Launched at the peak of the market, this fund's net asset value has plummeted to just 50 cents on the dollar over five years, racking up $2.2 billion in losses for investors while collecting $272 million in management fees. Now, the departing fund manager has left a newcomer with only 11 days of experience to take over. This situation rivals the disastrous start endured by Caitong Fund's manager Yuan Zeqiang.
Bank of Communications Schroders Fund manager Yang Shuai is also facing a nightmare scenario. According to data from Tiantian Fund, the Bank of Communications Schroders Qidao Mixed Fund has seen its net value drop by 45.26% since its inception over five years ago, significantly underperforming its benchmark by more than 40 percentage points. This year alone, it has fallen by 19.11%. Among all 287 fund products at Bank of Communications Schroders, the Qidao Mixed Fund ranks fifth from the bottom in terms of net value.
On July 22, fund manager Zhou Zhong resigned from managing the Bank of Communications Schroders Qidao Mixed Fund, handing the reins to Yang Shuai, a manager with just 11 days of experience. Before his departure, Zhou Zhong had aggressively bought into optical communication giants Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology during the second quarter, at what is now considered a market peak.
Five Years and a 45% Plunge: Investors Lose $2.2 Billion, Management Fees Top $272 Million
Records show the Bank of Communications Schroders Qidao Mixed Fund was launched in January 2021, when the CSI 300 Index was near a cyclical high. Riding the bull market, the fund was snapped up by investors, selling out in a single day with total fundraising of $8.1 billion. However, this proved to be the fund's peak. Its net asset value per unit has since declined steadily, never recovering above the 1-yuan mark. At its lowest point, the unit price dipped below 0.5 yuan, classifying it as a "50-cent fund."
As the net value continued to fall, the fund experienced massive redemptions. Since 2021, the subscription shares of the Bank of Communications Schroders Qidao Mixed Fund have been consistently lower than redemption shares. By the end of the second quarter of 2026, the fund's total shares had shrunk from the initial 59.35 billion issued at launch to just 21.75 billion. Net assets have also contracted from $8.1 billion to $1.6 billion. Over five years, the fund's profits have been -$404 million, -$1.5 billion, -$972 million, $404 million, and $277 million, cumulatively losing investors $2.2 billion.
While investors suffered heavy losses, the fund company did not reduce its fees. From 2021 to 2025, the fund's management fees were $99.6 million, $72.3 million, $50.8 million, $32.4 million, and $36.5 million, respectively, totaling $272 million over five years. The fund's management fee rate is 1.2%, higher than the average for equity-oriented hybrid funds.
Fund Manager's Portfolio Ranks Worst Firm-Wide: Chased Optical Stocks Just Before Quitting
Given these poor results, Zhou Zhong, who managed the fund for over five years, has faced harsh criticism from investors. Zhou Zhong is a veteran at Bank of Communications Schroders. He holds a master's degree in finance from Fudan University and has a prestigious resume, having previously worked in research at Nomura Securities, BOCI Securities, and UBS Securities. He joined Bank of Communications Schroders in 2015 as a fund manager in the cross-border investment department and has now been with the company for over a decade.
During his tenure, Zhou Zhong managed six products, including the Bank of Communications Schroders Global Resources Mixed Fund, Bank of Communications Schroders Global Select Mixed Fund, Bank of Communications Schroders Innovation Growth Mixed Fund, Bank of Communications Schroders Qixin Mixed Fund, Bank of Communications Schroders Qidao Mixed Fund, and Bank of Communications Schroders Growth Power One-Year Holding Mixed Fund. The Innovation Growth Mixed Fund, his flagship product, once delivered a three-year return of over 146%, making it a key selling point for the Qidao fund's launch. However, its cumulative return during his tenure has since fallen to 72.20%.
