A top female chief analyst at a securities firm resigned without lining up any new position beforehand to start her own business, and even an annual salary of millions could not persuade her to stay. Are hordes of people flocking to chase the trending market track and earning enormous profits?
Another beautiful analyst from a securities firm has switched careers!
Recently, Xie Liyuan, chief analyst of the home appliance and optional consumer industry at Huafu Securities, announced that she had quit her job without a pre-arranged new position. She gave up her annual salary of millions without hesitation, turned to the AI track, and started her own business as an entrepreneur.
In the past, securities firm chief analysts "research and write about whatever is trending", but recently Bamei has noticed a new trend: more and more chief analysts are starting to "work in whatever field is trending".
Xie Liyuan is not an isolated case. Qin Xiang, former CEO of Hualin Securities, switched careers to Xingyun Technology, a listed company that focuses on the AI computing power track; Geng Chen, deputy director of the Research Institute of Huachuang Securities and chief electronics industry analyst, resigned and joined Ruoyu Technology, which focuses on the R&D of "embodied intelligent robot brains"...
It is fair to say that career transitions of financial practitioners are all centered on chasing the latest market trends. No wonder a young man in the financial circle teased Bamei:
"No matter the industry cycle or track rotation, wherever the trend blows, financial practitioners will set up their workstations there~"
1. Giving up millions in annual salary! The "Iron Ladies" in the financial circle are flocking to AI?
The hottest track in the first half of this year is undoubtedly AI. As a result, many "Iron Ladies" from the financial circle have left their old jobs and joined the AI industry as their next stop.
Just a few days ago, Xie Liyuan, chief analyst of the home appliance and optional consumer industry at Huafu Securities, quit her job without a new position lined up. She claimed in a video that she "gave up her annual salary of millions" and hesitated for a long time before making the final decision.
Judging from the video, Xie Liyuan has a good appearance, but she is no "vase". From school to the workplace, she has always followed the path of a financial elite.
Xie Liyuan graduated from Central University of Finance and Economics with a bachelor's degree, and from Fudan University with a master's degree. She has worked in institutions such as Tianfeng Securities, CIConsulting and Huaan Securities successively. In February 2021, she joined Debon Securities as chief analyst of the home appliance industry.
In the first half of 2024, Ren Zhiqiang, former director of the Research Institute of Debon Securities, joined Huafu Securities, and many analysts including Xie Liyuan, Zhang Jun and Hu Junde also moved to Huafu together.
Xie Liyuan is highly competent in her work. In recent years, she led her team to win a number of authoritative honors such as the Best Analyst of the 2025 China Securities Industry Analyst Golden Bull Award and the Sina Finance Golden Kylin Elite Analyst, and has become a rising star in the team of chief analysts at securities firms.
As for the reason for choosing AI, she predicted in a research report that the traditional employment system is being restructured, and one-person companies / small studios will become increasingly important production units.
"Since I came to this conclusion in my report, I think I should be the first to devote myself to the trend I described."
At present, Xie Liyuan says she is developing an AI product. Her official account has also been renamed from "Human Consumer Research Yuan" to "Sister Gai's Cyber Survival Laboratory", and she has also launched a Knowledge Planet account, which shows that she is going to take the path of "AI + paid knowledge services".
Interestingly, in the comment section of Xie Liyuan's video, some netizens interacted and said: "The consumer goods sector is almost hitting the bottom"; she also teased herself:
"I think so too~ The consumer chief analyst has quit her job without a new offer, so the sector is almost at its bottom."
In addition to Xie Liyuan, Qin Xiang, former CEO of Hualin Securities, also ventured into the AI track.
On May 15 this year, Qin Xiang resigned from her position as CEO. In less than a month, she was appointed as a non-independent director of Xingyun Technology, a listed company that is fully transforming from cross-border e-commerce to the AI computing power track.
Speaking of which, Qin Xiang's professional resume is absolutely top-tier in the financial circle: she worked as an engineer at Huawei in her early years, then joined China Merchants Securities, where she worked for more than 20 years, growing from an engineer to a general manager, and shifting from a technical position to a management position.
