After stepping down from several flagship funds, Guangfa Fund manager Wu Yuanyi's remaining portfolio continues to face compliance challenges.
On June 3rd, Guangfa Fund announced a personnel change, with the so-called "hit-maker" Wu Yuanyi relinquishing his role as fund manager for three products on the same day: Guangfa Growth Navigation One-Year Holding, Guangfa Innovation Upgrade, and Guangfa Small Cap Growth.
This former manager of over ten billion in active equity funds rose to fame by successfully investing early in popular targets like POP MART and LAOPU GOLD. Now, having scaled back his responsibilities, the question is how Wu Yuanyi will move forward.
Stepping Down from Funds That Hit the Mark
In the public fund arena, Wu Yuanyi's rise was distinctive. The manager, who holds a Master of Science degree, previously worked at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Research Institute, Value Partners (Hong Kong), and China Life Asset Management before joining Guangfa Fund in 2020. His true "legendary work" was undoubtedly the Guangfa Growth Navigation One-Year Holding fund. As of early June 2026, Wu's return during his tenure at this product reached 181.69%, significantly outperforming the peer average of 31.02% and ranking 122nd among over 6,700 similar products.
The core of this excess return stemmed from his exceptional stock-picking ability. While most fund managers were still competing in crowded sectors like consumer staples and new energy, Wu Yuanyi leveraged his prior work experience in Hong Kong to build significant positions in POP MART and LAOPU GOLD ahead of the market. In 2025, the Guangfa Growth Navigation One-Year Holding A share class he managed delivered a return of 134.08%, with a turnover rate of nearly 12 times, and its holdings spanned artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, new consumption, and other areas.
However, at a time when Duan Yongping has become the second-largest shareholder of POP MART through his purchases, the Guangfa Growth Navigation One-Year Holding fund had already reduced its position. As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, neither POP MART nor LAOPU GOLD appeared among the fund's top ten holdings.
Data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, the net asset value growth rates for the A and C share classes of Guangfa Growth Navigation One-Year Holding Mixed Fund were -6.91% and -7.03%, respectively, underperforming their performance benchmarks by 5 and 5.12 percentage points.
Despite his reputation, the performance of the other funds from which Wu stepped down was mixed. Among them, Guangfa Innovation Upgrade, which he co-managed with Liu Gesong, delivered a return of only about 14.14% since his appointment in September 2020, ranking in the middle-to-lower tier among peers.
The performance of another product he left was also quite mediocre. In the first quarter of 2026, the net asset value growth rates for the A and C share classes of Guangfa Small Cap Growth Mixed (LOF) were -4.29% and -4.38%, respectively, underperforming their benchmarks by 5.33 and 5.42 percentage points.
Industry insiders point out that when market trends fall outside a manager's circle of competence, even a former "hit-maker" is not immune to questions about performance.
Remaining Value Fund Shows Style Drift
After these resignations, Wu Yuanyi is left managing only two products: Guangfa Technology Innovation and Guangfa Value Core, with his total assets under management dropping below 10 billion yuan. From a strategy perspective, one of these products exhibits significant style drift.
According to data from a major fund information platform, the Guangfa Value Core Mixed A/C fund was classified as a large-cap value style in the second quarter of 2025, shifted to a mid-cap balanced style in the third quarter, changed again to a small-cap balanced style in the fourth quarter, and then became a small-cap growth style in the first quarter of 2026. Over the past year, this fund has changed its investment style every quarter, creating a confusing picture for investors.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, the top ten holdings of Guangfa Value Core Mixed A/C included Dongfang Tieta, Sanxiang New Materials, Changfei Optical Fiber, Xiechuang Data, Jieput, Hengtong Optic-Electric, Kechuang New Source, Anxu Bio, Cambricon, and Adisseo, which together accounted for 57.77% of its portfolio.
Most of these stocks are not large-cap companies. Among them, Jieput and Kechuang New Source are constituents of the CSI 2000 Index, Adisseo is a constituent of the CSI 500 Index, and Dongfang Tieta and Sanxiang New Materials, with market capitalizations not exceeding 30 billion yuan, are typical small-to-mid-cap stocks. Anxu Bio can hardly be considered a small-cap stock, with a current total market value of only around 4 billion yuan.
In terms of performance, in the first quarter of 2026, the net asset value growth rates for the A and C share classes of Guangfa Value Core Mixed Fund were -4.96% and -5.06%, respectively, underperforming their performance benchmarks by 2.79 and 2.89 percentage points.
While the Guangfa Technology Innovation fund maintains its technology focus, as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, it also held significant positions in Xiechuang Data, Sanxiang New Materials, Jieput, and Hengtong Optic-Electric, showing a degree of overlap with the top holdings of Guangfa Value Core.
In the first quarter of 2026, the net asset value growth rates for the A and C share classes of Guangfa Technology Innovation Mixed Fund were -5.25% and -5.39%, respectively, underperforming their performance benchmarks by 4.72 and 4.86 percentage points.
Recently, the "Guidelines for Performance Benchmarks of Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds" issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission came into effect. These guidelines require that a fund's contractual investment direction, strategy, and risk-return characteristics must be "three-matched" with its benchmark, and the benchmark must be determined through collective decision-making by the company's management to prevent style drift in fund products. Existing funds that do not meet the requirements must complete rectification within a 12-month transition period.
For now, having just completed his portfolio "slim-down," Wu Yuanyi should first consider how to ensure his remaining products are compliant.
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