Two public funds change CEOs, with different considerations from brokerage and banking sectors.

What impact will the regulatory background of AI · Zhu Han have on Great Wall Fund’s equity investments?

Yiqujun

“The two upcoming leaders, Zhu Han and Sun Jiankun, are both ‘young and strong,’ but their respective public fund companies—one affiliated with securities firms and the other with banks—are facing very different ‘beginnings.’”

Recently, two public funds, Great Wall Fund and Agricultural Bank of China Huijin Fund, have respectively appointed new leaders, attracting widespread market attention.

Both Zhu Han and Sun Jiankun are ‘young and strong,’ but their respective firms—one a securities firm-based public fund, which grew from 140 billion to 370 billion over five years but repeatedly ‘stumbled’ in equity investments; the other a bank-controlled public fund managed by Agricultural Bank, with over 220 billion in assets but struggling with a structural dilemma of ‘strong fixed income, weak equities’—are facing very different situations.

“Securities firm” Great Wall Fund welcomes compliance veteran Zhu Han

Zhu Han, born in 1979, holds a master’s degree in Financial Law from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. From 2005 to 2015, he worked in Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau, overseeing inspection, institutional regulation, and office work, handling high-profile cases involving false statements, insider trading, market manipulation, and ‘mouse farms’ at fund companies, earning him a second-class collective award from the CSRC. In 2015, Zhu transitioned to the market, serving as Vice General Manager, Chief Risk Officer, and Supervisor at Zhongtian Guofu Securities, and Vice General Manager at Century Securities. In September 2023, he was appointed Inspector General of Great Wall Fund.

This ‘regulatory background’ is uncommon among public fund general managers. Previously, Li Yunliang, head of compliance and risk control at Quanguo Fund, also transitioned to general manager, indicating increasing importance of compliance talent in fund management leadership. Zhu Han’s succession is expected to further strengthen the company’s compliance and risk control system, especially under tightening regulatory scrutiny.

The outgoing Qiu Chunyang was appointed general manager of Great Wall Fund in July 2020. With a PhD in Economics, he entered the securities industry in 2001, working at Southern Securities Asset Management, and later held key roles at GF Fund, including Head of Financial Engineering, Deputy General Manager, and others.

During Qiu Chunyang’s five-year tenure, the fund’s total assets grew from 159.289 billion at the end of Q3 2020 to 374.362 billion at the end of 2025, ranking from 32nd to 29th among peers. Non-money market assets increased from 57.993 billion to 151.821 billion. In the first half of 2025, the company achieved operating income of 541 million yuan and net profit of 135 million yuan, demonstrating steady operational resilience.

“Bank-controlled” Huijin Fund welcomes ‘post-80s’ veteran

Sun Jiankun, born in April 1982, holds a doctoral degree and is a senior economist. He previously served as Director of Strategy and Portfolio Management at the Asset Management Department of Agricultural Bank of China, and since July 2019, has been Vice President of Huijin Wealth Management. He is also a special member of the Second Committee of the Public Market Investment Professional Committee of the China Insurance Asset Management Association.

Sun Jiankun’s appointment marks the sixth general manager in the 18-year history of Huijin Fund. Founded in March 2008, this bank-controlled public fund is jointly held by Agricultural Bank of China (51.67%), Oriental Huijin (33.33%), and China Aluminum Capital (15%).

At the 2025 Asset Management Conference, Sun pointed out: “Some fund companies laid out index-based strategies ten years ago and have reaped huge gains in the past two years. This shows that forward-looking product planning is crucial for asset management firms.” Looking at new products, Huijin Fund’s 2025 launches are increasingly tilted toward passive index funds—out of eight new products issued this year, five are passive index funds. This aligns closely with Sun’s philosophy.

The departing Cheng Kun took office as Huijin Fund’s general manager in September 2021. An ‘old farmer’ of Agricultural Bank, he joined in 1997 and has extensive experience in the financial markets, having served as Deputy Director of Foreign Exchange Investment at the Financial Markets Department, Head of the Proprietary Risk Management Department, and Deputy General Manager of the Financial Markets Department. Under his leadership, the firm’s scale grew modestly from about 200 billion to 226 billion yuan, maintaining a stable baseline.

Market performance and deep challenges of the two public funds

In terms of size, Great Wall Fund’s 374.36 billion yuan far exceeds Huijin Fund’s 226 billion yuan. However, their growth trajectories differ: under Qiu Chunyang, Great Wall Fund doubled in size and steadily increased; Huijin Fund, after reaching a peak, has recently stagnated and fallen behind among the five major state-owned bank funds.

Both show a ‘strong fixed income, weak equities’ characteristic, but to varying degrees. By the end of 2025, bonds account for 71.89% of Great Wall Fund’s total assets, while stocks only make up 7.54%. The combined equity and hybrid funds total about 31 billion yuan. Huijin Fund’s fixed income (bonds + money market) assets reach 190.768 billion yuan, accounting for 84.37%, while equity funds are only 34.64 billion yuan, or 15.32%.

