Two products managed by the star fund manager have seen their net asset values drop by more than 20% since the beginning of the year. Within just over three months, the net values of the two funds managed by Peng Hua Fund's prominent fund manager Yan Siqian have fallen by over 20%.
Wind data shows that as of April 10, among 4,684 actively managed equity funds that have reported year-to-date returns, 1,222 products recorded negative returns. Among these, 133 products experienced net value declines exceeding 10%. Notably, four actively managed equity funds have seen declines surpassing 20% this year, with Peng Hua Fund's Peng Hua Manufacturing Upgrade A and Peng Hua Technology Drive A occupying two spots, both managed solely by Yan Siqian.
Additionally, four other products managed by Yan Siqian—Peng Hua Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Emerging Growth A, Peng Hua Carbon Neutrality Theme A, Peng Hua Innovation Future C, and Peng Hua Fengsheng Stable Return B—have also reported negative returns year-to-date.
Yan Siqian, a star fund manager at Peng Hua Fund overseeing 21.398 billion yuan, currently manages seven funds. Apart from Peng Hua Fengsheng Stable Return B, which is a hybrid bond secondary fund, the rest are actively managed equity products. Her management of Peng Hua Manufacturing Upgrade A and Peng Hua Fengsheng Stable Return B has resulted in negative returns since her appointment dates.
The rapid deterioration in the performance of Yan Siqian's managed products is striking. According to Wind data, as of April 10, four funds under her management have seen year-to-date net value declines exceeding 10%: Peng Hua Carbon Neutrality Theme A (-12.95%), Peng Hua Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Emerging Growth A (-13.83%), Peng Hua Technology Drive A (-21.11%), and Peng Hua Manufacturing Upgrade A (-22.07%). Two other products, Peng Hua Innovation Future C and Peng Hua Fengsheng Stable Return B, reported returns of -1.01% and -0.49%, respectively. Only Peng Hua New Energy Vehicle A posted a positive return of 1.16%, though it still lagged behind its performance benchmark.
In 2025, Yan Siqian was at a career peak, with several products delivering outstanding results. Specifically, Peng Hua Carbon Neutrality Theme A, Peng Hua Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Emerging Growth A, Peng Hua Innovation Future C, and Peng Hua Technology Drive A achieved returns of 108.61%, 62.46%, 58.77%, and 46.67%, respectively, that year. The performance of these four products was heavily influenced by robotics-themed stocks. According to their fourth-quarter 2025 reports, the top ten holdings of these funds overlapped significantly, with a focus on robotics concept stocks such as Changying Precision, Siasun Robot & Automation, New Zhongyuan, Joyson Electronics, Zhongjian Technology, Sirio, and Zhejiang Rongtai.
However, after significant gains earlier in 2025, robotics indices experienced declines from October 1, 2025, to April 10, 2026. Correspondingly, the mentioned stocks saw substantial drops during this period. In contrast, Peng Hua New Energy Vehicle A, the only fund with a positive return this year, is constrained by its fund contract to invest primarily in the new energy vehicle industry chain, including upstream raw materials, midstream components, and downstream services.
Over a longer horizon, the performance of Yan Siqian's managed products has been mixed. Among the five funds with management periods exceeding one year, three—Peng Hua Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Emerging Growth A, Peng Hua Carbon Neutrality Theme A, and Peng Hua Technology Drive A—underperformed their benchmarks over the past year. The other two, Peng Hua New Energy Vehicle A and Peng Hua Innovation Future C, outperformed their benchmarks.
High drawdowns are another concern for Yan Siqian's funds. As of April 10, the maximum drawdowns over the past three years for several of her funds significantly exceeded the average for similar products. Additionally, some products showed poor Calmar ratios, indicating higher risk-adjusted underperformance.
Investors have expressed frustration on social media, questioning Yan Siqian's stock-picking abilities and the sharp declines in newly launched funds.
Among Yan Siqian's seven funds, Peng Hua Carbon Neutrality Theme has the largest management scale and attracts considerable attention. Launched on May 5, 2023, as a carbon neutrality-themed fund, it initially struggled but surged in 2025 due to early investments in the humanoid robotics sector, becoming one of that year's top performers. Its management scale skyrocketed from 114 million yuan at the end of 2023 to 13.324 billion yuan by the end of 2025.
However, an analysis of its top holdings reveals a concentration in robotics concept stocks, such as Hechuan Technology, Kelishi Sensing, Mingzhi Electric, Lide Harmonic, Beste, Shuanglin Shares, and Zhongda Lide, which have low correlation with the carbon neutrality theme. This has raised questions about potential style drift. In her 2024 and 2025 annual reports, Yan Siqian justified the investments by linking manufacturing upgrades and technological innovation to low-carbon development pathways.
Yan Siqian holds a master's degree in engineering and has 15 years of experience in the securities industry. She previously worked as an analyst at Huachuang Securities and a business manager at Bank of China International Securities. In 2017, she joined ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management, marking the start of her public fund management career. While managing ICBC New Energy Vehicle A, she capitalized on the new energy vehicle sector's growth, delivering a remarkable return of 312.08% during her tenure. She also achieved a 196.3% return while managing ICBC Ecological Environment A.
After her success at ICBC Credit Suisse, Yan Siqian moved to Peng Hua Fund in January 2022, where she now serves as Managing Director, Head of Equity Investment Department Three, Investment Director, and Fund Manager. Among Peng Hua Fund's 87 fund managers, Yan Siqian is the leading figure in actively managed equity funds by scale.
Her investment philosophy centers on industrial logic, emphasizing in-depth research across industry chains to identify high-quality companies capable of weathering market cycles. In a letter to investors of Peng Hua Carbon Neutrality Theme, she attributed her investment success to forward-looking vision, patience, deep industry chain research, and careful selection of companies.
The shift in her investment focus from the new energy vehicle industry chain to robotics concept stocks raises questions about the suitability of her strategy for long-term value holding.
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