund products, effective June 18.
Veteran fund manager Jia Chengdong also made a recent move to leave. In early July, he formally resigned as vice president of SYWG BNP Paribas Fund for personal reasons. Earlier, in mid-June, he stepped down from all fund products under his management. During his one-year tenure, Shenwan Lingxin Industry Selected Hybrid A lost over 30%, and Shenwan Lingxin New Power Hybrid A lost over 8%.
Veteran fund manager Wu Yuanyi, with nearly 6 years of experience, also resigned recently. In early June, he stepped down from GF Small Cap Growth Hybrid (LOF) A, GF Growth Pilot One-Year Holding Hybrid A, and GF Value Core Hybrid A, and then left GF Fund. During his tenure, he also created a double-return fund. He managed GF Growth Pilot One-Year Holding Hybrid A for about three years, with a return of 185.24% during his tenure.
Some "double-return" new generation fund managers also leave
Amid the wave of veteran departures, some new generation fund managers who have created "double-return" funds have also recently left.
On July 7, China Life AMP Digital Economy Stock Fund and China Life AMP Strategy Select Hybrid Fund issued fund manager change announcements, with Yan Kun resigning for personal reasons, effective July 7, and he has completed the cancellation procedures with the China Fund Industry Association as required.
Yan Kun is a new generation fund manager with two and a half years of public fund management experience. As of the end of the first quarter this year, his management scale was 1.47 billion yuan. During Yan Kun's tenure, the returns of China Life AMP Digital Economy Stock Fund A and China Life AMP Strategy Select Hybrid Fund A were 203.54% and 136.15%, respectively.
Rong Zhineng is also a new generation fund manager with three years of public fund management experience. On June 13, his Baoying Technology 30 Hybrid and Baoying Transformation Power Hybrid A appointed co-managers. On July 4, his Baoying Strategy Growth Hybrid, Baoying Innovation-Driven Stock A, and Baoying National Security Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Stock A appointed co-managers. Currently, Rong Zhineng has no funds managed solely by himself and may resign soon.
During Rong Zhineng's three-year tenure, the return of Baoying Transformation Power Hybrid A was as high as 382.51%; Baoying Innovation-Driven Stock A had a return of 194.69%.
Recently, Baoying Fund also experienced executive changes. On July 1, Baoying Fund announced that Yang Kai resigned as general manager on June 29 for personal reasons.
Talent war heats up
Choice data shows that as of the morning of July 8, the number of fund manager departures this year has reached 225, an increase of nearly 20% year-on-year, hitting a record high for the same period.
Industry insiders point out that the current A-share market is showing extreme structural trends, leading to significant divergence in fund manager performance. Some new generation or veteran fund managers have precisely captured investment opportunities in the tech sector, creating double-return funds, making them sought-after talents by institutions.
However, some fund managers with poor performance have been forced to leave.
At the same time, major public fund firms continue to increase investment research talent recruitment, attracting many talents from small and medium-sized public funds, further accelerating talent flow in the industry.
For example, new generation fund manager Zhang Tianwen, with over three years of public fund management experience, resigned from all products at the end of last year and then left Baoying Fund. He joined Dacheng Fund this year, and Dacheng Growth Enterprise Board Two-Year Regular Open Hybrid Fund recently appointed Zhang Tianwen as fund manager, effective July 6.
A senior public fund practitioner told reporters that a new generation fund manager who created a double-return fund has more than a dozen job offers, with various public fund firms offering very favorable conditions. Additionally, a veteran fund manager from a medium-sized public fund, due to extremely outstanding performance over the past year, is being continuously poached by three major public fund firms.
However, some insiders express concern that this wave of tech stocks has created a number of new generation fund managers, but their investment capabilities have not been tested through market cycles. The stability and sustainability of their performance remain to be seen. If institutions blindly poach based solely on short-term performance, they may not necessarily recruit true talent. Moreover, if new fund managers see that achieving short-term performance can lead to jumping to large firms and income jumps, they may be more inclined to make more aggressive investment moves, using extreme bets on a single track to seek returns, which to some extent contradicts the concept of putting holders' interests at the core.
(CLS reporter Li Di)
