The era of "performance-driven" compensation has arrived, as the public fund industry undergoes its most significant performance reform in three years! Nearly a thousand fund managers face potential "pay cuts."
Recently, the "Guidelines for Performance Assessment Management of Fund Management Companies (Draft for Comment)" (referred to as the "Guidelines") sparked heated discussions in the industry. The Guidelines stipulate constraints on dividends distributed by fund companies to shareholders. Specifically, fund companies must prudently determine dividend frequency and payout ratios based on the medium- to long-term performance of their products and investor returns. Companies with poor fund performance or significant investor losses over the past three years should reduce dividend payouts accordingly.
According to financial reports from Industrial Securities Co., Ltd., Xingzheng Global Fund reported revenue of 3.279 billion yuan and net profit of 1.413 billion yuan in 2024. Industrial Securities, holding a 51% stake in Xingzheng Global Fund, received 251 million yuan in dividends, implying a total dividend payout of 493 million yuan by the fund—a payout ratio of 34.89%.
Extrapolating this trend, over the past decade (2015–2024), Xingzheng Global Fund accumulated revenue of 31.604 billion yuan and net profit of 11.509 billion yuan, distributing 4.778 billion yuan in dividends to shareholders—an average payout ratio of 41.52%. Industrial Securities received cumulative dividends of 2.437 billion yuan during this period.
Notably, Xingzheng Global Fund’s payout ratios exceeded 90% in 2023 and 2019, and surpassed 110% in 2017 and 2016—ranking among the highest for large and mid-sized fund companies.
However, in 2023, while Xingzheng Global Fund’s products collectively incurred losses of 9.4 billion yuan for investors, it distributed 1.253 billion yuan in dividends to shareholders, achieving a payout ratio of 91.5%.
Performance-wise, Wind data shows that over the full three-year period from 2022 to 2024, 29 out of 47 primary fund products (61%) under Xingzheng Global Fund posted losses, while 31 (65%) underperformed their benchmarks. Among these, 18 products (38%) lagged their benchmarks by over 10%.
From December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2025, three out of 54 funds (5%) recorded losses, while 24 (44%) underperformed their benchmarks—with 10 (18%) trailing by more than 10%.
Market analysts highlight concerns regarding fund companies’ dividend distributions: 1. Excessively high payout ratios hinder capital accumulation and risk mitigation, weakening innovation, expansion, and crisis resilience. 2. Shareholders fail to fulfill their role as long-term, patient capital providers. 3. High dividend payouts during market downturns or periods of poor investor returns negatively impact fund investors’ experience.
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