Asset allocation-wise, Great Wall Fund maintains a bond proportion above 70% for a long time, with stocks around 7%. This structure provides stability in volatile markets but results in relatively weak equity investment capabilities.

In 2025, Great Wall Fund has notable highlights. The Great Wall Medical Industry Select fund achieved nearly 90% return, ranking second in annual performance, with its size surging nearly 30 times in Q2—from 36 million to 1.108 billion yuan. The Great Wall Value Selection hybrid fund also doubled its returns over a one-year holding period.

Huijin Fund’s equity products underperform. After Zhao Yi, the ‘Four Crowns’ of 2022, left, the firm seems to have a talent vacuum. The four funds managed by Vice President Gu Chao all suffered losses; Huijin Innovation Growth’s return was -25.76%, ranking at the bottom among peers. Fixed income products performed relatively steadily, with absolute returns ranking 56th out of 126 over the past five years, placing it in the industry mid-tier.

Profitability-wise, from 2022 to 2024, Huijin Fund’s net profit declined from 346 million yuan to 248 million yuan, a 28.3% drop. Compared to other bank-controlled public funds like ICBC Credit Suisse (2024 net profit of 2.11 billion yuan) and CCB Principal (assets over 970 billion yuan), Huijin’s scale and profits are significantly lower.

While Great Wall Fund remains profitable, from 2022 to 2024, all its funds collectively lost about 1.4 billion yuan, despite collecting management fees totaling around 3 billion yuan over three years. This ‘investors losing money while the company profits’ phenomenon has previously caused dissatisfaction among retail investors. In December 2025, fund manager Weng Yuping stepped down due to ‘business adjustments’ and was reassigned as an industry researcher—interpreted as a ‘reboot.’

Notably, fund manager Han Lin’s experience subtly links the two firms. He managed four funds at Huijin Fund from 2013 to 2021, all with positive returns, including a 160.8% return on Huijin Top Technology Hybrid. However, after joining Great Wall Fund in August 2021, his management of the Great Wall Value Growth Six-Month Holding Hybrid fund suffered a 26.51% decline by the end of 2022, far exceeding industry averages. A manager’s contrasting performance at two firms may reflect differences in research support and talent utilization between bank and securities firm-based funds.

Different challenges faced by the two general managers

Zhu Han faces the challenge of how ‘securities firm’ public funds can balance scale and quality. First, balancing ‘compliance mindset’ and ‘business mindset.’ Long-term regulatory and compliance work tends to cultivate a cautious, rigorous style, but public funds, as market-oriented entities, must also pursue performance and scale.

Second, Zhu’s core strength lies in compliance and risk control. Compared to managers like Qiu Chunyang, who have deep experience in fund management, Zhu still has room to improve in research system construction, product innovation, and market expansion. Currently, Great Wall Fund’s most prominent issue is insufficient research capability. How to address this shortcoming will test Zhu’s strategic planning and team management skills.

Additionally, although Great Wall Fund ranks among the top 30 industry players, there remains a significant gap with leading firms. How to find a clear positioning, create differentiated advantages, and avoid falling into ‘slow scale growth and mediocre performance’ will challenge the new management team’s strategic vision.

Sun Jiankun faces the typical dilemma of ‘bank-controlled’ public funds. Relying on channel resources and fixed income advantages, these funds grew rapidly, but their equity share remains low. Meanwhile, the explosive growth of index funds in recent years gives securities firm-based funds an edge.

Sun’s core background is in bank wealth management, but Huijin Fund’s main shortfalls are in core equity products and market-oriented incentive mechanisms. Bank wealth management emphasizes absolute returns and stable allocation, which conflicts with the public fund’s pursuit of relative returns and high flexibility in equity investments. Whether a veteran familiar with ‘fixed income +’ strategies can truly understand and motivate equity fund managers to actively compete remains a big question.

Furthermore, the company must contend with the shrinking channel advantage. As securities firms and third-party distributors rise, the bank channel’s dominance in equity fund sales diminishes.

Overall, the public fund industry is increasingly concentrated at the top. Leading firms leverage channels, branding, and talent to capture market share, while small and medium-sized funds face shrinking survival space. Although small funds constitute the majority in number, their scale is low—over 60% of institutions hold less than 10% of the market share—making survival highly competitive.

For Great Wall Fund and Huijin Fund, the succession of new leaders is not only a routine iteration but also a good opportunity to enter a new development phase. Can Sun Jiankun, amid the transformation pressures faced by bank-controlled funds, use forward-looking strategies to address equity shortfalls? Can Zhu Han, on the basis of scale growth, improve the stability of equity investments and rebuild investor trust? The answers will be revealed in the future—let’s wait and see.

Source: Institutional Research