A prominent fund manager from Baoying Fund, Zhang Tianwen, one half of the so-called "tech twin stars," has officially joined Dacheng Fund as of June 3.
This manager, known for his focus on semiconductors and AI, delivered an impressive performance during his tenure at Baoying. His flagship product, the Baoying Semiconductor Industry A fund, achieved a return of 93.18% during his management, while the Baoying Basic Industry A fund returned 85.51%, nearly doubling in value over roughly three years. During the 2025 tech bull market, his precise allocations in sectors like computing power, memory, and CPO led to annual returns exceeding 50%, cementing his status as one of the most notable tech-focused fund managers in the market.
The receiving firm, Dacheng Fund, has a long-standing investment culture that leans heavily towards deep value. Its equity division is anchored by a core trio known as the "Three Musketeers" – Xu Yan, Liu Xu, and Han Chuang. Their portfolios are typically concentrated in value-oriented stocks like Midea Group Co.,Ltd. (SHE: 000333), China Mobile Limited (SHA: 600941), and resource stocks. This focus was seen as a misstep during the 2025 tech rally, as the firm was perceived to have missed out on the tech surge due to insufficient allocation to growth-oriented styles.
Why would a tech specialist choose to join one of the "top ten" established firms known for deep value investing? Furthermore, how will Zhang Tianwen's arrival reshape Dacheng Fund's equity landscape?
Manager's Move and Impact on Former Firm
Zhang Tianwen, a Master of Finance graduate from Fudan University, began his career as an electronics (semiconductor) analyst at Haitong Securities and Guotai Junan Securities. He is a quintessential research-driven fund manager. He joined Baoying Fund in 2021 and began managing funds at the end of 2022, placing him among the newer generation of public fund managers in terms of experience.
Despite his relative youth, his performance far exceeded the "rookie" label. Over three years of management, all four products under his care delivered strong results: Baoying Semiconductor Industry Mixed A returned 93.18%, nearly doubling; Baoying Basic Industry Mixed A returned 85.51%; Baoying Artificial Intelligence Stock A returned 75.79%; and Baoying Smart Life Mixed A returned 51.3%.
He led the pack during the 2025 tech bull market with annual returns over 50%, heavily investing in leading companies in semiconductors, computing power, memory, and CPO, perfectly timing the market cycle. Over his three-year tenure at Baoying, his total return reached 96.1%, significantly outperforming the CSI 300 Index's 16.07% return over the same period. Alongside another manager known for tech growth investing, Rong Zhineng, he was dubbed one of the "Baoying Twin Stars."
However, some industry views suggest his concentrated portfolio style carries characteristics of style drift and thematic betting. Despite their different names, his four funds showed high overlap in top holdings, all heavily invested in semiconductor leaders like Hygon Information Technology Co.,Ltd. (SHH: 688041), Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc. (SHA: 603986), and Hua Hong Semiconductor.
Despite solid investment performance, his assets under management did not grow proportionally. By the end of the third quarter of 2025, the total AUM for his four funds was RMB 2.05 billion, an increase of RMB 690 million year-on-year, but still lower than the RMB 2.269 billion at the end of 2023. This was partly constrained by Baoying Fund's overall channel resources and brand recognition. By the end of Q1 2026, Baoying Fund's total AUM was RMB 69.664 billion, down over RMB 10 billion from RMB 80.866 billion at the end of 2024, with its mixed fund AUM falling below RMB 6 billion.
On December 13, 2025, Zhang Tianwen cited personal reasons and stepped down from managing his four funds. After leaving Baoying, the former "tech twin star's" next move was a mystery, with market rumors suggesting a potential move to private funds. It was only recently, with disclosures from the Asset Management Association of China, that his new employer was revealed – he officially joined Dacheng Fund on June 3, 2026.
Prior to Zhang's departure, Baoying Fund had already experienced a wave of departures among its core equity talent. In August 2025, the firm's former star manager Yang Siliang, who once managed over RMB 10 billion, also stepped down from seven funds in quick succession before officially leaving. This mid-career manager, who rose through the ranks from analyst, was once Baoying's only equity manager with AUM exceeding RMB 10 billion.
Yang Siliang's next destination was top-tier public fund manager E Fund Management. In March and May of this year, he took over two mixed funds, bringing his total AUM to RMB 27.323 billion.
This career path is not an isolated case. In recent years, Zhang Zhongwei joined Invesco Great Wall, Chen Jinwei moved to Penghua Fund, and Ji Xiang joined Zhong Ou Fund – much of the equity investment talent cultivated by Baoying has flowed to leading or mid-tier public fund platforms. Zhang Tianwen's move to Dacheng Fund follows this pattern. The firm's ability to consistently nurture top-performing fund managers, only to see them leave, has earned it the industry nickname "the Whampoa Military Academy of public funds."