Zhou Zhong currently manages only three funds: Bank of Communications Schroders Innovation Growth Mixed Fund, Bank of Communications Schroders Qixin Mixed Fund, and Bank of Communications Schroders Growth Power One-Year Holding Mixed Fund (A+C share classes). Two of these products rank in the bottom ten among all funds at Bank of Communications Schroders. Including the recently resigned Qidao fund, three of the bottom ten funds were managed by Zhou Zhong.
According to a Bank of Communications Schroders Fund advisory account, Zhou Zhong's investment style is described as growth-oriented, skilled in bottom-up stock selection, with extensive cross-border research experience and a global investment perspective. He aims for sustainable long-term returns with a focus on risk control. His portfolio has indeed been relatively stable, with significant overlap in top holdings across his managed funds. Recent filings show heavy positions in stocks like Tencent Holdings, CATL, Kweichow Moutai, Meituan, Beike, Pop Mart, and Kingdee International. These are largely considered "blue-chip" stocks.
A 45% decline over five years might seem gentler than the sharp pullbacks seen in tech stocks in July, but the persistent, grinding losses have been painful for investors. Furthermore, in the latest portfolios of the funds managed by Zhou Zhong, he heavily bought into Eoptolink Technology and Zhongji Innolight in the second quarter, at what is now considered a market peak. The Qidao fund, from which he just resigned, was no exception, making Zhongji Innolight its second-largest holding and Eoptolink Technology its sixth. This has drawn the ire of investors, who have questioned his qualifications and labeled him a "worst-ever fund manager."
Nightmare Start for Novice Manager: Yang Shuai Faces Intense Investor Scrutiny
Zhou Zhong's resignation was met with celebration from investors in online forums. However, this quickly turned to confusion and concern about whether the new manager could lead them to recoup their losses. Their hopes were dashed. The incoming manager, Yang Shuai, is a newcomer. On Tiantian Fund, Yang Shuai's profile lacks a photo, and his total experience as a fund manager is listed as only "24 days," suggesting he is a complete novice.
Nevertheless, his overall experience in the securities industry is not insignificant. Public records show Yang Shuai previously worked at the Agricultural Development Bank of China's Guangdong branch, Huatai United Securities, and Haitong Securities, primarily in sell-side roles before transitioning. At Haitong Securities, he served as a senior institutional sales manager, head of the Power Equipment and New Energy research team, and a researcher in the equity investment and trading department. He joined Bank of Communications Schroders Fund Management Co., Ltd. in 2020. On July 11, 2026, he was officially appointed as the fund manager for the Bank of Communications Schroders Qidao Mixed Securities Investment Fund. This means the Qidao fund is indeed the first product he has managed as a fund manager.
Taking over a "hot potato" – a fund with nearly $1.6 billion in assets and a cumulative loss of 45% – without any prior public fund management experience is a "nightmare" start. Some investors, however, have placed their hopes on Yang Shuai, offering encouragement in online forums. But in July, as tech stocks plunged, Yang Shuai bore the brunt of investor anger even before the second-quarter holdings were updated. Many investors vented online, complaining that despite the fund's stock holdings rising, the fund itself was still down, and questioning his trading decisions.
Conclusion
The China Securities Regulatory Commission's "Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of Public Funds" explicitly calls for optimizing fund operation models, establishing a mechanism that ties fund company compensation to investor returns, and steadily reducing investor costs. While several products under Bank of Communications Schroders have delivered strong long-term performance, with some achieving returns of over 100% since inception, the Qidao Mixed Fund is clearly not among them.
On one side, investors have lost $2.2 billion; on the other, the company has collected $272 million in management fees. This "guaranteed income" fee model contradicts the regulatory principle of "linking compensation to investor returns." Bank of Communications Schroders, backed by the century-old brands of Bank of Communications and Schroders, manages over $750 billion in public funds. Should the company proactively reduce fees for products like the Bank of Communications Schroders Qidao Mixed Fund, which have consistently underperformed and significantly lagged their benchmarks, in line with regulatory guidance? After all, the prerequisite for "focusing on good investing" is first being accountable to the investors who entrusted you with $8.1 billion at the market's peak.
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