E Fund Blue-Chip Select, a fund with assets nearing 27 billion yuan, has appointed Yang Siliang and He Yicheng as co-managers alongside Zhang Kun.
The move to add co-managers has finally reached Zhang Kun, the prominent active equity fund manager at E Fund. On May 23, E Fund announced the appointment of Yang Siliang and He Yicheng as co-managers for the E Fund Blue-Chip Select fund, marking the first time a product solely managed by Zhang Kun has seen such an addition.
Notably, E Fund Blue-Chip Select is the largest active equity fund by assets under management within E Fund. This move comes at a delicate time, roughly one year after Zhang Kun stepped down from his role as vice president to focus on investment management.
Despite holding the title of the active equity fund manager with the largest AUM in the market, Zhang Kun's performance has been under scrutiny. His managed products have underperformed their benchmarks over the medium to long term. The funds have shown a strong preference for baijiu (Chinese liquor) stocks, leading to frequent losses and significant investor losses.
The breaking of Zhang Kun's solo management record raises questions. Is this a sign of deeper changes in the active equity fund industry's structure, a pragmatic adjustment by E Fund for the fund's long-term stability, or a preparatory step for Zhang Kun's eventual departure? The answer remains to be seen.
**Why Add Co-Managers?**
Data shows that E Fund Blue-Chip Select, established on September 5, 2018, is a hybrid equity fund. Its AUM peaked at 67.701 billion yuan at the end of 2020 but has since continuously declined, dropping to 26.793 billion yuan by the end of Q1 2026.
This decline in AUM is linked to poor short, medium, and long-term performance. As of May 25, the fund's one-year, three-year, and five-year returns were -11.81%, -18.13%, and -47.8% respectively. These figures underperformed their respective benchmarks by 24.37, 42.63, and 44.11 percentage points.
The reasons for this poor performance are complex. An examination of the fund's holdings reveals that from Q1 2023 to Q1 2026, baijiu stocks were consistently among its top ten holdings, including Kweichow Moutai, Wuliangye, Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory, Luzhou Laojiao, and Yanghe Brewery. However, from January 1, 2023, to May 25, 2026, the baijiu sector remained depressed, falling 42.54%, ranking it second-to-last among Shenwan secondary industries.
Furthermore, in stock selection, Zhang Kun is known as a proponent of "value investing," taking the principle of buying the best companies and holding them long-term to an extreme. E Fund Blue-Chip Select has held Kweichow Moutai, Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao, and Tencent Holdings in its top ten holdings for 30 consecutive quarters. Is this a testament to confidence in their long-term value or a constraint of his investment circle?
Additionally, the fund maintains high concentration in its top holdings. From Q1 2023 to Q1 2026, the proportion of its top ten holdings ranged between 74% and 87%, with the total stock value consistently exceeding 93% of the fund's net asset value.
E Fund Blue-Chip Select has also failed to generate profits for investors. Wind data shows that from 2021 to Q1 2026, the fund's product profits were -10.391 billion yuan, -10.714 billion yuan, -11.267 billion yuan, 665 million yuan, 2.797 billion yuan, and -1.411 billion yuan respectively, totaling a loss of -30.32 billion yuan. However, from 2021 to 2025, the fund contributed 3.705 billion yuan in management fees to E Fund.
Regarding the fund's equity holdings and the addition of co-managers, some investors have expressed dissatisfaction on social media. Comments include criticism of the heavy baijiu focus, speculation that Zhang Kun might be preparing to leave, and frustration over losses despite a rising market, given the fund's "blue-chip" designation.
Investor speculation about Zhang Kun's potential departure is not entirely baseless. Industry precedents exist for "adding co-managers before departure." For example, E Fund's Feng Bo saw co-managers added to his funds in June 2025, and he stepped down three months later. A similar pattern occurred with former manager Ren Xiangdong of Xingquan Global Fund in early 2026.
Of course, the addition of co-managers to E Fund Blue-Chip Select might also be influenced by policy guidance. In May 2025, the "Action Plan to Promote High-Quality Development of Public Funds" emphasized strengthening core investment and research capabilities, supporting team-based fund management models, and building larger, stronger investment teams.
**Are the New Co-Managers Capable?**
From a performance perspective, E Fund Blue-Chip Select urgently needs a turnaround. So, what are the characteristics of the new co-managers, Yang Siliang and He Yicheng?
Yang Siliang has extensive investment research experience, with 15 years in the securities industry, including over 7 years as a public fund manager. He previously worked at Dacheng Fund and Baoying Fund before joining E Fund in September 2025. He currently manages E Fund Long-Term Value (since March 25, 2026) and E Fund Blue-Chip Select (since May 23, 2026).
