A widely circulated screenshot of a client suffering losses on a HSBC Jintrust fund product has recently drawn market attention. The image shows a customer who, after subscribing to a HSBC Jintrust cyclical theme product, experienced significant losses due to a sustained decline in the fund's net value. Following advice from the fund company and its distribution channels, the client switched to the HSBC Jintrust Pioneer Technology Fund, only to encounter further losses as the tech sector corrected, expanding their paper losses. The client reportedly expressed strong dissatisfaction and even anger over the severe principal loss. In response to the rumors, HSBC Jintrust stated, "We are still actively communicating with our partners." While the final outcome is pending, the incident has once again spotlighted the investor experience challenges at HSBC Jintrust.
This foreign-invested joint venture public fund, established over 20 years ago, has long managed assets below 100 billion yuan, with its equity investments previously surging on the new energy trend but now facing significant pressure from the sector's downturn. Amidst rapid market style shifts, HSBC Jintrust is undergoing a new test.
Nine Funds Lost Over 1 Billion Yuan Each, Performance Hits a New Low
Operational data for the second quarter of this year paints a grim picture for HSBC Jintrust. According to Wind data, as of the end of Q2, the 78 funds under HSBC Jintrust with calculable data posted a combined loss of 1.893 billion yuan. Specifically, 48 funds reported losses, while only 30 were profitable. This exacerbated the company's profit pressure compared to the first quarter's loss of 731 million yuan. The losses were primarily driven by large-scale loss-making products, with nine funds each losing over 100 million yuan in Q2. The largest equity fund, HSBC Jintrust Low Carbon Pioneer A, alone lost 318 million yuan for the quarter, and over 350 million yuan across its A and C share classes. Other funds, including HSBC Jintrust Research Select and HSBC Jintrust Hong Kong Stock Connect Dual Strategy, each lost over 250 million yuan. Products like HSBC Jintrust New Momentum, HSBC Jintrust Small and Mid-Cap, and HSBC Jintrust Dynamic Strategy also lost over 200 million yuan each. These six funds alone accounted for a cumulative loss of over 1.5 billion yuan in Q2. In stark contrast, only the HSBC Jintrust Technology Pioneer fund generated over 100 million yuan in profit for the quarter, reaching 674 million yuan, serving as a rare bright spot.
This extreme divergence—where the Technology Pioneer surged while new energy and consumer-focused funds continued to decline—has become HSBC Jintrust's most defining characteristic this year.
Years of Betting on New Energy, Missing the Tech Rally
The primary reason for this performance divergence lies in the differing investment directions of the funds. Based on Q2 holdings, the funds with the largest losses were primarily concentrated in new energy, consumer goods, airlines, non-ferrous metals, and Hong Kong stocks. For example, HSBC Jintrust Low Carbon Pioneer has long been positioned in the photovoltaic and lithium battery supply chains. HSBC Jintrust Era Pioneer also heavily focuses on new energy. HSBC Jintrust Small and Mid-Cap and Cycle Select invest in cyclical sectors like airlines and non-ferrous metals. These sectors were once major growth drivers for HSBC Jintrust. During the 2019-2021 new energy boom, fund manager Lu Bin became a market star due to his early positioning in the new energy supply chain. As of August 6, his management of HSBC Jintrust Manufacturing Pioneer A and HSBC Jintrust Low Carbon Pioneer A still showed returns of over 120%. However, the investment market has no perpetually rising sectors. As the new energy industry entered a correction cycle, former advantages turned into pressures. Some funds have suffered sustained net value declines for years, prompting investors to reassess the fund company's research and investment capabilities. Data shows that in Q2, the net values of HSBC Jintrust Hong Kong Stock Connect Dual Strategy, HSBC Jintrust Small and Mid-Cap, HSBC Jintrust Cycle Select, HSBC Jintrust Research Select, and HSBC Jintrust Era Pioneer all fell over 20%, while Low Carbon Pioneer dropped over 13%. Simultaneously, market focus has shifted from new energy to tech themes like AI and semiconductors. During the rapid rise of the AI supply chain, most HSBC Jintrust products lacked sufficient positioning to fully capture the market rally. The sole exception was HSBC Jintrust Technology Pioneer, which had positioned itself in AI applications, semiconductors, and commercial aerospace, gaining 90.87% in Q2 and becoming the company's biggest winner. Yet, by July, as the tech sector corrected, Technology Pioneer plunged 40.03% in a single month. This "big up, big down" pattern highlights the extreme volatility risk faced by single-theme investment strategies in the current market environment.
Dependence on Star Fund Manager Exposes Transformation Pressure
Founded in 2005 and jointly owned by Shanxi Trust and HSBC Global Investment Management, HSBC Jintrust is one of China's earliest foreign-invested joint venture public fund companies. However, its scale development has not matched its tenure. At the end of Q2, its total public fund management scale was 59.742 billion yuan, lagging significantly behind industry leaders. Equity funds (stock and hybrid) totaled 18.681 billion yuan, representing about one-third of the business. The company has long relied heavily on star fund manager Lu Bin, who serves as Vice President and Head of the Equity Investment Department, managing seven equity funds. At the peak of the new energy boom, his management scale exceeded 33 billion yuan, but by the end of Q2, it had shrunk to 7.355 billion yuan. While star fund managers can help rapidly expand scale, they also introduce significant risk. If the core figure's investment style fails or market conditions change, the company's overall performance is heavily impacted. In contrast, leading public fund companies have recently strengthened platform-based research systems, reducing dependence on single individuals through industry research teams, fund manager pipelines, and product matrices. HSBC Jintrust still faces issues like high concentration of equity products, limited ETF development, and a product structure heavily skewed towards active management. This means the company must find new growth paths amid intensifying industry competition.
Compliance Warning and Performance Pressure: How to Rebuild Investor Trust?
Beyond performance pressures, HSBC Jintrust has also faced compliance challenges. In December 2025, the fund received a warning letter from the Shanghai Securities Regulatory Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission for information disclosure issues. The company stated it would take the matter seriously, further improve its systems, and strengthen internal management. For public fund management companies, compliance is the bottom line. They must not only generate investment returns but also bear the responsibility of protecting investor interests. Especially in the current era of intensified competition, investors are increasingly focused on product performance, risk warnings, marketing, and service experience. If a fund company relies on star power and sector tailwinds without a stable research and risk management framework, pressure will surface quickly when market conditions change. From the rise and fall of new energy star funds to the volatility of tech products, from client loss disputes to compliance warnings, HSBC Jintrust faces not a single incident but a comprehensive test of its research capabilities, product strategy, and investor trust. For this 20-year-old joint venture fund, breaking free from star dependence, improving its research system, and enhancing long-term investment capabilities are fundamental to achieving stable and sustainable growth.
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