It is worth mentioning that Qin Xiang is also one of the early founders of the PB business (prime brokerage business) in the securities industry, which has a profound impact on the business model of the financial circle.
But such a veteran of the securities industry actually left the financial circle as early as 2019 to engage in the real economy, serving as Vice President and COO of China Dili Group; in 2024, she returned to the securities industry and served as CEO of Hualin Securities, and the market once regarded her as the "firefighter" of this private securities firm.
From IT to securities firms, from engaging in the real economy to returning to securities firms, now Qin Xiang has made another career shift, directly giving up the aura of securities firm CEO and diving into the wave of AI computing power, which can be described as very courageous.
It is often said that even pigs can fly when standing on a trend. It is not excessive for financial practitioners, who are most sensitive to capital flows, to seize the opportunity of the booming technology trend to gain huge returns by participating in the industry themselves~
2. From top sell-side practitioners to investment banking elites, they are all switching to robotics
If the AI track is already well known to all, the more popular niche track in the past two years is undoubtedly embodied intelligence. 2025 is known as the "first year of mass production" of intelligent robots, and financial practitioners who love to chase trends naturally do not fall behind.
Around the Dragon Boat Festival this year, Geng Chen, deputy director of the Research Institute of Huachuang Securities and chief electronics industry analyst, announced his resignation, ending his 10-year career in the sell-side field.
Geng Chen graduated from the University of New Mexico in the United States with a master's degree in computer science, and once worked as a researcher at the School of Computing of the National University of Singapore. In 2015, he officially entered the financial circle, and was successively responsible for electronics industry research at the Research Institutes of China Investment Securities and Zhongtai Securities, before joining Huachuang Securities in 2017.
Before he took over, the electronics team of Huachuang Securities had never appeared on the New Fortune ranking list. But after Geng Chen took the position of chief electronics analyst, he took the lead in building the research team and investment research system. In 2019, he led the team directly to the 5th place in the New Fortune ranking, and from 2021 to 2025, he achieved being on the list for five consecutive years, turning a little-known team into the gold-lettered signboard of Huachuang Securities.
Achieving success at a young age, and being able to manage the research team and participate in the overall management of the research institute in his early 30s, Geng Chen's development in the financial circle can be described as very smooth. But at the peak of his career, this top sell-side practitioner suddenly made a career shift, and he also revealed in his WeChat Moments:
"From 25 to 35 years old, I graduated from my 10-year sell-side career in the secondary market, and I give myself a passing score; in the next ten years, I will continue to do my part for the rise of Chinese technology in a new way."
After Geng Chen resigned, many rumors spread on the Internet that he had long been financially free. As for his next stop, people familiar with the matter revealed that he went to a start-up company engaged in embodied intelligence - Shenzhen Ruoyu Technology Co., Ltd.
This company is mainly engaged in the R&D of "embodied intelligent robot brains". It was founded in 2023, and completed an angel round of financing of more than 50 million yuan in 2024, with investors including Qium Capital, Dongfang Precision, Dongshan Precision, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Assets and others; in 2025, it completed another 100 million yuan angel+ round of financing, with exclusive investment from Dongfang Precision.
According to Bamei's multiple investigations, in fact, in addition to Geng Chen, many financial elites have left the financial circle in the past two years and devoted themselves to the embodied intelligence field.
For example, Mao Shuhan, an investment banking elite who worked at CITIC Securities and Huatai United Securities for seven years, chose to leave the investment banking field as early as 2024, and co-founded the humanoid robot company Dongyi Technology, serving as co-founder and CMO/CFO.
Now, Dongyi Technology, which has been established for two years, has completed multiple rounds of financing, absorbing more than 200 million yuan in capital. In terms of business, the company has launched a number of full-size humanoid robots that can continuously complete difficult movements such as backflips.
