Performance Regulations: Penghua Fund Maintains Over 60% Dividend Payout for 3 Years, Distributes 1.68B with Guosen Securities Receiving 840M; Half of Products Underperform Benchmarks, Non-Monetary Ranking Drops 2 Spots

In the era of "performance-driven" investing, public fund compensation faces major reforms after three years, potentially affecting nearly a thousand fund managers with salary adjustments.

The recently proposed "Guidelines for Performance Assessment Management of Fund Management Companies" (draft for comment) has sparked industry debate, particularly regarding restrictions on dividends paid by fund companies to shareholders.

The guidelines require fund companies to prudently determine dividend frequency and ratios based on long-term product performance and investor returns, prioritizing capital accumulation, research investment, risk management, technology, investor education, and social responsibility. Companies with poor three-year performance or significant investor losses should reduce dividend payouts.

According to Guosen Securities' 2024 annual report, Penghua Fund reported revenue of 3.594B yuan and net profit of 751M yuan. Guosen Securities, holding a 50% stake, received 231M yuan in dividends, implying Penghua’s total shareholder payout of 462M yuan—a 61.52% payout ratio.

Over the past decade (2015–2024), Penghua Fund’s cumulative net profit reached 6.952B yuan, with 3.401B yuan distributed to shareholders. Guosen Securities received 1.701B yuan during this period.

Among peers, Penghua’s average 48.92% payout ratio ranked third among top fund firms, trailing only Invesco Great Wall and China Universal. Notably, Penghua maintained a payout ratio exceeding 60% for three consecutive years (2022–2024), distributing 1.68B yuan, with Guosen Securities receiving 840M yuan.

In non-monetary fund rankings, Penghua dropped two spots from 10th (461.458B yuan in Q3 2022) to 12th (537.053B yuan as of September 2025). Performance-wise, 51% of its 244 primary funds posted negative returns from 2022–2024, while 63% underperformed benchmarks—31% by over 10%. From December 2022 to November 2025, 15% of 265 funds lost value, and 54% lagged benchmarks.

Market analysts caution that excessive dividends may weaken fund companies’ capital reserves, innovation capacity, and risk resilience, while high payouts during market downturns could harm investor sentiment.