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Another "hundred-billion-dollar" fixed-income fund manager resigns from the public offering.

On August 23, ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management Co., Ltd. announced that fund manager Zhang Luezhao had resigned from multiple products for personal reasons and had completed the cancellation procedures with the Fund Industry Association. After his resignation, Zhang Luezhao no longer has any fund products under management. Securities China reporter learned from an industry insider that Zhang Luezhao has resigned from ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management Co., Ltd., and his specific destination has not yet been determined.

From the perspective of the past period, this is a microcosm of the flow of fund managers under the background of the rapid development of public fixed income. Previously, the fund industry has had cases of well-known fixed income fund managers such as Yan Peixian, Zhou Enyuan, and Wu Yinxi changing jobs. The flow of these fund managers is not only a personal development demand, but also reflects the strong desire of some fund companies to increase their fixed income business layout. The reporter found that based on the previous efforts, the bond fund size ranking of some active equity public fund companies has now surpassed the stock fund ranking.

Zhang Luezhao's management scale once exceeded 36 billion yuan

According to an announcement by ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management on August 23, Zhang Luezhao resigned from the management of ICBC Ruifu One-Year Fixed-Term Pure Bond Fund, ICBC Kaiyuan Interest Rate Bond Fund, ICBC Zunli Medium-Short Bond Fund and other funds from August 22 due to personal reasons. After this resignation, Zhang Luezhao no longer has any fund products under management.

Public information shows that Zhang Luezhao joined ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management in 2014 and served as a senior researcher and fund manager for interest rate and derivative strategies. Before his resignation, he was the deputy director of investment of the fixed income department of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management. According to Wind data, Zhang Luezhao began to manage products in October 2017, and the scale of management exceeded 10 billion yuan in the third quarter of 2021, and the highest scale of management once exceeded 36 billion yuan. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, Zhang Luezhao's management scale was still 32 billion yuan. Since the second quarter of this year, Zhang Luezhao has successively resigned from related fund products, including the ICBC Pure Bond Fund with a scale of over 10 billion yuan, which he resigned in July this year.

According to Wind data statistics, as of August 22, the total return rate and annualized return rate of Zhang Luezhao's personal investment performance were close to 30% and 3.8% respectively, and significant returns were achieved in all time dimensions. The returns in the past three years, the past two years, and the past year were 9.5%, 5.5%, and 3.12% respectively. From the perspective of a single product, the A shares of ICBC Pure Bond Fund managed by Zhang Luezhao from October 17, 2017 to July 8, 2024 had a tenure return of more than 30%, an annualized return of 4.26%, and a return ranking of 163/601.

According to the announcement, Zhang Luezhao will not transfer to other positions in ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management after resigning from all fund products. At the same time, he has completed the cancellation procedures with the Fund Industry Association in accordance with regulations. On August 23, a reporter from Securities China learned from an industry insider that Zhang Luezhao has resigned from ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management, and his specific destination after resignation has not yet been determined.

These fixed income giants have already found other jobs

In fact, Zhang Luezhao's resignation is a microcosm of the fund manager turnover in the context of the rapid development of fixed income in recent years. This year alone, many "10 billion" fund managers in the fixed income field have sought other opportunities.

Take Yan Peixian, the former "10 billion" fund manager of China Canada Fund, for example. He joined China Canada Fund in 2013 and started managing funds in October 2013, with the highest management scale approaching 48 billion yuan. Since the beginning of May this year, Yan Peixian has successively resigned from the fund products managed by him, and by the end of June, he had resigned from all funds under his name. After leaving China Canada Fund, Yan Peixian joined China Europe Fund.

