A female fund manager has outperformed a group of veteran "baijiu" fund managers.
Author | Chen Xiaomiao
Editor | Da Yuan
Image Source | Visual China
Managing a fund with a scale of tens of billions of yuan was once an important indicator to measure the industry status of a fund manager. There was a time when Zhang Kun, with the E Fund Blue Chip Select worth 67.7 billion yuan, created a single - quarter profit of 12 billion yuan for fund investors.
Therefore, fund managers managing tens of billions of yuan are often sought after by the market and regarded as "investment benchmarks" by fund investors. However, the investment market is ever - changing. When the wind and bubbles fade away, can these fund managers still maintain their charm?
The Liquor Market is Losing Steam
As of July 4, 2025, more than half of the year has passed. A search on the Wind data terminal shows that there are 21 actively managed equity funds (including common stock funds, partial - stock hybrid funds, balanced hybrid funds, and flexible allocation funds) with a scale of over 10 billion yuan.
Among them, four funds with negative returns are managed by well - known fund managers: the Huatai - PineBridge Consumption Industry Fund managed by Hu Xinwei of Huatai - PineBridge Fund has a year - to - date return of - 2.91%; the Invesco Great Wall Emerging Growth A Fund managed by Liu Yanchun of Invesco Great Wall has a year - to - date return of - 4.81%; the E Fund Consumption Industry Fund managed by Xiao Nan of E Fund has a year - to - date return of - 6.11%; and the Xingquan Trend Investment Fund managed by Dong Li, Yang Shijin, and Xie Changyan has a year - to - date return of - 9.02%.
As the "top fund manager" of Huatai - PineBridge Fund, Hu Xinwei manages the Huatai - PineBridge Consumption Industry Fund with a scale of 11.024 billion yuan. He took over the fund in April 2016 and created a mythical five - year return rate of 240.09% by 2019.
In 2020, the annual return of the Huatai - PineBridge Consumption Industry Fund was still 77.52%, but it has been declining ever since. The returns from 2021 to 2024 were all negative, with - 20.48% in 2022 and - 17.89% in 2023.
Looking at the holdings, Hu Xinwei has always focused his investments on liquor. From the third quarter of 2017 to the third quarter of 2024, for 15 consecutive quarters, Kweichow Moutai was almost always the top - weighted stock, except for a brief period when Shanxi Fenjiu pushed Kweichow Moutai to the second place.
Meanwhile, other liquor stocks such as Luzhou Laojiao, Wuliangye, Gujinggong, Yingjiagongjiu, and Jinshiyuan are also among Hu Xinwei's favorites. In recent years, the sharp fluctuations in the liquor market have clearly led to the fund's transition from large profits to losses.
From 2024 to the present, although there are still 5 liquor stocks among the top ten holdings, a notable change is that Hu Xinwei has gradually increased the proportion of Midea Group in the portfolio. As of the end of 2024, Midea Group overtook Kweichow Moutai to become the top - weighted stock, accounting for 10.84% of the stock market value.
Behind this is Hu Xinwei's observation of the domestic consumption trend. He wrote in the first quarter of this year that the traditional consumer goods industry still faces growth pressure. The consumption highlights are mainly concentrated in some industries enjoying "national subsidies", some new consumer industries, and some export - oriented industries. In the first quarter, Haier Smart Home and Gree Electric Appliance also ranked as the fourth and sixth largest holdings in the Huatai - PineBridge Consumption Industry Fund.
Liu Yanchun is one of the "star" fund managers at Invesco Great Wall. The Invesco Great Wall Emerging Growth A Fund accounts for half of his managed fund scale. Since taking office in April 2015, Liu Yanchun's total return has been quite good, reaching 102.66%.
Looking at the annual return data, the annual returns of 72.18% in 2019 and 85.97% in 2020 have largely boosted Liu Yanchun's overall performance. In 2021, while the scale of this fund reached a peak of 51.7 billion yuan, its performance also started to decline. In the years when high returns were achieved, this fund also favored liquor stocks, including Luzhou Laojiao, Wuliangye, and Kweichow Moutai.
