QDII Fund Manager Changes Frequent! Significant Performance Divergence This Year, Oil and Gas Products Lead in Performance Yet Face Premium Dilemma

On March 25, ICBC Credit Suisse Fund announced that several of its funds experienced changes in fund managers. Among them, Geng Jiaqin, who managed multiple QDII funds, has resigned from all of his current products.

Recently, there have been continuous reports of QDII fund managers stepping down, such as Han Tongli from Harvest Fund and Li Yaozhu from GF Fund, who have resigned from some of their managed products.

It is worth noting that the Foreign Exchange Administration currently has no new QDII quotas allocated to public fund institutions. The long-term shortage of quotas has limited the rebalancing and liquidity management of many QDII products under various fund companies, leading to common restrictions on subscriptions and redemptions. Additionally, the performance of QDII funds this year has shown significant divergence. While some oil and gas QDII funds have performed well, funds investing in Asia-Pacific, especially Hong Kong stocks, have underperformed.

Frequent adjustments of QDII fund managers, including “full liquidation” resignations

On March 25, ICBC Credit Suisse Fund announced that several of its funds experienced fund manager changes. Geng Jiaqin resigned from all of his current managed funds, most of which are QDII funds.

According to the announcement, Geng Jiaqin stepped down from ICBC Hong Kong Small and Mid Cap RMB, ICBC Global Allocation RMB, and ICBC Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Select Funds, with the first two being QDII funds, all on March 23. The company stated that his departure was due to personal reasons, and he has already completed deregistration procedures with the China Fund Industry Association as required.

Management history of Geng Jiaqin, source: Wind

Recently, there have been many changes in QDII fund managers, some of whom have resigned completely, while others have stepped down from some of their managed products. Not long ago, Harvest Global Industries Select RMB announced that fund manager Han Tongli left due to personal reasons; similarly, Li Yaozhu from GF Fund, who managed multiple QDII funds, also recently resigned from GF JuYou Flexible Allocation.

Looking at the past performance of these managers, some have relatively average results but have seen their managed assets grow. For example, among the three funds managed by Geng Jiaqin, two started managing in early 2025, and their fund sizes have surged in the past year. Wind data shows that, compared to the RMB 118 million at the end of 2024, their management scale increased to RMB 1.059 billion by the end of 2025.

It is worth noting that there have been cases of high-performing QDII fund managers resigning through full liquidation. In the first half of 2025, Southern Fund announced that well-known fund manager Wang Shicong resigned via full liquidation. His management of the Southern China Emerging Economy fund was a top performer in the QDII category for nine months in 2024.

Performance divergence among QDII funds, with oil and gas leading but facing premium issues

Since the beginning of this year, the performance of QDII funds has shown clear divergence. Under geopolitical influences, the sharp rise in oil and gas resources has led to significant gains for many oil and gas QDII funds, while other products have underperformed.

Data as of March 23, source: Wind

Wind statistics show that, as of the latest data, the top-performing QDII fund this year is Southern Oil A, with a return of 54.64%. The top 25 funds by year-to-date return are all related to oil and gas resources (based on total share classes). Conversely, among the underperformers, 29 funds have lost over 15% this year, most of which are invested in tech stocks.

Furthermore, the release of QDII quotas by the Foreign Exchange Administration remains slow. Many public fund institutions are running out of existing quotas, leading to restrictions on subscriptions and redemptions for many products. Investors find it difficult to subscribe through off-exchange channels, and some funds are trading at high premiums on the secondary market.

Analysts point out that due to exhausted foreign exchange quotas, off-exchange subscription channels are strictly limited. A large amount of capital optimistic about oil prices can only flow into on-exchange purchases of existing shares, creating a market environment prone to rapid rises and difficult corrections.

While some equity-based QDII funds have tightened subscription limits, certain bond QDII funds have relaxed their purchase restrictions. On March 16, HFT Fund announced that the subscription limit for HFT USD Bond (QDII) RMB has been increased from RMB 10,000 to RMB 10 million.

Industry experts believe that, amid adjustments to inflation expectations, there are concerns about potential rate hikes by central banks, especially the Federal Reserve. From a liquidity perspective, rate hikes are unfavorable for long positions in growth tech stocks. This has led some capital to shift toward safe-haven assets.

China Universal Fund previously stated that the market is oscillating between “fighting inflation” and “hoping for rate cuts.” Investors may consider long-duration, medium- to long-term high-yield opportunities. As signals of US economic slowdown become clearer, the safe-haven role of US Treasuries may overshadow inflation concerns driven by oil prices.

(Edited by: Li Yue)

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