In March this year, Zhou Enyuan, the former executive general manager of fixed income investment center of Ping An Fund, resigned and subsequently joined Dacheng Fund. Zhou Enyuan's career path reflects his development in the field of fixed income investment. Public information shows that Zhou Enyuan is a doctor of Western economics from Zhejiang University. He worked in bond investment research at Penghua Fund in the early days. He served as assistant fund manager, senior bond researcher, and fund manager of the fixed income department. He is an investment research talent cultivated internally by Penghua Fund. At the end of 2019, Zhou Enyuan joined Ping An Fund. He not only served as a fund manager at Ping An Fund, but also served as deputy director of investment at Ping An Fund's fixed income investment center. According to industry sources, Zhou Enyuan will serve as director of the fixed income department of Dacheng Fund.

In addition to Zhou Enyuan, another fixed income general, Wu Yinxi, also welcomed new developments after joining a new club around March this year. According to an announcement by Hengyue Fund in mid-March, Hengyue Jiaxin Bond Fund and Hengyue Anyu Bond Fund hired Wu Yinxi as fund manager. This is the first time Wu Yinxi has managed fund products after joining Hengyue Fund. In May of this year, Wu Yinxi became the fund manager of Hengyue Balanced Preferred Hybrid Fund. As of now, he manages a total of 3 funds. According to public information, Wu Yinxi is currently the assistant general manager, director of the fixed income department, and fund manager of Hengyue Fund. Prior to this, Wu Yinxi joined CITIC Prudential Fund in 2016, and served as deputy director of the fixed income department and fund manager, with a management scale of more than 30 billion yuan at one time.

Fund companies have a strong desire to invest in fixed income

Looking further, the "investing for the best" of the above-mentioned high-performing fixed-income fund managers is not only a personal development demand, but also reflects the strong desire of some fund companies to increase their fixed-income business layout. "Against the background of the rapid development of fixed-income investment, the mobility of fixed-income fund managers is not uncommon. It is not only for the better development of personal careers, but also further promotes the overall healthy development of the fund industry." A relevant person from a leading public fund told China Securities Journal reporters.

Take Yan Peixian’s new employer, China Europe Fund, as an example. For a long time before, this public fund was a fund company well-known in the market for active equity investment. In recent years, it has begun to highlight fixed income business in the “1+1+N” product line layout (the two “1”s represent equity and fixed income respectively). In addition to Yan Peixian, China Europe Fund has also recruited fixed income fund managers such as Zhou Jincheng and Guan Zhiyu from the industry in recent years. Before Zhou Jincheng joined China Europe Fund in October 2022, he was the fund manager of the fixed income department of Zhejiang Merchants Fund. Guan Zhiyu joined China Europe Fund in the second half of 2023. His earliest financial experience can be traced back to 2008. He has worked in Bosera Fund, Southwest Securities, Kaiyuan Securities, and Jianxin Wealth Management, covering positions such as traders and investment managers.

But the flow of talent is two-way, with inflow and outflow. Diao Yu, the current deputy general manager of Manulife Fund, worked at China Europe Fund from 2014 to 2023, and served as a member of the fixed income investment decision-making committee/investment director/investment manager and fund manager of China Europe Fund. In July 2023, Diao Yu joined Manulife Fund.

As a major active equity company, Liu Qi, the current deputy director of the fixed income department of Xingzheng Global Fund, has previously served as a fixed income fund manager in public offering offices such as E Fund and ICBC Credit Suisse Fund. In addition, Xingzheng Global Fund also poached Si Ziwen, a fixed income fund manager from the industry in January this year. In addition, in order to lay out the fixed income business, Invesco Great Wall Fund poached Li Yiwen, a fixed income general, from SDIC UBS Fund as early as 2020, and entrusted him with the important task of being the head of investment for the stable income business of the fixed income department. After recruiting Li Yiwen, Invesco Great Wall Fund began to vigorously develop "fixed income +", gradually moving in the direction of "widening the long board and lengthening the short board".

Wind data shows that as of now, the bond fund management scale of Xingzheng Global Fund is nearly 140 billion yuan, ranking 25th among all public fund institutions in the market, surpassing the company's stock fund ranking (ranked 31st in the entire market); the bond fund scale of Invesco Great Wall Fund is nearly 200 billion yuan, ranking 17th in the entire market, which is basically close to the company's stock fund ranking (ranked 15th).