He left Baoying Fund on August 30, 2025, for personal reasons, stepping down from three funds. Before his departure, Baoying Consumption Theme, which he managed the longest, delivered a return of 156.84% during his tenure. Yang Siliang was also a billion-yuan AUM manager at Baoying Fund, with his managed assets exceeding 10 billion yuan from Q2 2024 to Q1 2025, indicating investor recognition.
During his time at Baoying Fund, Yang developed a value-growth style combining a macro perspective with an absolute return philosophy. He is known for making significant portfolio adjustments across market cycles. For instance, with Baoying Consumption Theme, he completely replaced baijiu holdings in Q1 2023 but reintroduced them by Q1 2025. He also engages in market timing, having significantly reduced the equity allocation in that fund from 94.16% in Q1 2021 to 32.11% in Q4 2024 before increasing it to 75.51% by Q2 2025.
However, Yang has not previously managed a single fund with assets over 10 billion yuan. Whether his adjustment and timing strategies can be effectively applied at this scale remains to be seen.
In contrast, He Yicheng is an internally cultivated manager at E Fund, joining in July 2019. He managed his first public fund, E Fund New Normal, starting August 17, 2024, and later took on E Fund Growth Driver (since February 12, 2026), E Fund Fenghe (a mixed bond secondary fund, since March 7, 2026), and E Fund Blue-Chip Select (since May 23, 2026). His best performance is with E Fund New Normal, delivering returns exceeding 300%.
An analysis of E Fund New Normal's top holdings shows He Yicheng's focus is on the technology sector, particularly computing power applications and optical communication. From Q3 2024 to Q4 2024, he significantly reconstituted the portfolio, replacing 9 of the top 10 holdings, making TMT (electronics, communications, computer) stocks the core. This investment style continued through Q1 2026.
Therefore, He Yicheng's addition to the management team could bring new options for the fund's concentrated top holdings.
However, when a fund transitions from single-manager to team-based management, whether the core investment logic will change significantly requires time to verify.
**Losing Substance and Face**
Zhang Kun has 18 years of securities industry experience. He is a core member of E Fund's internally cultivated active equity investment team. Based on strong product performance, he was promoted to vice president in June 2020 and stepped down from that role in May 2025.
As a former trillion-yuan "top stream" in the public fund industry, Zhang Kun currently manages 4 products with a total AUM of 41.672 billion yuan as of Q1 2026, still the largest among active equity fund managers.
He still solely manages three other funds: E Fund Quality Enterprise Three-Year Holding (since June 17, 2020), E Fund Quality Select (since September 10, 2021), and E Fund Asia Select (since April 8, 2014). However, the medium-to-long-term performance of these three products is also weak.
Wind data shows that as of May 25, the three-year returns of these three funds underperformed their benchmarks by 37.26, 42, and 14.88 percentage points, respectively. The five-year returns for E Fund Quality Enterprise Three-Year Holding and E Fund Asia Select were -40.02% and 19.61%, against benchmarks of -3.7% and 29.12%, respectively.
Short-term performance is also lackluster. As of May 25, the year-to-date returns for these three funds were -11.62%, -14.96%, and 16.01%, all underperforming their respective benchmarks.
A decline in AUM for these products seems inevitable. As of Q1 2026, the AUM for these three funds was 2.166 billion yuan, 9.544 billion yuan, and 3.169 billion yuan, decreasing by 419 million yuan, 1.841 billion yuan, and 224 million yuan quarter-on-quarter, respectively. Notably, E Fund Quality Select is no longer a 10-billion-yuan fund, having dropped below that threshold after peaking at 19.984 billion yuan at the end of 2021 and falling to 11.385 billion yuan by the end of 2025.
Investor redemptions are likely due to the inability to generate sustained profits. From 2021 to Q1 2026, the combined product profits of these three funds showed a loss exceeding 10 billion yuan, totaling -10.725 billion yuan. However, from 2021 to 2025, these three products generated 2.054 billion yuan in management fee income.
In April 2026, the "Guidelines for Performance Appraisal Management of Fund Management Companies" stated that for active equity fund managers whose product performance has underperformed its benchmark by over 10 percentage points for the past three years and whose fund profit is negative, performance-based compensation should decrease significantly from the previous year by no less than 30%.
As of May 25, the performance of all four funds managed by Zhang Kun largely meets the criteria for a compensation reduction.
Looking ahead, whether Zhang Kun's three solely-managed funds will maintain their "independence" is uncertain. Other star managers have undergone similar transitions from solo to co-management. For example, Liu Gesong of GF Fund saw co-managers added to his funds in 2025 and 2020.
Will Zhang Kun's other solely-managed products also add new co-managers? Can E Fund Blue-Chip Select achieve a performance turnaround under a multi-manager model? These developments warrant continued observation.
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