A wave of fund manager departures is unfolding at ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management Co., Ltd., the trillion-yuan scale bank-owned public fund company. On August 26, the firm issued two announcements stating that Xia Yu had resigned from his roles as fund manager of ICBC Strategic Emerging Industries and ICBC ChiNext Two-Year Closed-End Fund due to personal reasons, with procedures for deregistration completed in accordance with regulations at the Asset Management Association of China. This marks the third fund manager to leave the company in August, following Yan Yao and He Xiuhong earlier in the month. So far this year, a total of nine fund managers have departed from ICBC Credit Suisse.
The abrupt departure of Xia Yu
Xia Yu previously served as a research assistant at Peking University's Institute of Microelectronics before joining ICBC Credit Suisse in 2013, where he held positions including deputy director of research and fund manager, with 12 years of securities industry experience and nearly 7 years as a public fund manager. According to AMAC records, Xia Yu has been removed from the fund manager roster but remains affiliated with ICBC Credit Suisse, with his fund qualification certificate status showing as normal.
His exit was notably swift, with handover periods for multiple funds lasting less than a week. On August 12, ICBC Credit Suisse announced the appointment of Jin Xing as co-manager for ICBC Technology Innovation 6-Month fund alongside Xia Yu. Just days later on August 17, Xia Yu stepped down from that fund. Jin Xing's appointment was equally rushed, with only 0.11 years of public fund management experience and no prior track record managing public funds.
A similar pattern emerged with the ChiNext Two-Year Closed-End Fund. On August 20, Jing Xiaoda was appointed as its new fund manager, joining Xia Yu at the helm. Following Xia Yu's departure, Jing Xiaoda now manages the fund independently. Jing brings substantial experience with 18 years in securities, including 7.85 years as a public fund manager, and has been with ICBC Credit Suisse for 13 years, currently serving as deputy general manager of the pension investment center's investment department. However, his active equity fund management tenure is relatively short, beginning only on January 30 of this year with ICBC Qianzhan Growth, leaving his future performance unproven.
Additionally, Xia Yu and Ma Lina had co-managed ICBC Strategic Emerging Industries for four years and five months since March 4, 2022. Following Xia Yu's exit, Ma Lina now manages the fund alone. Ma Lina oversees 18.129 billion yuan in active equity assets, serving as deputy research director and fund manager, with a portfolio favoring technology stocks.
Solid overall performance despite concerns
During his tenure, Xia Yu delivered respectable returns across his managed products. As of his departure, ICBC Strategic Emerging Industries A, ICBC ChiNext Two-Year Closed-End A, and ICBC Technology Innovation 6-Month A posted returns of 291.75%, 49.85%, and 51.15% respectively, all outperforming their performance benchmarks. Yet underlying operational risks remain. The three funds exhibited high portfolio concentration, with top-ten holdings accounting for over 60% of net asset value from the third quarter of 2025 through the second quarter of 2026. In the first two quarters of 2026, these funds favored communication equipment and semiconductor stocks.
More concerning is the issue of buying at market peaks. Several technology stocks that became top-ten holdings in these funds by the end of the second quarter of 2026 were purchased near market highs. From July 1 to August 26, stocks including Envicool, Zhongkong Technology, Shijia Photon, Changxin Bochuang, and Jiehua Tech declined 21.98%, 22.97%, 19.03%, 30.53%, and 21.56%, respectively. As of June 30, ICBC Strategic Emerging Industries A and ICBC ChiNext Two-Year Closed-End A showed year-to-date returns of 85.7% and 64.06%, but by August 24, these had fallen to 45.5% and 31.99%. This sharp downturn has inflicted heavy losses on recent investors, with complaints such as "worst-performing fund, losing everything since transferring in June," "almost all money lost, heartbroken," and "another 10% drop."
Despite these setbacks, Xia Yu's drawdown control was relatively sound. As of August 24, ICBC Strategic Emerging Industries A and ICBC Technology Innovation 6-Month A recorded maximum drawdowns of -52.7% and -47.29%, slightly worse than category averages of -50.99% and -46.91%, while ICBC ChiNext Two-Year Closed-End A's -48.77% drawdown outperformed the peer average of -50.17%.
Product profitability remained solid. From 2019 through the second quarter of 2026, ICBC Strategic Emerging Industries generated cumulative product profits of 794 million yuan. ICBC ChiNext Two-Year Closed-End accumulated 123 million yuan in profits from 2021 through the second quarter of 2026, and ICBC Technology Innovation 6-Month contributed 58.529 million yuan in profits from 2022 through the second quarter of 2026. Between 2019 and 2025, these three funds generated 95.7857 million yuan in management fees for ICBC Credit Suisse.
Nine fund managers departed this year
The concentrated departures at ICBC Credit Suisse extend beyond August. Year-to-date, the company has seen nine fund managers leave, five of whom had over five years of public fund management experience at the firm: Xia Yu, Yan Yao, He Xiuhong, Li Shaozhao, and Ouyang Kai, several being top performers. The remaining four, Liu Zhanshuo, Yang Guangzhao, Geng Jiachen, and He Shun, were internally cultivated newcomers. The departing managers oversaw active equity funds, fixed-income-plus products, passive index funds, and QDII vehicles.
This frequent turnover tests the stability and expertise of ICBC Credit Suisse's investment research team, disrupts talent development plans, and strains professional resources, potentially impacting fund performance and investor experience. Currently, the firm retains 86 fund managers, with 32 having less than three years of public fund management experience, representing 37.21% of the team and signaling a need for further experience accumulation.
Will the departure wave at ICBC Credit Suisse continue, and how should investors navigate these changes?
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