As of the first quarter of 2025, Shanxi Fenjiu, Kweichow Moutai, Wuliangye, Gujinggong, and Luzhou Laojiao still accounted for nearly half of the stock market value. It is precisely because of Liu Yanchun's persistence that the Invesco Great Wall Emerging Growth A Fund has suffered losses so far this year.
The E Fund Consumption Industry Fund managed by Xiao Nan of E Fund has a scale of 18.943 billion yuan and a return rate of - 6.51%. Like the Invesco Great Wall Emerging Growth A Fund, this fund also achieved annual returns of over 70% in 2019 and 2020, mainly benefiting from the soaring liquor market.
In addition to liquor stocks, Xiao Nan also pays attention to stocks in the automotive industry such as Fuyao Glass, Great Wall Motor, BYD, and Sailun Tire. The overall performance of Fuyao Glass and BYD in the past two years has been quite impressive, but Great Wall Motor has dragged down the performance for two consecutive quarters.
Xiao Nan described his investment strategy in the first - quarter report: "After the Spring Festival in 2025, we increased our allocation of liquor stocks. We believe that allocating to liquor stocks at present is like buying a high - yield bond with a call option on domestic demand, and the cost - effectiveness is very high. We also made some minor adjustments in the automotive and auto - parts sectors, mainly increasing our exposure to external demand."
As the first fund manager in the industry to manage actively managed equity funds with a scale of over 100 billion yuan, the performance of Zhang Kun's managed funds has always been closely watched by the market. The well - known E Fund Blue Chip Select managed by him barely achieved a positive return of 0.69% in the first half of the year, which is far from the ultra - high annual return of 95.09% in 2020.
Zhang Kun is regarded by fund investors as a typical representative of sticking to liquor funds. From the portfolio adjustments of the E Fund Blue Chip Select since 2024, it can be seen that Zhang Kun has stopped increasing his positions in Kweichow Moutai and Wuliangye, the two liquor giants, and slightly increased his positions in Shanxi Fenjiu and Luzhou Laojiao. Internet stocks such as Tencent Holdings, Alibaba, and Meituan have received more and more attention from Zhang Kun. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, they ranked as the first, second, and tenth largest holdings respectively. Zhang Kun also admitted that "the stock position of this fund remained basically stable in the first quarter, and we optimized the portfolio structure, adjusting the structure of industries such as consumption and technology."
The spectacular bull market in the liquor industry has created a golden era for several star fund managers. Now, the fund managers managing tens of billions of yuan are experiencing a performance slump one after another. Is this a kind of backlash effect of scale?
In the list, the Xingquan Trend Investment Fund is the only fund with a scale of over 10 billion yuan that has suffered losses and is not heavily invested in liquor. Its industry allocation is mainly in information technology, followed by industry, finance, materials, public utilities, etc.
To some extent, judging from the heavy - holding stocks and stock price increases, the problem lies in the misjudgment of the company's potential by the three fund managers, including Dong Li. In the first quarter, the stock prices of some heavy - holding stocks such as North Huachuang, Luxshare Precision, and Conch Cement were rising, but they were reduced by more than 30%. On the other hand, stocks such as Zijin Mining, BYD, and Desay SV, which had a maximum increase of over 30%, were not increased in position. This is equivalent to missing out on the opportunity to make big profits.
The New - Generation Female Fund Managers are Winning Big
Not all fund managers struggle to manage funds with a scale of over 10 billion yuan.
Since the beginning of the year, the Penghua Carbon Neutrality Theme A Fund (with a scale of 10.896 billion yuan) and the Yongying Advanced Manufacturing Intelligence A Fund (with a scale of 11.518 billion yuan) have both achieved returns of over 40%, making them definite winners among funds with a scale of over 10 billion yuan.
Yan Siqian, the fund manager of the Penghua Carbon Neutrality Theme A Fund, has worked as an analyst at Huachuang Securities, a business manager at BOCI Securities, and a fund manager in the research department of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund. During her tenure at ICBC Credit Suisse, she was known as the "goddess of new - energy vehicles" for her successful investments in the new - energy vehicle industry.