There is also Guo Renjie, the founder of Lexiang Technology. He graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a master's degree in financial economics at the age of 21. Logically, he was a proper candidate for Wall Street, but he did not go to an investment bank and joined Dreame Technology instead, and became the executive president of the China region at the age of 26.
But he was not satisfied with that. At the end of 2024, Guo Renjie founded Lexiang Technology, focusing on consumer-grade embodied intelligent robots. This company completed three rounds of financing in only 9 months after its establishment, with a total amount of nearly 500 million yuan. In July this year, the company completed another nearly 500 million yuan Pre-A round of financing, led by Ant Group, and the total accumulated financing has reached 1 billion yuan.
3. Millions in annual salary can't retain them! Why do financial circle leaders love to chase trends when switching careers?
Seeing this, some people may wonder, why do these financial circle leaders give up their good annual salary of millions and insist on switching to AI and robot manufacturing?
In fact, there are only two reasons:
One is that the financial circle is becoming increasingly competitive, and the other is that new trends are really attractive.
Let's look at the financial circle first. Take securities firms as an example: share allocation commissions have been reduced again and again, year-end bonuses are paid later and later every year. Chief analysts not only have to write research reports and attend roadshows, but also personally solicit commission points and build relationships with clients. In the past, they made a living by in-depth research, but now they not only have to write fast and write a lot, but also have to write content that goes viral, otherwise almost no one will read it.
Therefore, instead of competing endlessly in the office, it is better to switch to a new track and fight for a better future. Data shows that from 2022 to 2025, nearly 30,000 securities practitioners left the securities industry. In 2025 alone, the number of practitioners decreased by nearly 8,000.
In addition, at least 14 securities firms had changes in their chief economist positions last year, and more than 25 chief analysts at the New Fortune award-winning level in popular tracks such as consumer, new energy and TMT chose to leave. Some netizens even teased before:
"Top sell-side practitioners are either resigning or on their way to resign~"
Looking at the new trends, semiconductors, AI, embodied intelligence, commercial aerospace - these hard technology tracks are in the dividend period of crazy capital inflow. One IPO can bring a market value of tens of billions; one share of equity can bring a personal net worth of billions.
The example of Zhu Jinsong, the board secretary of Dapuweite, is the best proof. He used to do technical work at China Telecom and Zhongchuang Xin Ce in his early years. In 2010, he crossed into the financial circle and became chief analyst of the communications industry at China Galaxy Securities; in 2015, he moved to Haitong Securities and continued to serve as chief analyst of the communications and electronics industry.
During his 11 years as a securities firm chief analyst, Zhu Jinsong was rated as the New Fortune Best Analyst for six consecutive years, which made him a proper top sell-side practitioner. But in 2021, he gave up his annual salary of millions and joined Dapuweite, a little-known start-up at that time, serving as vice president and board secretary.
In April this year, Dapuweite was listed on the ChiNext Market. Its price surged by more than 430% on the first day of trading, and its total market value exceeded 100 billion yuan. Zhu Jinsong holds about 10.609 million shares through four shareholding platforms, and the market value of his shares soared to about 2.3 billion yuan on the first day of listing.
From earning salaries by writing research reports to holding equity and waiting for IPOs, in five years, Zhu Jinsong's initial 1.21 million yuan investment in shares has turned into 2.3 billion yuan, with an investment return of more than 1880 times. The amount of money he earned is far more than winning a lottery jackpot.
On the one hand, there is the financial circle where you have to write research reports until you are exhausted, and it is getting harder and harder to get promoted and raise your salary; on the other hand, there is the hard technology track where capital is pouring in crazily and one IPO can make you financially free. Anyone would consider making the switch, right?
What's more, financial practitioners are the group of people who are closest to money and most sensitive to capital flows. They know better than anyone where the trend is and where the money is.
Therefore, instead of researching trends in the financial circle, it is better to join the trend directly~
This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Finance Gossip Girl Channel" (ID: baguanvpindao), written by Yueyue, and authorized for release by 36Kr.