BlackRock Fund, as a wholly-owned sample of a global asset management giant in the Chinese market, has undergone a representative development path over more than four years: from high expectations to underwhelming performance, from equity setbacks to breakthroughs in fixed income, and from personnel turbulence to strategic restructuring. In a significant reshuffle of the equity team in 2025, fund manager Shan Xiuli notably took on the management of five equity-oriented products alone.
This foreign giant's journey in China is currently facing unprecedented challenges. BlackRock’s exploration in China serves as a mirror to observe the localization process of foreign institutions.
In 2025, BlackRock's actively managed equity team experienced an unprecedented restructuring. Between mid-year and October, multiple core fund managers left the company, leading to personnel adjustments affecting most of its equity-oriented products.
On June 25, Yang Dong left the BlackRock Hong Kong Stock Connect Vision Fund, with Bi Kai and Shan Xiuli appointed to jointly manage it. Bi Kai, a former head of overseas equity at Southern Fund, brings rich experience in Hong Kong stock investments. His appointment highlights BlackRock's intent to improve investment performance by introducing local talent familiar with the Hong Kong market. However, as of October 13, 2025, the fund remains in a loss position since its inception, with A and C class share net values falling over 8% and 10%, respectively, during the same period.
On September 18, Chief Equity Investment Officer Shen Yufei also stepped down from managing BlackRock China New Horizon and BlackRock Sector Preference funds. As a key figure who joined in 2023, his departure was viewed as a setback for BlackRock in active equity investments.
Meanwhile, BlackRock China New Horizon Fund appointed Wang Xiaojing as fund manager. Notably, Wang also manages four other funds, three of which are index-enhanced products. His role as BlackRock Fund's Director of Quantitative and Multi-Asset strategies hints at a potential pivot towards a more quant-driven, index-based investment strategy.
Following this series of adjustments, Shan Xiuli frequently reappeared in multiple products. She not only co-manages the BlackRock Excellent Voyage Fund with Bi Kai but also independently took over the BlackRock Advanced Manufacturing One Year Hold Fund after Zou Jiangyu's departure on October 10. Currently, she is involved in the management of all five existing equity-oriented funds.
A researcher from a public fund in Shenzhen remarked that the situation of "one person managing multiple funds," while reflecting the company’s reliance on Shan Xiuli, also reveals weaknesses in the talent pipeline of the equity team.
Significantly, on September 1, Shan Xiuli simultaneously took over three important funds. This indicates that the team restructuring was not a mere piecemeal adjustment, but a systematic arrangement from the top down, paving the way for subsequent personnel changes. Data shows that the two funds managed by Shan Xiuli the longest have both been in a loss position since inception.
According to Wind data, as of June 30, 2025, the total scale of public funds managed by BlackRock Fund was only 6.8 billion yuan, with the five equity-oriented funds collectively accounting for 2.967 billion yuan. This scale remains at the nascent stage in the fiercely competitive public fund industry.
The executive team at BlackRock Fund has been in a state of continuous turmoil since its establishment in June 2021, with numerous core positions including chairman, general manager, and chief information officer undergoing frequent changes.
After serving more than two years, the chairman, Tang Xiaodong, left in August 2023. Following a nearly six-month vacancy, Fan Hua was appointed as chairman.
The general manager position has seen even more volatility. In February 2024, veteran general manager Zhang Chi resigned after more than two and a half years in office. Chen Jian, transitioning from Inspector General to general manager, subsequently took on the role of senior advisor in March 2025, while Yu Peihua stepped in as the new general manager. Observers believe that appointing Yu, who has a strong background in banking and fixed income, clearly signals BlackRock's strategic shift towards the fixed income market.
Additionally, the investment core of BlackRock Fund has also undergone several changes. In July 2024, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Lu Wenjie stepped down. Following that, the company restructured its investment framework and appointed Shen Yufei as chief equity investment officer. However, just a little over a year later, Shen opted to leave in September 2025.
A researcher from a public fund in Shanghai pointed out that the successive departures of active equity fund managers are a natural outcome of the company’s strategic transformation.
As the world’s largest financial giant in asset management, BlackRock was expected to leverage global perspectives while deeply cultivating the local market since it appeared in China as the first wholly foreign-owned public fund in 2021. However, four years later, its development path has been fraught with challenges.
Data shows that by the end of June 2025, BlackRock Fund's management scale was only 6.86 billion yuan, lagging behind firms like Roberth Capital, which was established later, and its first product—BlackRock China New Horizon, which had a launch scale of 6.68 billion yuan, showing minimal growth.
A public fund researcher in Shenzhen analyzed that superficially, BlackRock’s strengths in “top-down” macro allocation and quantitative models have not fully adapted to the A-share market, which is driven by policy and is emotionally volatile. A deeper reason lies in the prolonged adjustment period required for international management culture and local teams to merge.
In the face of adversity, BlackRock has undergone comprehensive adjustments in strategic direction, organizational talent, and business focus.
The push towards fixed income funds began in the third quarter of 2024. In July of that year, the BlackRock Policy Financial Bond Fund was launched with a scale of 1.55 billion yuan; subsequently, in November, two other bond funds, BlackRock Anyu 90-Day Holding and BlackRock Interbank Certificate of Deposit Index 7-Day Holding, were established in succession. In 2025, the company launched four additional bond funds. By the end of June 2025, the number of bond funds had reached eight, exceeding a total scale of 3 billion yuan, which accounted for nearly half of the company's total management scale.
Simultaneously, both new product proposals by BlackRock were for bond index funds. Furthermore, starting in November 2024, the company established three index-enhanced products tracking the CSI 300, CSI A500, and CSI 500 indices. Notably, none of the six new funds established in the first nine months of 2025 were active equity products.
Since 2025, the personnel changes at BlackRock Fund have not merely resulted in a one-way loss, but resemble a "restructuring with both exits and entries." In August, the former Yu'ebao fund manager Wang Dengfeng returned to the public fund sector, joining BlackRock as Chief Liquidity Officer, responsible for liquidity management and fixed-income investment strategies.
A public fund professional in Shanghai commented that these personnel changes “are a result of business setbacks in the short term, but in the long term, they represent the exploration process of a giant finding a second growth curve in China.”
Currently, BlackRock is attempting to reshape its positioning in the Chinese market through a strengthened focus on fixed income, indexation, and deep localization. However, in this increasingly cutthroat market, the time and space available for this global asset management giant to adjust its course seem particularly pressing.
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