In May 2022, Yan Siqian joined Penghua Fund, and the Penghua Carbon Neutrality Theme A Fund was established the following year. As the name suggests, this fund mainly invests in the stocks of listed companies in the carbon - neutrality theme.
All 10 heavy - holding stocks of Yan Siqian in the first quarter have seen significant increases, with the lowest increase being 37.98%. Shuanglin Co., Ltd. and Zhongda Lide Co., Ltd., which have outstanding performance, have increased by over 120% and 110% respectively. Moreover, Shuanglin Co., Ltd. is the top - weighted stock, and its position was increased by 295.09% in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the previous period.
Yan Siqian said that since 2025, many automotive and auto - parts companies have announced their transformation into embodied intelligence, and mainstream automakers are joining the robot industrialization camp. Internet giants are flocking to the humanoid robot field, just as they did to the new - energy vehicle manufacturing industry back then.
She is also very confident about the future of the industry. "As we previously expected, 2025 will be the first year of the development of embodied intelligence. With the rapid development of Chinese manufacturing and AI, embodied intelligence will improve the production efficiency of various manufacturing industries and significantly reduce manufacturing costs in the next few years. However, it is still in the initial stage from 0 to 1, with huge potential but a long way to go. We will continue to monitor the industry fundamentals and technological development."
Looking at the Yongying Advanced Manufacturing Intelligence A Fund managed by Zhang Lu, the performance is also very impressive. Two stocks with an increase of over 120% in the period, Zhenyu Technology and Zhongda Lide, overlap with the stocks selected by the Penghua Carbon Neutrality Theme A Fund.
Beite Technology, the top - weighted stock, has been heavily held for four consecutive quarters. In the first quarter of 2025, Zhang Lu continued to increase the position by 330.88%. The stock had an increase of 71.63% in 2024 and 12.03% in the first quarter of 2025.
Zhang Lu has no hesitation in praising the robot sector. She describes the robot sector as a "major beta opportunity in the next 10 years." She also said that the emergence of robots is not just about liberating human hands. It will empower human life in all aspects, whether it is emotional companionship or physical support. The robot industry may be a rare long - term and high - potential investment opportunity in the future, similar to the Apple industrial chain in the consumer electronics industry and the Tesla electric vehicle industrial chain in the past.
Among the funds with a scale of over 10 billion yuan with good performance, the Xingquan Heyi A Fund managed by Xie Zhiyu and Xue Yiran, the GF Multi - Factor Fund managed by Yang Dong and Tang Xiaobin, and the China - Europe Medical and Health A Fund managed by Ge Lan have all achieved returns of over 10%.
The Xingquan Heyi A Fund tends to allocate to technology and intelligent manufacturing fields, such as Xiaomi Group and SMIC. The latter two funds have performed well in the pharmaceutical industry and are heavily invested in stocks such as Zai Lab, Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Hengrui Medicine, and WuXi AppTec.
Ge Lan said that in the first quarter of 2025, the pharmaceutical industry showed significant structural differentiation in a complex internal and external environment. The Shenwan Pharmaceutical Index rose steadily, with a 2.30% increase in this quarter, while the CSI 300 Index fell by 1.21%. The innovation - related industrial chain generally performed well, with the chemical pharmaceutical sector rising by 5.9% and the medical R & D outsourcing sector rising by 12.4%, while the traditional Chinese medicine sector was adjusted.
Looking forward to the second quarter, Ge Lan still has high expectations for the continuous breakthrough of innovative drugs, the recovery of consumer medical services, and the domestic substitution of key links in the industrial chain. She believes that the structural opportunities in the consumer medical sector are expected to continue. Optional consumption fields such as medical aesthetics and ophthalmology will benefit from the improvement of residents' health management awareness, and the terminal demand is expected to further recover with the economic recovery. At the same time, the demand for household medical equipment will increase steadily under the aging trend.