On December 15, 2025, Baoying Fund announced that fund manager Zhang Tianwen would step down from managing four funds simultaneously: Baoying Smart Life Mixed Fund, Baoying Semiconductor Industry Mixed Fund (Initiative), Baoying Basic Industries Mixed Fund, and Baoying Artificial Intelligence Equity Fund. The four products will be taken over by fund managers Zhao Guojin, Ni Ye, and Ye Xiuxian, among others. The sudden resignation of Zhang, once labeled a "tech sector heavyweight," after three years of management has stirred industry discussions.
A fund manager's abrupt departure directly challenges the interests of fund holders. Baoying Fund stated that the company has consistently adhered to an integrated investment-research model, building a professional, standardized, and platform-based system to ensure sustainable investment advantages beyond individual reliance. The firm emphasized that its investment, research, and financial engineering teams collaborate under unified principles, methods, and processes to uncover the intrinsic value of listed companies. This approach ensures systematic and stable operations, minimizing strategy disruptions due to personnel changes.
Zhang Tianwen, who began managing his first fund on December 5, 2022, achieved notable returns across AI, smart living, basic industries, and semiconductor-themed products. His flagship Baoying Semiconductor Industry Mixed Fund (Initiative) A (017075) delivered a 93.18% return during his tenure, while its C-class shares yielded 90.24%. Similarly, Baoying Basic Industries Mixed Fund A (010383) returned 85.51%, with C-class shares at 82.70%. His AI-focused funds also excelled, with Baoying Artificial Intelligence Equity Fund A (005962) and C (005963) posting 75.79% and 72.07% returns, respectively.
Unlike typical resignations triggered by performance or scale pressures, Zhang's departure coincided with peak fund valuations and market attention, raising questions about the timing. A Fudan University finance master's graduate, Zhang previously served as an electronics (semiconductor) analyst at Haitong Securities and Guotai Junan Securities before joining Baoying Fund in March 2021.
However, concerns have emerged about potential "style drift" and "concentrated bets" in Zhang's strategy. Despite their thematic labels, his funds heavily overlapped in TMT and hard-tech holdings. For instance, Baoying Basic Industries Mixed Fund A's Q3 2025 top holdings included
Wang Tieniu, director of Ji'an Jinxin Fund Evaluation Center, warned that single-sector funds face heightened policy sensitivity—evidenced by volatility in pharma (due to centralized procurement) and internet (antitrust) sectors. Investors in such funds risk "buying high and selling low" if sector reversals trigger massive redemptions, undermining long-term returns and trust.
Baoying Fund responded that Zhang's funds strictly complied with contractual terms, each employing distinct strategies within tech subsectors, denying any misalignment between fund names and actual investments.
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