With stagnant AUM growth, a significant contraction in equity business, and the continuous loss of active equity talent – as platform resources, compensation incentives, and channel development are comprehensively outpaced by larger firms – Baoying Fund faces serious challenges.
Potential Contributions to the New Firm
The firm Zhang Tianwen is joining, Dacheng Fund, significantly surpasses Baoying in terms of both total size and equity scale. By the end of Q1 2026, its total fund management AUM reached RMB 484.898 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27.21%. Within this, mixed funds and stock funds accounted for RMB 84.484 billion and RMB 35.085 billion respectively, together representing nearly a quarter of the total.
Furthermore, the company has a relatively rich product line in the QDII space, with cross-border ETFs and actively managed funds covering areas like Hong Kong tech stocks, Hong Kong healthcare, and the Nasdaq 100. Its QDII fund AUM exceeded RMB 40 billion, doubling in one year and ranking eighth in the industry.
The firm's equity investment culture has long been biased towards deep value. In recent years, its top holdings have been concentrated in value-oriented names like Midea Group and China Mobile, with a relatively high allocation to Hong Kong-listed internet stocks also present.
During 2023 and the first three quarters of 2024, the A-share market was in a bearish adjustment phase with persistently low risk appetite. Dacheng Fund's favored value stocks, possessing defensive attributes like high dividends, low valuations, and strong cash flows, demonstrated strong resilience during the market downturn, allowing the firm to outperform peers and lead among mid-sized active equity fund companies.
However, market style underwent a dramatic shift in 2025. Driven by AI breakthroughs, the semiconductor cycle recovery, and continued policy support for "new quality productive forces," A-shares entered a bull market dominated by tech growth. Public funds across the market rushed to increase exposure to tech sectors – funds heavily invested in AI, semiconductors, and computing power saw their returns surge. The average return for stock funds in 2025 reached around 30%, while mixed funds averaged a high 26%-27%.
Due to its long-standing deep-value investment culture, Dacheng Fund had insufficient allocation to tech growth stocks. In the first three quarters of 2025, its active equity returns ranked near the bottom among peer fund companies, with minimal excess returns.
Dacheng Fund is not devoid of tech growth funds. Its Dacheng Technology Innovation fund recorded a gain of 123.83% in 2025, ranking highly in the industry. However, by year-end its AUM was only RMB 1.716 billion, making it difficult to generate market influence and scale effects commensurate with its performance. The funds managed by its star managers like Xu Yan, managing tens of billions, remained focused on traditional value stocks, leading the market to view the firm as having missed the tech rally.
In active equity, Dacheng Fund relies heavily on the core trio of Xu Yan, Liu Xu, and Han Chuang. By the end of Q1, their respective fund AUM stood at RMB 18.599 billion, RMB 24.987 billion, and RMB 20.776 billion, totaling RMB 64.362 billion and accounting for over half of Dacheng's total equity fund AUM, highlighting the firm's excessive reliance on a few key managers.
Xu Yan and Liu Xu are well-known "double-ten" managers in the industry, but their recent investment performance has been lackluster. Their one-year returns for actively managed equity-heavy public funds were 5.27% and 3.26% respectively, far below the CSI 300 Index's 23.59% return over the same period.
Xu Yan's Dacheng Xingyuan Qihang Mixed fund, launched in March 2025, operated with a low equity allocation (59.91%) and high cash holdings (40.45%), continuing his consistent conservative style. However, due to this cautious approach and heavy weighting in several pharmaceutical stocks, the fund lost 2.62% over the past year, ranking near the bottom of its peers. Xu Yan's own AUM shrank by RMB 2.863 billion over six months, falling below RMB 20 billion.
In the tech sector, Dacheng Fund already has a core representative in Guo Weiling. Her Dacheng Technology Innovation fund has delivered a standout return of 348.49% over the past three years, an even more impressive performance than Zhang Tianwen's flagship product at his former employer.
In January 2026, Dacheng's former head of the tech team, Wang Shuai, left the firm. Three of the products he managed were handed over to Guo Weiling – Dacheng Science and Technology Innovation Theme, Dacheng Internet Thinking, and Dacheng Leading Power. In April, she launched a new fund, "Dacheng Jingxian Growth," raising approximately RMB 1.061 billion, significantly expanding her management scope. The AUM of her Dacheng Technology Innovation fund also rose to RMB 4.075 billion, solidifying her position as Dacheng's foremost tech manager.
Zhang Tianwen's addition to Dacheng Fund addresses a gap in the firm's hardcore semiconductor investment capabilities within the tech sector, potentially forming a complementary research matrix with Guo Weiling, covering "AI applications + semiconductor infrastructure."
However, challenges remain. Zhang Tianwen is known for high portfolio turnover and high concentration, which may create tension with Dacheng's investment culture that emphasizes strict control over style drift. How the firm balances resource allocation among managers with different styles, and how it accommodates high-volatility growth strategies within a long-term investment framework, will test the wisdom of its management.
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